A WIN IS A WIN, ESPECIALLY IN THE PLAYOFFS!

Well it wasn’t pretty, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveled to the land of stolen elections and pillaged their first playoff win in 18 years beating the Washington Redskins (Yeah, I said it!) 31-23 Saturday night in a game that was much closer than it should’ve been.

The Bucs offense helped them jump out to an early lead, but the defense let Washington hang around to keep the game interesting up until the last few minutes. There was some GOOD stuff in this game. There was some BAD stuff in this game. But the whole game was UGLY, especially for the defense. So here’s what I saw in this week’s PLAYOFF game between the Bucs and Skins.

 

THE GOOD

The Run Defense

The Buccaneers showed why they were the #1 rushing defense in football Saturday night by holding Washington’s Antonio Gibson to just 31 yards on 14 carries for a 2.2 yards per carry average. Taylor Heinicke was Washington’s leading rusher with 6 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown AND he had their longest run of the night of 13 yards.

The Offense

Tom Brady played a beautiful game on Saturday night finishing 22 of 40 for 381 yards and 2 touchdowns doing most of his damage in the first half (209 yards, 2 TD’s). Not bad considering Washington was a Top 5 defense allowing just 10 passing touchdowns all season. Brady set a new Bucs playoff record with the 381 yards passing, smashing Brad Johnson’s record of 259 yards from the 2002 NFC title game. He received a 90.8 grade from ProFootballFocus.com in this game and no other quarterback received higher than an 80 grade against Washington this season.

Mike Evans, Cam Brate and Chris Godwin all had more than 79 yards in this game, which matches the number of 79+ receiving yard games in the Bucs previous 15 postseason games combined. In fact, the Buccaneers had just three 80 yard receiving games in their franchise history entering this game.

Leonard Fournette

With Ronald Jones being a late scratch from the game, Fournette stepped up and had a HUGE night with 19 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown while averaging 5 yards per carry. He also added 4 catches for 39 yards out of the backfield. That was the second most rushing yards given up by the Washington defense this season behind Nick Chubb’s 108 yards. It was also the third most rushing yards in a single game in Buccaneers playoff history behind Ricky Bell (142) in 1979 and Michael Pittman (124) in the Super Bowl. His 132 yards from scrimmage is also the second most in a single game in Bucs playoff history.

Donovan Smith

The Bucs left tackle takes a ton of criticism, a lot of times for good reason, but on Saturday he arguably had his best game as a Buccaneer. Even though the coaching staff did give him a little help at times with a tight end or extra tackle, Smith held the beast Chase Young to just 3 tackles (none for loss), 1 QB hurry and zero sacks. It was a brilliant performance by him, but the Bucs will need that same kind of effort again when they play the Saints on Sunday.

Mike Evans

Even though Bruce Arians said that “he was only playing at about 70%” on Saturday night, Mike Evans put up BIG numbers and had some BIG catches against the Redskins finishing with 6 catches for 119 yards. That was the most ever by a Buccaneers receiver in a playoff game, surpassing Ke’Shawn Johnson’s 106 yards against Philly in the 2000 season. It was a gutsy performance considering he had just hyperextended his knee last week.

The Tight Ends

The Bucs tight ends played a HUGE role in this game. Rob Gronkowski stayed in to help block more than usual and did a fantastic job keeping that dangerous Washington d-line in check for most of the night. With Gronk busy blocking, Cam Brate had his biggest game of the season finishing with 4 catches for 80 yards, including a couple of BIG third down catches. They too will need to put out that same kind of performance against the Saints for the Bucs to have a chance to win on Sunday.

Ryan Succop

I think it’s safe to say that the Buccaneers decade long kicking curse is finally over. Succop made all five of his kicks on Saturday (4 FG’s, 1 XP), although he did have an extra point blocked. This upcoming game against the Saints could come down to the wire, so it’s nice for the Bucs to FINALLY have a kicker that we can have confidence in.

