THE DOINK HEARD ROUND THE WORLD!

No Gronk.

No Gio.

No JPP.

No corners.

The Buccaneers sailed into Boston Harbor with half a crew and a pissed-off Captain and were able to pillage their way to a victory, despite the rainy weather and some terrible calls. Tom Brady and the team got the 19-17 win over his former head coach Bill Belichick and the team, but it wasn’t quite what Bucs fans were hoping for following that tough loss last week. This was a battle. The “GOAT” versus the “Rookie” matchup wasn’t as one-sided as most people were expecting, and the game itself was much closer than any Bucs fan wanted. Nonetheless, Tampa Bay was able to escape Gillette Stadium with the win, and that’s all that matters in the end.

That being said, this week’s “Good, Bad & Ugly” is pretty lopsided. There wasn’t much “good” about this game, except for the win itself. On the other hand, there was plenty of “bad” and “ugly” to go around. The hardest part was deciding which one of the “bad’s” was the “ugliest“. However, after careful consideration, I think I’ve made up my mind. So here is my “Good, Bad and Ugly” from the Bucs vs Patriots game.

THE GOOD

Leonard Fournette

He got the nod to start this game, and boy did he deliver, finishing with 20 carries for 91 yards AND adding 3 catches for 47 yards. He also drew a HUGE pass interference penalty on the Bucs’ final drive that resulted in a 31 yard gain, putting the Bucs into New England territory and setting them up for the game-winning field goal.

Richard Sherman

Even though he was only with the team for five days and three practices, Sherman started versus the Patriots opposite of Carlton Davis. All he did was play 58 of 59 defensive plays AND led the team with 7 tackles AND had a fumble recovery. Not too shabby for a 33-year-old, washed-up “system cornerback“.

The Pass Rush

Through the first three games this season, the Bucs defense had managed just 3 sacks and 17 QB pressures. Despite missing Jason Pierre-Paul in this game, they hassled Mac Jones for most of the night, finishing with 4 sacks from 3 different players (Shaq Barrett, Will Gholston, and rookie Joe Tryon with the first two of his career) along with 12 QB pressures.

The Running Game

The Bucs have not had much success running the football this season. They’ve been one of the worst teams in the league, but they were able to get things going on the ground in this game. Leonard Fournette had 91 yards rushing and averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Ronald Jones only had 6 carries in this game, but he finished with 25 yards and a touchdown averaging 4.2 yards per carry. And Tampa Bay outrushed New England 119 to -1 on Sunday.

The Records

Tom Brady became the NFL’s career passing leader with 80,359 yards taking the honor away from Drew Brees. Other than that, the Bucs passing offense was somewhat ineffective. He also joined an exclusive club, with Brett Favre, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning, of being one of four players in NFL history to beat all 32 teams.

THE BAD

The Passing Game

Blame it on the rain. Blame it on wet footballs. Blame it on emotions. Blame it on whatever you want. But Tom Brady had his worst game of the year finishing 22 of 43 for 269 yards and no touchdowns. There were overthrows by Brady. There were drops by Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, Cam Brate, and OJ Howard. There was a ton of pressure from the Patriots’ d-line, even though they only had one sack for the night from Matt Judon, who was using and abusing Donovan Smith for most of the game. It was not up to “GOAT” standards by any means, but he’ll take the win, come home and get back to work. Especially in this case.

The Officiating; Again

This seems to be a running theme in my “BAD” section each week. I mean, come on, man. They called that CLEAR fumble by Jacoby Meyers caused by Shaq Barrett an incomplete pass. They called a pretty weak pass interference on Richard Sherman. They called a terrible pass interference on Carlton Davis. Then they called a total BS pass interference on Jordan Whitehead when he was clearly going for the ball. They missed the false start on Patriots left tackle Isaiah Wynn on the final drive, AND they missed a fair catch signal by Gunner Olszewski, who proceeded to advance the ball, which should’ve been a penalty. The league apparently has an agenda against the Buccaneers this season, and the refs are doing their best to help them achieve their goal.

The Special Teams

The Buccaneers’ special teams weren’t so special in this game. Bradley Pinion sent the opening kickoff out of bounds giving the Patriots the ball on the 40-yard line for their opening drive. Then kicker Ryan Succop missed a 36-yard field goal, which is rare for the veteran. Luckily, he made up for that mishap later by nailing a pressure-packed 48 yarder for the lead and eventual win late in the game.

