It was a brutal night on a number of different levels for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 7. Not only did the team lose, but Mike Evans suffered a broken clavicle and is expected to miss the rest of the season as a result.
His streak of 1,000 yard seasons comes to an end, which set a dour tone early in the game that the Bucs were unable to break out of. One of the biggest moments came later, when Tampa Bay was trying to mount one of its signature comebacks and a controversial call stopped them dead in their tracks.
Cade Otton seemed to have extended for a first down that would have converted a huge fourth down play. Initially the call on the field was that he had made it, but Detroit challenged whether the catch had been completed since the ball came out when Otton hit the turf.
While it was confirmed that Otton had caught the ball, officials reversed the first down call even though it hadn't been challenged. Todd Bowles was apoplectic on the sideline, imploring officials that they couldn't change a call that hadn't been challenged, especially one that casued a turnover on downs.
Detroit didn't score as a result, but valuable time was lost and a potential scoring drive was halted. Bowles wasn't the only one who was heated about the controversey, as Baker Mayfield addressed it after the game as well.
Baker Mayfield calls out refs for 'questionable' officiating after loss to Lions
Baker called out officials during his postgame press conference, including a missed defensive holding call that also didn't get flagged in a critical moment in the game.
"Third down defensive holding penalty that wasn't called, also still pretty damn confused about the double review. Lots of things in that game that were a little questionable," Mayfield said.
He also addressed a heated moment he had with head official John Hussey that ESPN cameras captured and replayed a few different times during the broadcast.
"A lot of frustration at the end of that. It might be displaced on John Hussey in the moment, but I work my ass off and put a lot into this game so when things I don't see [as] fair, I'm going to let somebody know."
Todd Bowles went a little softer with his postgame stance, saying that the call was "interesting" but that it wasn't the reason the Bucs lost the game.
Officiating was far from perfect, but neither were the Bucs. They came into the game with control of the No. 1 seed in the NFC and left having sunk all the way to the No. 4 seed -- that was more than just on officials.
Baker and the offense looked lost, nothing seemed to go right, and the Bucs simply laid a dud. The good news is it's only Week 7 and there's plenty of time to figure things out, and perhaps this disaster in Detroit lights a fire that gets things back on track.