The Buccaneers celebrated their 25-23 home win against the Giants in week four with a short week and a week five Thursday Night Prime Time home game against the struggling Patriots and ending up losing a game they should have won, so what was different between the two games that caused the Buccaneers to lose a close one?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played a fairly good all-around game in week four against the Giants running out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter and then had to make a kick at the end to win the game as time expired 25 to 23 (gulp… foreshadowing). Then four days later they played again at home in the first of their two prime time games against the struggling 2-2 Patriots.
The Buccaneers for the most part held Tom Brady and the Patriots in check but the offense started out slow for the Buccaneers as they were down 13 to 7 at halftime, and could never catch up thanks to three missed field goals (9 points) by the Buccaneers kicker and despite last minute drive lost to the Patriots 19-14.
With the loss the Buccaneers record slipped to .500 and third in the NFC South at 2-2 as they travel to Glendale Arizona to take on the 2-3 Cardinals, and get some revenge for last season’s week two 40-7 massacre.
First let’s dig deeper into what the Buccaneers did better or worse against the Patriots in the loss compared to week four’s win against the Giants, and I will also look at some trends that I am noticing so far for the Buccaneers this season.