Despite a strong second half push, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3) suffered a humiliating loss to the Arizona Cardinals (3-3) in which pretty much everything went wrong. Here are the winners and losers from the game.
It’s difficult to comprehend how the Buccaneers are still here in year three of the Jameis Winston era. Despite an off-season filled with additions both via free agency and the draft, the Buccaneers are still a team capable of getting walloped on any given Sunday.
Just like week two of last season the Bucs traveled to Arizona and in the blink of an eye the score was out of control. Making matters even worse, Winston suffered a shoulder injury that would sideline him for nearly the entire game.
The Buccaneers found themselves in a 31-0 hole before managing to score on a short pass to DeSean Jackson. Touchdowns from Cameron Brate, Lavonte David, Doug Martin, and Mike Evans managed to keep the score within reach in the second half, but their brutal first half proved too much to overcome.
Ryan Fitzpatrick played admirably for a back-up quarterback, throwing for 290 yards and three touchdowns, but two interceptions broke the offenses’ back, including one that put the Cardinals on the two yard line.
This was one of those games in which the “losers” section was significantly easier to produce than the “winners”, but there were a few players with positive performances. We’ll go over those first, then move on to the far more robust losers section.