Buccaneers offenses goes missing in sloppy loss to Ravens
By Ryan Doyle
The Buccaneers fell to 5-9 after an ugly loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played 60 minutes of sloppy football in the cold, wet conditions of M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Dropped passes, dropped interceptions and mental mistakes gave the Baltimore Ravens an easy path to a 20-12 victory over the Buccaneers.
Offensively, the Bucs had little success. Baltimore shut down the passing game, and multiple drops from Bucs receivers made matters worse.
Jameis Winston totaled 157 passing yards, completing 13 of 25 passes. Drops didn’t help his cause, but Winston was held in check by a talented secondary.
For whatever reason, Peyton Barber and the running game was abandoned. Barber ran for 85 yards on 19 carries.
Lamar Jackson was a problem. He rushed for 95 yards on 18 carries. Tampa Bay’s defense wore down in the second half. He took a few big hits, but for the most part, the Bucs were unable to contain him.
Running back Gus Edwards mirrored Jackson’s production. Edwards ran for 104 yards and a touchdown on 5.5 yards per carry.
The fourth quarter was a disaster for the Buccaneers. Winston threw an ugly interception, they failed a fourth-down attempt, and the defense had no answers for the Ravens ground game.
Tampa Bay would take advantage of a muffed punt and cut the Ravens lead to 17-12. The Bucs managed points, but not finding the end zone again would come back to haunt them.
The Ravens ran the ball right down the Buccaneers’ throat to open the second half. Behind the legs of Jackson Baltimore extended its lead to 17-9.
Both teams traded field goals to end the half as Baltimore held a 10-9 lead. The difference in the first half was the botched extra points. The little things continued to haunt the Bucs.
Baltimore began to pick up steam in the second period of play. Jackson led the Ravens on a grueling 16-play drive that lasted over eight minutes that ended with a Chris Moore touchdown.
To open the second quarter, Tampa took advantage of a Jackson fumble as Peyton Barber found the end zone to give the Bucs a 6-0 lead. The Bucs would fail to get the extra point after holder Bryan Anger had the slide bounce right through his hands.
It was a sloppy first quarter for both teams. The Ravens and Buccaneers dropped passes, and neither side looked prepared for the conditions.
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They traded punts, and the Baltimore would turn the ball over, giving the Bucs fantastic field position.