On one hand, we’re coming off easily the most entertaining and exciting Thursday night game we’ve had yet this season. Shoot, it’ll probably be the best one we’ll get all year. On the other hand, the Bucs lost in overtime to the Falcons in a game that they should have won - twice. This was a missed opportunity that we might be revisiting come December and the playoff race.
Let’s Pick Six.
1.) What Was That? It’s hard to point to a worse defensive performance for this team since Todd Bowles came to town in 2019. That was just absolutely abysmal. Yes, the team is riddled with injuries, yes they lost more players during the game - but there was no pressure on Kirk Cousins all night long. The coverage was soft at best, usually non-existent. There were solid performances turned in from Lavonte David, Vita Vea, Zyon McCollum, and Logan Hall. They were overshadowed, however, by the sheer ineptitude of players like K.J. Britt and Jamel Dean - but more on them later. This was an all out defensive failure that cost the Bucs the game. The offense did what it needed to do to win and the defense just gave it away. Twice.
2.) Back To Britt And Dean. K.J. Britt is a leader in the locker room, he’s a vocal guy, he earned the opportunity he’s gotten - but at some point you have to say enough is enough. He was likely on the cusp of losing his starting job to SirVocea Dennis before Dennis got hurt and now he’s one the biggest liabilities in pass coverage that this team has. He was so bad on Thursday that he made Devin White look like prime Darrelle Revis by comparison. Other teams took advantage of his shortcomings in coverage, but Cousins straight up bullied him. As for Dean, at some point he has to step up. He’s been bad the first five weeks and there’s no signs it’s going to get any better. It’s pretty simple - figure out how to actually stop opposing receivers and get some pass breakups or the Bucs are going to cut him after the season. McCollum is the unquestioned CB1 on this team and come draft season we’re going to talk about corner being a potential first round pick for this defense.
3.) Baker Keeps Baking. At this point, if people aren’t giving Baker his due it’s because they hate him and they just won’t. Not an eye-popping statline - 19/24 for 180 and three touchdowns, but added another 42 on the ground - but Baker has been everything the Bucs have needed him to be this season. Yes, he left a few plays out there, but you can’t ask him for a much more efficient game. He kept the Bucs in the lead until the final second and led the offense on big drives to answer Falcons’ scoring drives time after time after time. This Baker/Liam Coen connection could be an all-timer for this franchise. You would just expect that when the Bucs score 30 on offense that the defense does enough to get the win.
4.) Bucky’s Fumble Was The Turning Point. Yes, I know - Lavonte David got an interception right after that fumble, but that fumble is what effectively ended things. For the first time all night - except for two plays in the first half - the run game was actually moving. The Bucs had picked up two first downs on the ground and Bucky was on his way to a third, possibly even a touchdown, when Jessie Bates hit him with the Peanut Punch and knocked the ball loose. At the very least, the Bucs were getting a field goal on that drive but with the way they were clicking, that was likely going to end in six points and a two score game with around two minutes left. It was a bad mistake at the worst time, but you wonder what might have been had it not been for that fumble.
5.) Stop Blaming The Officiating. Overall, that wasn’t the worst officiated game for the Bucs this season, but it wasn’t the referees’ fault the Bucs lost this one. Yes, calling the blatant facemask penalty would have off-set the holding call on Graham Barton and from 2nd and 13, who knows what happens. The Bucs pick up the first down, the game is over. They don’t, they kick a field goal and force the Falcons to score a touchdown instead of a game tying field goal. Though, with the way the defense was playing, is anyone actually confident the defense would have kept them out of the end zone? The Bucs had plenty of chances to ice this one and didn’t. Blaming that one call is a cop out.
6.) An Early Season Must Win. The Buccaneers have ten days to get healthy and get their head straight - because they have to beat the New Orleans Saints. Falling to .500 on the season and 0-2 in the division is a hole they may not be able to climb out of. They needed to come out of the month of October having gone 2-1 in their three division games. In Atlanta, they gave a game away and put the pressure on themselves to win the next two. Baker was talking about earlier this week, that the Bucs were 3-1 last season too and before you knew it, they were 4-7. Hopefully they get Antoine Winfield Jr, Calijah Kancey, and Luke Goedeke back sooner than later - and I’m guessing at the very least that Winfield will be back next week - but this team has some extra time to get things figured out and get a huge win next week. If not, they put themselves in a hole in that division race that will likely have them fighting for a wildcard spot.
100 - Touchdowns by Mike Evans. His next receiving touchdown will mark 100 of those, placing him in a tie with Tim Brown and Steve Largent for ninth all time and becoming just the eleventh player in NFL history to get 100 receiving touchdowns
22 - Games with multiple touchdown receptions for Mike Evans, seventh most in NFL history
53 - Games with 5+ receptions for 50+ yards by Chris Godwin, second most since 2019 (Davante Adams and Stefon Diggs each have 54)
85.3% - Chase McLaughlin’s kick percentage on field goals from 50+ yards, the highest in NFL history with at least 20 attempts
113.1 - Mayfield’s passer rating on the season, third best in the NFL
1.) Kansas City Chiefs - Lost Rashee Rice, lost Isaiah Pacheco, still find a way to win
2.) Minnesota Vikings - Yep, they’re for real. Maybe the Jets really are the problem?
3.) Buffalo Bills - That loss was an outlier. Buffalo is about to rattle off four straight wins
4.) San Francisco 49ers - Defense starting to click, offense is getting healthy - and McCaffrey will still be back sooner than later
5.) Baltimore Ravens - That was absolute dominance and what the Ravens needed to get back on track
9.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Mini-bye on the horizon. Need to get healthy and bounce back against the Saints
On one hand, we’re coming off easily the most entertaining and exciting Thursday night game we’ve had yet this season. Shoot, it’ll probably be the best one we’ll get all year. On the other hand, the Bucs lost in overtime to the Falcons in a game that they should have won - twice. This was a missed opportunity that we might be revisiting come December and the playoff race.
