The Pewter Plank
FanSided

Buccaneers Game Grades: 2017 Week 7 loss to Buffalo Bills

By Philip Schwegler

ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 22: Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks towards the sideline during the second quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 22: Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks towards the sideline during the second quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 8
Next
ORCHARD PARK, NY – OCTOBER 22: O.J. Howard of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates while scoring a touchdown in the third quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NY – OCTOBER 22: O.J. Howard of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates while scoring a touchdown in the third quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

Out of all the position groups on the Bucs roster this past Sunday, except quarterback, the receivers and tight ends were the most productive.

Five different pass catchers finished the day with 60 or more yards. That’s pretty impressive against one of the NFL’s most stingy defenses. As usual, Mike Evans was dominated against the Bills. He finished the day with 7 catches 88 yards and an amazing, toe dragging, knocking a reporter down, touchdown pass from Winston to put them on top.

With that scoring catch, Evans found himself in the record books once again.  Per Scott Smith, senior writer and editor for the Buccaneers, he had this to say about Evans part in the Bucs history books:

Although the offense took until really the middle of the third quarter to really start clicking on all cylinders, the wide-outs and tight ends were one of the few good things in the game.

As if Mike Evans making a little noise wasn’t enough, rookie tight end and first round draft pick O.J. Howard had himself a monster game. Catching six balls for 98 yards and two scores, Howard was the sneakiest player on the field on Sunday.

Going back to the Giants game, the Bucs drew up a play action bootleg that had everyone moving one way, while Howard was going the other. Again the Bucs called up this play and yet again Howard was wide open on the side line not once, but twice for his two touchdowns on the day.

The main reason this seems to be working is that when teams study the Buccaneers, they realize tight end Cameron Brate is Winston’s go to guy. If the Bucs could figure out how to disguise Howard by changing the defenses focus to Brate, than Howard is left unsupervised and wide open.

Desean Jackson again showed every Bucs fan why he was worth all that money he got. His quickness and ability to make guys miss in the open is a sight to see. The one area that should concern the Bucs about Jackson are his routes.

At times it seems as if he’s running a sloppy route of gives little effort during his route. This could be because he’s tired from running all the way down the field, but running crisper route could prevent disconnection with Winston.

For example, Winston threw a pass to Jackson where the defender got his hands on more of the ball than Jackson. This would’ve been prevented if Jackson contested the ball a bit more. in the end he did pop the ball out of the defenders hands and saved a pick for Winston.

If this group, along with the play of Winston, continues to show up like they did on Sunday, the Bucs could finish the year with one of the best offenses this franchise has ever seen.

Grade: A

Home/Bucs News