 

THE BAD

The Third Quarter

After leading 18-7 at halftime, the Bucs came out of the locker room and let Washington right back into the game. The defense gave up a 7 play/52 yard drive AND a 7 play/61 yard drive, as well as 9 points. And the offense only got two possessions, which resulted in a punt and a fumble by rookie running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn.

The Redzone Offense

Tampa Bay’s offense left a ton of points on the field Saturday night. They moved the ball really well in between the 20’s, but the redzone offense killed them. They reached Washington’s 11, 5, 20 and 19 yard lines and only came away with four field goals. Sure it’s nice coming away with any points, but that adds up to another 16 points that should’ve been on the scoreboard. That’s something they need to get corrected before Sunday because they will not beat the Saints kicking field goals.

The Missed Catches

One of the only issues for the offense on Saturday was dropped passes, and there were a bunch of them. Mike Evans had a drop. Cam Brate dropped a touchdown pass. Jordan Whitehead dropped an interception that hit him right in the chest. But the biggest surprise of all was Chris Godwin’s five dropped passes. That’s right, five drops. The normally sure handed Godwin only had 6 career drops in 2,712 snaps before this game.

The Missed Sacks

The Bucs defense just could not get to the elusive Taylor Heinicke on Saturday night. They only finished with two sacks, one by Anthony Nelson and one by a blitzing Lavonte David. But they missed out on at least six opportunities to sack Heinicke and instead let him loose to scramble for first downs or positive plays.

The Missed Players

One reason that Heinicke was able to scramble for so many yards on Saturday was because the Bucs were missing Devin White and his sideline to sideline speed. Kevin Minter didn’t play bad in his absence, but he’s just not the same player.

Another absence that hurt the Bucs was when right guard Alex Cappa left the game and reserve lineman Ted Larsen came in to replace him. Larsen gave up one of Washington’s three sacks and he wasn’t near as effective in run blocking as Cappa. After finding out that Cappa suffered a season ending ankle fracture, the Bucs will need to find a better solution than Larsen for right guard against the Saints. Look for them to use veteran backup Aaron Stinnie at right guard on Sunday instead.

The Fumbles

With just under two minutes left in the first half, Washington started a drive on their own 25 yard line. On 1st &10, Anthony Nelson sacked Taylor Heinicke causing a CLEAR fumble which was then CLEARLY recovered by Shaq Barrett. The officials ruled him “down by contact” and Washington retained possession of the ball. They punted a few plays later however, the Bucs went from having the ball at Washington’s 20 yard line with 1:50 left to starting at their own 26 yard line with about 1:22 left. They missed out on at least 3 points with this one.

Midway through the third quarter, the Bucs were ahead 18-10 and moving the ball down the field once again. On 1st & 10 at the Skins 44, rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn ran off the left guard for a gain of 6 yards but fumbled while fighting for extra yardage. Washington recovered and went 61 yards in 7 plays to make it an 18-16 ball game. That was at least a 10 point swing in this game.

 

THE UGLY

The Game

The Bucs offense looked pretty good most of this game, but they could’ve been much better in the redzone. The defense was disappointing giving up 375 total yards and 23 points to a bottom ranked offense led by a career backup quarterback. This game wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. And that’s all that matters in the playoffs. Whether it was an ugly 8 point win or a perfect 40 point win, it doesn’t matter. The Bucs are moving on to play in the divisional round.

 

THE PLAYOFF PICTURE

Even though the Bucs won their game on Saturday night, they had to wait until Sunday night to find out who they were playing. It was either going to be the Saints in New Orleans or the Rams in Tampa. It turned out to be the Saints. Tom Brady has never lost to the same team three times in one season. It’s only happened once in team history where the Bucs have faced an opponent in the playoffs that had swept them in the regular season. That was in 1997 and they lost to Green Bay. Now they get a third shot at Brees and the Saints who have won five in a row against the Bucs by a combined score of 165-81 in those games. This season alone, they’ve been outscored 72-26 in their two meetings with losses by 11 points in Week 1 and 35 points in Week 9. Brees has outplayed Brady in those contest with 382 yards and 6 touchdowns compared to 448 yards, 2 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

Todd Bowles Buccaneers defense has not been able to hold Sean Payton’s offense to less than 27 points in their four meetings, while allowing more than 31 points twice. Bruce Arians Buccaneers offense has never scored more than 24 points against the Saints. It’s clear that what they’ve been doing in the past is just not working, so they will need to change things up if they want to have a chance at winning this game in New Orleans on Sunday.

