It was a devastating Thursday Night Football overtime loss in Atlanta for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite a 509-yard performance from Falcons’ QB Kirk Cousins, this Bucs’ team seemed to have the game won after a fourth down interception under the two-minute warning, deep in Atlanta territory.
The overtime period proved to be no different than regulation, as Cousins and the offense executed and put a game-winning touchdown immediately on the board. An aggressive play on the ball by Zyon McCollum allowed Falcons’ WR KhaDarel Hodge to catch and break free for 45 yards and walk off the OT thriller 36-30.
McCollum seemed to have yet another good performance, as it even seemed the Falcons were throwing on the opposite side of him most of the game. The final play by McCollum was an aggressive read and he even got his hand on the ball, but Hodge broke free up the middle of the Tampa Bay secondary into the end zone.
But it wasn’t just the defensive backs, as the entirety of the team failed in their soft zone coverage throughout the game. Many fans and analysts alike are questioning the ability of Bucs’ linebacker K.J. Britt in coverage.
The 25-year old Britt amassed nine total tackles on the night, while he seemed to be there to make the tackle once the ball was caught, there could’ve been more plays made by the team as a whole. This is the second consecutive game where he’s played far more than his average 50% snap time, upping it to 93% on 81 snaps Thursday, as LB SirVocea Dennis will miss extended time with an injured shoulder.
When asked about if it’s tough having Britt out there every play, Bowles downplayed it:
"It wasn't tough because it was our normal stuff that we normally run but at the same time, you know, we want to have more speed on the field at certain times. K.J is a very good zone player but at times we want to have some speed guys on the field and the communication has to be better, especially with the safeties. When we lost Jordan [Whitehead], we lost some of the communication aspect of it and then we just missed some drops and missed some tackles."
The lack of speed and quickness from Britt was apparent in Thursday Night’s game, but Britt has still proven he can be effective, just not in a full-time starting position.
Fatigue from the entire defense was a factor in the late collapse, coming in on a short week and playing into overtime surely shouldn’t be overlooked. But K.J. Britt has proved in the short time since Dennis has been out that opposing offenses can pick on him in coverage, and even on run downs if Thursday is any proof of what we should expect from the counterpart to Lavonte David.
With former Bucs’ LB Devin White essentially sitting on the bench in Philadelphia, many Tampa Bay fans are calling for a trade to be made. If Jason Licht’s recent track record and quotes have anything to do with adding a player like Devin White, I don’t think we should expect a move such as that anytime soon.
So will we see if K.J. Britt’s game improves as the season continues, as he has one of the best mentors possible in the entire NFL. Lavonte David will surely help the young linebacker work through the growing pains and this Tampa Bay defense will look to bounce back in a big way as they have a tough stretch of games over the horizon.
It was a devastating Thursday Night Football overtime loss in Atlanta for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite a 509-yard performance from Falcons’ QB Kirk Cousins, this Bucs’ team seemed to have the game won after a fourth down interception under the two-minute warning, deep in Atlanta territory.
The overtime period proved to be no different than regulation, as Cousins and the offense executed and put a game-winning touchdown immediately on the board. An aggressive play on the ball by Zyon McCollum allowed Falcons’ WR KhaDarel Hodge to catch and break free for 45 yards and walk off the OT thriller 36-30.
McCollum seemed to have yet another good performance, as it even seemed the Falcons were throwing on the opposite side of him most of the game. The final play by McCollum was an aggressive read and he even got his hand on the ball, but Hodge broke free up the middle of the Tampa Bay secondary into the end zone.
But it wasn’t just the defensive backs, as the entirety of the team failed in their soft zone coverage throughout the game. Many fans and analysts alike are questioning the ability of Bucs’ linebacker K.J. Britt in coverage.
The 25-year old Britt amassed nine total tackles on the night, while he seemed to be there to make the tackle once the ball was caught, there could’ve been more plays made by the team as a whole. This is the second consecutive game where he’s played far more than his average 50% snap time, upping it to 93% on 81 snaps Thursday, as LB SirVocea Dennis will miss extended time with an injured shoulder.
When asked about if it’s tough having Britt out there every play, Bowles downplayed it:
"It wasn't tough because it was our normal stuff that we normally run but at the same time, you know, we want to have more speed on the field at certain times. K.J is a very good zone player but at times we want to have some speed guys on the field and the communication has to be better, especially with the safeties. When we lost Jordan [Whitehead], we lost some of the communication aspect of it and then we just missed some drops and missed some tackles."
The lack of speed and quickness from Britt was apparent in Thursday Night’s game, but Britt has still proven he can be effective, just not in a full-time starting position.
Fatigue from the entire defense was a factor in the late collapse, coming in on a short week and playing into overtime surely shouldn’t be overlooked. But K.J. Britt has proved in the short time since Dennis has been out that opposing offenses can pick on him in coverage, and even on run downs if Thursday is any proof of what we should expect from the counterpart to Lavonte David.
With former Bucs’ LB Devin White essentially sitting on the bench in Philadelphia, many Tampa Bay fans are calling for a trade to be made. If Jason Licht’s recent track record and quotes have anything to do with adding a player like Devin White, I don’t think we should expect a move such as that anytime soon.
So will we see if K.J. Britt’s game improves as the season continues, as he has one of the best mentors possible in the entire NFL. Lavonte David will surely help the young linebacker work through the growing pains and this Tampa Bay defense will look to bounce back in a big way as they have a tough stretch of games over the horizon.
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