Let’s Pick Six.
1.) What Was That? It’s hard to point to a worse defensive performance for this team since Todd Bowles came to town in 2019. That was just absolutely abysmal. Yes, the team is riddled with injuries, yes they lost more players during the game - but there was no pressure on Kirk Cousins all night long. The coverage was soft at best, usually non-existent. There were solid performances turned in from Lavonte David, Vita Vea, Zyon McCollum, and Logan Hall. They were overshadowed, however, by the sheer ineptitude of players like K.J. Britt and Jamel Dean - but more on them later. This was an all out defensive failure that cost the Bucs the game. The offense did what it needed to do to win and the defense just gave it away. Twice.
2.) Back To Britt And Dean. K.J. Britt is a leader in the locker room, he’s a vocal guy, he earned the opportunity he’s gotten - but at some point you have to say enough is enough. He was likely on the cusp of losing his starting job to SirVocea Dennis before Dennis got hurt and now he’s one the biggest liabilities in pass coverage that this team has. He was so bad on Thursday that he made Devin White look like prime Darrelle Revis by comparison. Other teams took advantage of his shortcomings in coverage, but Cousins straight up bullied him. As for Dean, at some point he has to step up. He’s been bad the first five weeks and there’s no signs it’s going to get any better. It’s pretty simple - figure out how to actually stop opposing receivers and get some pass breakups or the Bucs are going to cut him after the season. McCollum is the unquestioned CB1 on this team and come draft season we’re going to talk about corner being a potential first round pick for this defense.
3.) Baker Keeps Baking. At this point, if people aren’t giving Baker his due it’s because they hate him and they just won’t. Not an eye-popping statline - 19/24 for 180 and three touchdowns, but added another 42 on the ground - but Baker has been everything the Bucs have needed him to be this season. Yes, he left a few plays out there, but you can’t ask him for a much more efficient game. He kept the Bucs in the lead until the final second and led the offense on big drives to answer Falcons’ scoring drives time after time after time. This Baker/Liam Coen connection could be an all-timer for this franchise. You would just expect that when the Bucs score 30 on offense that the defense does enough to get the win.
4.) Bucky’s Fumble Was The Turning Point. Yes, I know - Lavonte David got an interception right after that fumble, but that fumble is what effectively ended things. For the first time all night - except for two plays in the first half - the run game was actually moving. The Bucs had picked up two first downs on the ground and Bucky was on his way to a third, possibly even a touchdown, when Jessie Bates hit him with the Peanut Punch and knocked the ball loose. At the very least, the Bucs were getting a field goal on that drive but with the way they were clicking, that was likely going to end in six points and a two score game with around two minutes left. It was a bad mistake at the worst time, but you wonder what might have been had it not been for that fumble.
5.) Stop Blaming The Officiating. Overall, that wasn’t the worst officiated game for the Bucs this season, but it wasn’t the referees’ fault the Bucs lost this one. Yes, calling the blatant facemask penalty would have off-set the holding call on Graham Barton and from 2nd and 13, who knows what happens. The Bucs pick up the first down, the game is over. They don’t, they kick a field goal and force the Falcons to score a touchdown instead of a game tying field goal. Though, with the way the defense was playing, is anyone actually confident the defense would have kept them out of the end zone? The Bucs had plenty of chances to ice this one and didn’t. Blaming that one call is a cop out.
6.) An Early Season Must Win. The Buccaneers have ten days to get healthy and get their head straight - because they have to beat the New Orleans Saints. Falling to .500 on the season and 0-2 in the division is a hole they may not be able to climb out of. They needed to come out of the month of October having gone 2-1 in their three division games. In Atlanta, they gave a game away and put the pressure on themselves to win the next two. Baker was talking about earlier this week, that the Bucs were 3-1 last season too and before you knew it, they were 4-7. Hopefully they get Antoine Winfield Jr, Calijah Kancey, and Luke Goedeke back sooner than later - and I’m guessing at the very least that Winfield will be back next week - but this team has some extra time to get things figured out and get a huge win next week. If not, they put themselves in a hole in that division race that will likely have them fighting for a wildcard spot.
100 - Touchdowns by Mike Evans. His next receiving touchdown will mark 100 of those, placing him in a tie with Tim Brown and Steve Largent for ninth all time and becoming just the eleventh player in NFL history to get 100 receiving touchdowns
22 - Games with multiple touchdown receptions for Mike Evans, seventh most in NFL history
53 - Games with 5+ receptions for 50+ yards by Chris Godwin, second most since 2019 (Davante Adams and Stefon Diggs each have 54)
85.3% - Chase McLaughlin’s kick percentage on field goals from 50+ yards, the highest in NFL history with at least 20 attempts
113.1 - Mayfield’s passer rating on the season, third best in the NFL
1.) Kansas City Chiefs - Lost Rashee Rice, lost Isaiah Pacheco, still find a way to win
2.) Minnesota Vikings - Yep, they’re for real. Maybe the Jets really are the problem?
3.) Buffalo Bills - That loss was an outlier. Buffalo is about to rattle off four straight wins
4.) San Francisco 49ers - Defense starting to click, offense is getting healthy - and McCaffrey will still be back sooner than later
5.) Baltimore Ravens - That was absolute dominance and what the Ravens needed to get back on track
9.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Mini-bye on the horizon. Need to get healthy and bounce back against the Saints
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