 

THE CONCLUSION

Tampa Bay was lucky to play the way they did in this wildcard game and come away with a win. Had they been playing anyone else but Washington and Taylor Heinicke, they probably would’ve lost. The offense needs to be better in the redzone. The defense needs to be more aggressive in pass coverage. And Succop needs to keep making his kicks. As long as they do all that, they should give the Saints all they can handle on Sunday.

Until then, as always…GO BUCS!!!

 

THE BUCCANEERS ARE PLAYOFF BOUND!

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished their regular season off with a BOOM by completing a 2020 sweep of the Atlanta Falcons, beating them 44-27 at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.

The offense was clicking. The defense held strong, despite missing multiple key pieces. Records were broken. Bonuses were earned. That elusive 11th win was achieved. And the fifth seed of the NFC playoffs was clinched. The home fans couldn’t have asked for a much better outcome. There was a ton of GOOD in this game, but there was also some BAD stuff that needs to be addressed before the Bucs postseason begins. As for the UGLY part of this game, well that should be obvious to everyone that was watching. So without any further adieux, here’s what I came up with for the Bucs vs Falcons Part II.

 

THE GOOD

Tom FREAKING Brady

“Old man” Brady finished this game 26 of 41 for 399 yards, 4 touchdowns and an interception that wasn’t his fault. The four scores gives him 40 passing touchdowns for the season, which is a new Buccaneers record breaking Jameis Winston’s 33 touchdowns set just last year. It’s also the second most he’s thrown in a season since he had 50 in 2007 AND it’s just the 15th time a quarterback has thrown for 40+ TD’s in a season with Brady being the oldest to EVER do it at 43 years old. It also breaks Peyton Manning’s record of passing touchdowns in the first year with a new team (37) from 2012 in Denver.

He ends the regular season completing 66% (ties for fourth highest of his career) of his passes for 4,633 yards (fifth most of his career), 40 touchdowns (second most of his career) and 12 interceptions (ties for third most of his career). He also added 3 rushing touchdowns (ties for second most of his career) just because he can.

Over his last eight quarters, Tom Brady has thrown for 1,126 yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception (that wasn’t his fault). That would average out to 563 yards and 5 touchdowns per game.

The Offense

From halftime of their first meeting to halftime of this game, the Bucs outscored the Falcons 54-20 and scored 75 points total against Atlanta. In just 64 plays, the Buccaneers offense totaled 485 yards, including 391 passing and 94 rushing. Tom Brady threw for 399 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ronald Jones ran for 78 yards and a touchdown. Antonio Brown had 138 yards and 2 touchdowns while Chris Godwin had 133 yards and 2 touchdowns. And the Bucs NEVER punted.

The Records

There were some NFL and franchise records broken in this game. The biggest of them all was set by Mike Evans who capped off his NFL record seventh straight 1,000 yard season to start his career breaking the previous record held by Randy Moss. There’s only five receivers in NFL history with longer streaks of 1,000 yards and it’s an impressive list: Jerry Rice (11), Tim Brown (9), Cris Carter (8), Marvin Harrison (8) and Torry Holt (8).

Tom Brady’s 4,633 passing yards is the second most in a single season in team history behind Jameis Winston’s 5,109 yards last year. His 40 touchdowns extended the franchise record that he set last week, breaking Winston’s record of 33 TD’s from last year. He also set a number of team records for Buccaneers QB’s that started all 16 games: most wins (11), highest completion percentage (65%), highest TD% (6.6), lowest INT% (1.9), highest QB rating (102.2), highest QBR (72.4), lowest sack percentage since 1979 (3.4).

