TRICK OR TREAT?
I don’t know what to expect from this Buccaneers team anymore. They may have brought the same players back that won a Super Bowl last season, but THIS is not the same team that won that Super Bowl. THIS team just lost to a New Orleans Saints team that had NO DREW BREES, NO MICHAEL THOMAS, and Trevor Seimian at quarterback.
TREVOR SEIMIAN? REALLY???
THIS team has only beaten one team with a winning record this season, and that was a close 31-29 win over the Dallas Cowboys (6-1) in Week 1. The other teams they’ve beaten this year were the Falcons (3-4), Patriots (4-4), Dolphins (1-7), Eagles (3-5), and Bears (3-5). Their two losses, this season, have both come at the hands of teams with winning records, the Rams (7-1) and Saints (5-2), who might be the worst 5-2 team in NFL history.
In the Bucs’ first “must-win” game of the season, THIS team acted like it was anything but and lost a division game 36-27 DESPITE knocking Saints starting quarterback Jameis Winston out early on. I’m not going to drag this out any longer than I absolutely have to, so let’s talk about this debacle and move on. There was nothing “GOOD” in this game. Everything was “BAD” and/or “UGLY“. Everything. Absolutely everything. So here you go.
THE GOOD
CHRIS GODWIN
The lone bright spot on an otherwise dark day. Godwin finished this game with 8 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown in his expanded role with Antonio Brown out. That’s all.
THE BAD
THE “DEFENSE”
Or should I say lack thereof, allowed a third-string quarterback with one legit offensive weapon to march down and score on five of the seven drives that he lead in the three quarters that he played? Technically, they only allowed 361 total yards, 209 passing, and 152 rushing. That’s not bad—right? Even though that sounds like a bunch of rushing yards on this defense, Jameis Winston had 40 yards of that in the first quarter. They actually held Alvin Kamara to just 61 yards rushing. Their leading receiver was Kevin White, whose ONLY catch was his first since 2018, and it went for 38 yards. They just could not get off the field. The Saints offense ran 72 plays, had over 33 minutes in time of possession, had 26 first downs, and converted two of three fourth-down attempts. Oh, and 6 of the 26 first downs were by penalty, but I’ll touch more on that bullshit in a minute. They just continue to play undisciplined, unintelligent football, and it FINALLY cost them a game.
THE NOBODY’S
I mean, seriously? Todd Bowles and his defense full of Pro Bowlers and superstars got beat by Sean Payton and those guys? Just take a look at this list of players who contributed to “beating” the Bucs in this game.
QB Trevor Seimian– threw his first touchdown pass since 2017 in this game.
WR Kevin White– got his first catch since 2018 for a big first down
TE Garrett Griffin– had one catch for 4 yards in 2017 and nothing since had 3 catches for 30 yards in this game
FB Alex Armah Jr.– caught his first TD since 2019, and it was his ONLY catch of the game.
I mean, how does that happen? A bunch of guys that have been stocking grocery shelves off and on for the last few years; beat the defending Super Bowl champs?
THE PENALTIES…AGAIN
It was a problem in the first half of last season, and it’s been a problem for the first half of this one. Dumb penalties. The Bucs have been one of the most penalized teams in the NFL this year, and it continued to be an issue in this game. They finished with 11 of them for 99 yards. They gave the Saints 6 first downs and directly led to 13 points on Sunday. Bruce Arians called it “an embarrassing display“, and I would agree. Is the HORRIBLE officiating part of it? Of course. But this team continues to play undisciplined football making stupid mental mistakes, and it cost them an important game.
THE OFFICIATING…AGAIN
It’s been an issue all year. Bad officiating. Weak calls. Ticky tack calls. Phantom calls. No calls. You name it, and the Bucs have been on the receiving end of just about every kind of bad call in the book. Is it an excuse? No. Great teams don’t leave the game close enough for the refs to be able to influence a game like this. Anyway, the officiating in this game was terrible. Back-to-back “roughing the passer” calls on Devin White and Will Gholston that were both questionable. The “horsecollar tackle” on Devin White that, even though it technically was according to the rule book, seemed pretty ticky-tack to me. The “taunting” call on Devin White. Maybe the refs were targeting White for some reason in this game. I don’t know. Apparently, the Bucs players were warned by the Tampa Bay coaching staff before the game that this particular officiating crew would be overly protective of the quarterback. They weren’t lying.
THE UGLY
THE TURNOVERS
The Bucs have been pretty good in this department so far this season. In fact, they had one of the best turnover ratios in the league coming into this game. They had three on Sunday, all committed by Tom Brady. However, none of them appeared to be his fault. The fumble occurred when the Saints Cameron Jordan pushed right tackle Tristan Wirfs back into Brady, which knocked the ball out of his hands. And both interceptions were apparently due to receivers running the wrong routes, including the pick-six that inevitably ended Tampa Bay’s chances. In any case, it was an unusual day for Brady and the offense, so I’ll just chalk it up to them having a bad game and move on.
THE SUMMARY
The Buccaneers beat themselves in this game. I REFUSE to give the Saints ANY credit for this win. Maybe the refs deserve some, but not the Saints. The Bucs literally gave a tutorial on “How to Beat Yourself In a Football Game“. Commit turnovers, don’t force any turnovers, commit penalties or make mental mistakes. That’s how “good” teams lose to inferior teams. And make no mistake, these New Orleans Saints are an inferior team any way you slice it. “Great” teams don’t let this happen. That’s why THIS team is not “great“.
I don’t know if guys were too busy planning their bye week vacations or what, but there is NO EXCUSE for losing to THIS Saints team. None. It’s actually inexcusable. My only hope is that something clicks with THIS team over the bye week. This game reminds me an awful lot like the Bears game from last year. A ton of self-inflicted errors, on the road and losing to an inferior team. Now we’ll just have to see if they can bounce back as they did after that game too.
Now I’m not one of these “THE SKY IS FALLING!” kind of fans after a loss. But THIS was more than a loss. THIS was a division game, with a division rival, who lost their starting QB and had to play their third-stringer. And let’s be honest, none of us wanted to see Jameis dancing around the locker room celebrating yet another win over his former team, especially when he’s on crutches. I just hope that this bye week is the turning point of the season just like it was last year. Remember when the Bucs lost back-to-back 27-24 games against the Rams and Chiefs, putting them at 7-5 just before the bye; last season? They came back from that bye and won eight straight games, including the Super Bowl. I’m hoping that’s what happens here. I’m hoping this was a wake-up call for this team. I’m hoping that this lights a fire under their asses. They have two weeks to get healthy, get some rest, and get some perspective. And I’m hoping they do just that. Of the nine games they have left, only two are against teams with winning records (Bills, Saints), and four of them are at home. They have a chance to make a run here in the second half of the season IF they can get their shit together during this break. All I can say is that I feel sorry for Washington because they’re going to be the first victim of the Bucs killing spree when they return in Week 10.
Until then, as always, GO BUCS!!!