Another reason that I listed the special teams unit here is because Carlton Davis was injured while he was on special teams covering a punt. Bruce Arians said that they were in “punt safe” formation, meaning they kept the defense on the field in case of a fake, so that was the explanation. Now, I realize that Davis has played some gunner on special teams since he came into the league, but you would think that the Bucs would limit his ST snaps with all of the other injuries at corner.

The Redzone

The Bucs have been one of the best teams in football, scoring touchdowns in the RedZone so far this season. That was not the case in this game. They were inside the Patriots’ 30-yard line six times but came away with just one touchdown and four field goals missing a fifth. Brady was 3 of 16 for 30 yards in those six trips. Blame the weather. Blame the execution. Blame it on not having Gronk. It all contributed to a terrible RedZone performance where the Bucs left way too many points on the field.

The Weather

It was pouring rain for most of the game, which seemed to have an adverse effect on Tom Brady and the Bucs passing game. Whether it was the wet balls or just rain in his eyes, Brady had issues overthrowing receivers all game. Bruce Arians said that it wasn’t a factor at halftime, but it’s hard to imagine it not being one. Luckily, the rain let up just enough in the fourth quarter to allow Brady to drive down the field and for Ryan Succop to kick the go-ahead field goal.

The Injuries

Already starting this game with two of their top three cornerbacks in street clothes, the Bucs lost their #1 guy Carlton Davis late in the second quarter. For some reason, Davis was playing special teams and pulled up, grabbing at his quad while running punt coverage. Tampa’s secondary has been decimated by injuries, so far this season, and it’s not getting any better. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. also left this game with a possible concussion and never returned.

THE UGLY

The Defense

I didn’t know what to say about the Bucs’ defensive performance in this game. The inconsistency was killing me. Relentless against the run. Getting sacks and turnovers. But then they would get shredded by the rookie quarterback Mac Jones. Maybe shredded isn’t the right word since he had 40 passes for just 275 yards. They also held the Patriots to -1 yard rushing, which is a new team record, although they only ran the ball eight times. There were “good” plays, and there were “bad” plays, but the lack of consistency was just “ugly“. You can blame it on the fact that their top three cornerbacks were all injured if you want. It is a legitimate excuse. But they allowed Jones to complete 19 straight passes, which is the most by a rookie QB in 30 years.

The “Win”

I don’t usually point out two “UGLY” things about these games, but I’ll make an exception for this one. A win is a win. I know. I’ve said it plenty of times before. However, wins can be “ugly” just like losses. The last time the Bucs won on the road scoring less than 20 points was way back in 2005. The last time the Bucs beat the Patriots was way back in Week 1 of 2000, Brady’s rookie season. This was Brady’s 41st win after trailing in the fourth quarter, leaving him just two shy of Peyton Manning’s NFL record. What makes this “ugly” win even better is that it was rare. Bill Belichick was 109-2 at home in games where his team led at halftime. Not this time, Bill.

THE SUMMARY

If you just look at the statistics from this game, you would think the Bucs blew out the Patriots. They ran 20 more plays on offense. They had nearly 100 more total yards. They had fewer penalties. They outrushed them 119 yards to -1 yard. They had more sacks. They caused more turnovers. And they had nearly 5 more minutes in time of possession. Yet, they needed Patriots kicker (and former Bucs kicker) Nick Folk to DOINK a 56-yard field goal off the left upright in the pouring rain to pull this win out. I don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense. But just like I said in Week 1 and Week 2, a win is a win, and we’ll take them however we can get them. I’m just not sure if they can keep winning games like this. This is their second win by less than a field goal this season after having just one such victory in 20 games last year.

 The Bucs are now 3-1 through these first four games and have set themselves up for a nice win streak before their bye week. Their next four opponents are the Dolphins (1-3), at the Eagles (1-3), the Bears (2-2), and the Saints (2-2). That’s a combined record of 6-10 with three of the four games at home. Their next eight opponents have a combined 11-21 record. So if the Bucs can get healthy over the next few weeks and come back from the bye week ready to go, then they should be poised for a playoff run.

Since the Bucs beat the Patriots and the Falcons, Saints, and Panthers all lost over the weekend, Tampa Bay now has sole possession of first place in the NFC South. Now we’ll just have to see if they can stay there when the Dolphins come to town on Sunday.

 Until then, as always; GO BUCS!!!