Ryan Succop set a new franchise record of 136 points by a single player, breaking Matt Bryant’s 131 points in the 2008 season. He also finished the season making 90.3% of his field goals, which is the first time a Bucs kicker has ever kicked more than 30 field goals and made more than 90% of them.

Ronald Jones II came into this game needing 100 rushing yards to reach the 1,000 yard mark for the first time in his career. He finished with 12 carries for 78 yards, giving him 978 yards this season. However he did score a touchdown in this game, which gave him a career best 7 touchdowns for the year. Even though he just missed out on his 1,000 yard season, RoJo did set a new franchise record by averaging 5.09 yards per carry for the season.

Chris Godwin finished this game with 5 catches for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was his first and only 100-yard game of the season. In just 12 games this season, he finished with 84 catches for 840 yards and 7 touchdowns. He now has 3,482 career receiving yards, moving him up to 9th all time for the Bucs.

This year, the Bucs offense scored 492 points breaking the team single season record of 458 points set just last year. No other Bucs team has ever had more than 400 points in a season. The 44-27 win over the Falcons, combined with their 47-7 win over the Lions last week, was the first time a Bucs team has ever scored 40+ points in back to back games. Scoring 44+ points in back to back games has only happened one other time in the NFL since 2017. They’ve hit that 40 point mark four times this season and five times total in two years under Arians, after doing it just four times from 2002 to 2018. They scored 24+ points in each of their last seven games, which is the longest streak in franchise history.

With this win against Atlanta, the Bucs finished the season with four straight wins for the first time in team history. They’ve gone 3-1 over their final four games 8 times, but never went 4-0 until now. The Bucs won those four games with a plus-73 point differential. From 2015-19, only two teams in the NFL have done that or better, the 2016 Patriots and Falcons who met in the Super Bowl that year.

Antonio Brown

When Mike Evans went out with the knee injury early on in this game, somebody had to step up. That guy was Antonio Brown who finished with 11 catches for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns. In the 8 games that he played with Tampa, he finished with 45 catches for 483 yards and 4 touchdowns. An interesting thing happened at the end of this game. With the Bucs in the lead and Ronald Jones needing just 22 yards to reach his 1,000 yard season, the Bucs chose to run three straight pass plays to Brown so that he would reach 45 catches and trigger a $250,000 performance bonus.

The Sweep

By beating the Falcons on Sunday, the Bucs completed a season sweep of two division teams for the first time since 2007, the last time they made the playoffs. They’ve only done that three times in franchise history: 2007 (won the division), 2005 (won the division) and 2002 (won the Super Bowl).

 

THE BAD

The Third & Fourth Down Defense

The Bucs defense had a tough time getting off the field on Sunday. It didn’t help that they were missing three of their best players in Devin White, Shaq Barrett and Carlton Davis. They had an especially hard time on third and fourth down. The Falcons were 7 of 14 in third down efficiency and 2 of 3 in fourth down efficiency. Atlanta ran 71 offensive plays and had 33:12 in time of possession, both more than the Bucs. Hopefully getting two of the three missing pieces back will help them when they play Washington on Saturday.

The Scheduling

The NFL has once again found a way to screw the Buccaneers. They scheduled the Bucs wildcard playoff game against the Redskins for Saturday instead of Sunday. Why is that important? Because Devin White could’ve been available to play on Sunday IF he had two negative COVID-19 tests this week. Now since the Bucs play on Saturday, there’s no chance for him to play at all in the wildcard game.

 

THE UGLY

The Injury

It’s safe to say that when we all saw Mike Evans go down clinching his knee after slipping on the turf, we were all holding our breath. Luckily for Mike and all of us, the MRI showed no structural damage to his knee and he only suffered a hyperextension. If all goes well, he should be on the field Saturday for his first career playoff game.

 

THE SEASON

The Bucs went from a league leading 41 turnovers last year to just 17 turnovers this year. That’s the third best improvement by ANY team in the Super Bowl era.

