The Buccaneers fall to 2-6 after what may have been their most embarrassing performance this season. Arizona was embarrassing, but losing to a division rival while at the same time looking like they have never played football before is quite the feat.
The Buccaneers are a disaster plain and simple. The season is over, there is no turning the season around. With Jameis Winston being shut down for at least two weeks and Mike Evans suspended for a week, the Bucs start looking to next year, in week nine.
It was a combination of things that never quite got the Bucs off the ground. Dirk Koetter’s play calling, the defensive inconsistency, not knowing how to get to the quarterback, Winston’s injury, I could go on forever. Point is, Tampa Bay has disappointed the fans this season and although click-bait media may tell you otherwise, the players are also disappointed.
The “players don’t care” narrative is just nonsense. Are there some players on every NFL team that just play for money? Of course. I have yet to see that on the Bucs. Gerald McCoy isn’t out there for just the money, Lavonte David isn’t out there so he can go out to an expensive dinner on Saturday. These guys want to win, but this season has been a disaster.
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Offense:
Nothing good to say here. Every part of the Buccaneers offense was embarrassing. That team in black and gold isn’t the ’85 Bears. They made the Bucs look like a JV offense.
Peyton Barber had tiny flashes when he got the ball, other than that, this offense might as well have stayed in Tampa.
The Bad: 200
The Bucs mustered 200-yards of offense on Sunday. I realize Winston went down, but the Saints have allowed 326-yards per game to opposing offenses this season. There were plenty of stats to choose from on Sunday for this offense.
The Bucs had seven penalties for 50-yards, Doug Martin struggled mightily with less than one yard per carry and the offensive line was dominated, giving up four sacks.
Speaking of sacks, in one game the Bucs gave up half the sacks they have themselves as a team. There’s a nice stat for you. Now we get to see Ryan Fitzpatrick for the next two weeks and perhaps (hopefully) longer.
The play-calling will continue to be atrocious. By the way, can you imagine the uproar when ‘Fitzmagic’ wins next week against the Jets (or plays well) and people start suggesting the problem is Winston?
Defense:
The Buccaneers defense has been Jekyll and Hyde this year, as has the whole team for that matter. I just wish there was a little more Hyde than Jekyll.
Regardless, another poor performance and the fourth time this season a team drops 30 or more against this defense.
Mike Smith’s defense has looked completely and insanely lost at random points during the game.
It’s really bizarre to watch as at times they look okay, and then other times they look like they have never played in his scheme before.
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The Bad: 9.1
That was the average yards per pass the Saints had. They had 407 total yards and think on this: The Bucs had 57 plays and ended up with 207-yards.
With 60 plays, the Saints doubled the total yards of Tampa’s offense.
Kwon Alexander is still rounding into form (remember he hasn’t played much this season including preseason), but David and McCoy seem to be the only two Bucs defenders playing at least somewhat decent.
Also, why did the Bucs put Vernon Hargreaves back in the nickel after arguably his best performance of the season last week? So many head scratching decisions with this team.
One thing I know, the play calling duties need to be delegated and we need some semblance of consistency from the defense, or else Dirk and Smitty are done. As is, they might already be done.