Over the last two years under Bruce Arians, the Bucs offense has scored 23 or more points in a half 12 times. They did that just 7 times in the previous five seasons.

The Bucs finished fourth in the NFL with a +137 point differential. Only the Ravens (+165), Saints (+145) and Packers (+140) were better.

Rob Gronkowski played all 16 games for the first time since his 2011 season.

The Bucs and Colts were the ONLY teams in the NFL to finish in the top ten in total offense, total defense, scoring offense and scoring defense this season.

The Bucs led the league in penalties last year with 134 total for 1,111 yards. They finished this year with just 84 (13th fewest in the league) for 715 yards. That’s 50 less flags this season for an improvement of 396 yards.

Offensive rankings: #3 in scoring, #7 in total offense, #28 in rushing, #2 in passing, #2 in sack percentage, #7 in redzone

Defensive rankings: #8 in scoring, #6 in total defense, #1 in rushing, #21 in passing, #7 in sack percentage, #20 in redzone

Rookie right tackle Tristan Wirfs had one of the most impressive rookie seasons in Buccaneers history. He was the ONLY player on the team to play every snap on offense or defense this season. He didn’t give up a sack in his final 11 games. He’s the only right tackle in the NFL who played more than 900 snaps and gave up one or less sacks and less than ten QB hits. He finished this season allowing just 1 sack, 7 QB hits and 21 pressures in 1,073 snaps.

The secret to the Bucs success this season was continuity. They had 11 players start all 16 games this season, which tied for most in the NFL with Seattle.

 

THE PLAYOFF PICTURE

With the playoff seeds set, the Bucs will travel to Washington DC to play their wildcard game on Saturday night. The Redskins won the NFC East with a 7-9 record. Washington has just one win over a team with more than six wins while the Bucs have four such wins. The Bucs and Redskins had four common opponents this season (Rams, Giants, Lions, Panthers). Tampa was 4-1 in those games with a +77 point differential, while Washington was 0-5 against those teams with a -34 point differential. Washington hasn’t allowed more than 20 points in six straight games. Tampa Bay has scored more than 24 points in seven straight games, including 31 or more points in their last 3 games. Something has to give in this one.

The Bucs players shouldn’t be looking past Washington, but we sure can. So here are the scenarios for Tampa Bay IF they win on Saturday:

Saints AND Seahawks WIN, Bucs play at Green Bay

Bears AND Seahawks WIN, Bucs play at Seattle

Saints AND Rams WIN, Bucs play at New Orleans

Bears AND Rams WIN, Bucs would host Rams

Got it? Good.

 

THE CONCLUSION

The Buccaneers completed their season sweep of the Falcons to finish 4-2 in the division. Ending this season with four straight wins for the first time in franchise history is just what they needed. Clinching their 11th win AND that fifth seed in the playoffs was important. They handled their business…and now they’re in the playoffs.

Playoff football is back in Tampa Bay, Bucs fans! Enjoy it. Soak it all in because it can be gone in the blink of an eye. The Bucs haven’t made it past the wildcard round since they won the Super Bowl. In fact, four of the last five times they’ve made the playoffs, they lost to an NFC East team in the wildcard round. Washington’s defense is no joke, especially their front four. The Bucs offensive line will have their hands full, but IF they can do their jobs and keep Tom Brady upright, they should be okay in this game.

The magic number for the offense is 25 points. They’re 11-0 when they score 25+ points and 0-5 when they score 24 points or less. For the defense, it’s 26 points. They’re 8-1 when holding opponents to 26 points or less and 3-4 when they give up 27 points or more. Sounds easy, right? We’ll see on Saturday night.

Until then, as always…GO BUCS!!!

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers make the playoffs for the first time in what seems like a million years! It is a time for rejoicing! Saturday is the day, and Washington is the location. The Football team is 7-9, the Bucs are 11-5; neither team should be taken lightly, despite the feeling that the Buccaneers will skate through Washington without a hiccup. However, there is more going on to the story than just the playoffs, but the playoffs are first and foremost on the minds of our OC and DC.

Pewter Report has been on this every step of the way and was the FIRST to report the interest in Todd Bowles to interview for their head coaching position. Bowles, of course, has work to do, but he did confirm that he will be conducting that interview in the offseason. I would hate to lose our fearless defensive coordinator, but would be extremely happy for the man! 

Additionally, there is the word being put out that there is interest in our offense coordinator, Byron Leftwich, by his alma mater, Marshall, for the head coaching position. Of course, the connection is strong between the two, but playoffs are the first business that will be conducted. Leftwich played for 5 seasons at Marshall, recording 11,903 yards and 89 TDs, and still owns 9 top-10 passing records at Marshall. 

Playoffs first! But the Buccaneers are surely in danger of losing both of their coordinators  to the offseason.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
The Buccaneers did not practice Tuesday. The Tuesday practice report is an estimation.
Practice Report
	DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
	Tuesday	CB Carlton Davis (groin), WR Mike Evans (knee), DT Jeremiah Ledbetter (calf), RB LeSean McCoy (not injury related), LB Jason Pierre-Paul (knee)
	Wednesday	WR Mike Evans (knee), DT Jeremiah Ledbetter (calf), LB Jason Pierre-Paul (knee)
	LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
	Wednesday	CB Carlton Davis (groin)
	FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
	Tuesday	RB Ronald Jones (finger, quadricep)
	Wednesday	RB Ronald Jones (finger, quadricep), RB LeSean McCoy (not injury related)
WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM
Washington did not practice Tuesday. The Tuesday practice report is an estimation.
Practice Report
	DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
	Tuesday	DT Jonathan Allen (not injury related), LB Thomas Davis (knee), RB Antonio Gibson (toe), WR Terry McLaurin (ankle), QB Alex Smith (calf)
	Wednesday	LB Thomas Davis (knee)
	LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
	Tuesday	LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (ankle), G Brandon Scherff (shoulder)
	Wednesday	CB Kendall Fuller (knee), RB Antonio Gibson (toe), WR Terry McLaurin (ankle), LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (ankle), G Brandon Scherff (shoulder), QB Alex Smith (calf)
	FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
	Wednesday	DT Jonathan Allen (not injury related)

*Source: The National Football League

Never mind that it’s an expanded format in the middle of a raging Covid-19 Pandemic Season. The likes our nation has never seen among more recent generations. I remember last season when we went on a winning streak as the Season’s End neared. At that point, the playoffs were a possibility for us. It didn’t take but an instant to shake us back to reality with that dirty word, losing. The Bucs have been just good enough to put a few wins together in so many seasons to raise the hopes of its playoff hungry fan base. Only to dash them and leave us with an empty feeling in our breadbasket. In the 44 years of the Bucs’ existence, they have been to the Post-Season 10 times. Half of those ten times were wild card births. That’s right, the Buccaneers have only won their division to make the playoffs 5 times. To say the least: it’s been a hot mess.

Enter Tom and Gronk, among others, and a new reason to believe in post-season bliss. Well, strike up the band because our boys have finally reached their 11th playoff birth for the franchise. As it most often does, The Bucs get in via the wild-card. What will the Bucs do, though, now that they have ended the latest ten-year drought? Will it be a brand new day, a clean slate with all participating teams on the same footing? So many questions are bouncing around my brain now that we are back at the post-season party. Will RoJo become a bigger part of the plan, or will his skills and impact be diminished once again by a lack of carries? Will the Offensive line do a disappearing act like it did a time or two during the season? Will Brady and his playoff magic reign supreme? Will we dominate our opponents like we also did a time or two during the 2020 campaign? Or will we get off to another slow start and fall behind early? One and out, or a deep run?

One thing is for sure, it’s a very big deal for our favorite heart breakers to have qualified for the NFL After Party. Next year we will again be expecting more of the same. It’s always a larger than life accomplishment; a major step for us to get over the hump and make a run at a Super-Bowl. It happens so little around here; we could never take it for granted. It really is a big deal, don’t we all know it? Go Bucs!!