Sunday night was nothing short of a total disaster for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only did the team blow a golden opportunity to start closing in on clinching an NFC South title, but the Bucs completely fell out of the playoff picture as a result of a 26-24 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
It's not just the fact that the Bucs lost, but how they managed to litereally fumble the game away that has them in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Everything was lining up for another gutsy win for Tampa Bay. Down by just two points, the Bucs got the ball back with plenty of time to mount a game-winning drive and get into Chase McLaughlin field goal range. On the very first play, though, absolute chaos broke out.
Baker Mayfield's reaction to Rachaad White's game-sealing fumble says it all
Dallas appeared to have Baker Mayfield dead-to-rights for a big sack, but he somehow managed to get a shovel pass off to Rachaad White before going down. White then danced through some open field before getting tackled by DaRon Bland and Jordan Lewis -- the only problem was that White didn't come down with the ball.
White had been carrying the ball in just one hand, which allowed Bland to rip it out on the way to the ground.
Amid the chaos, NBC cameras caught Baker Mayfield's bewildered reaction to what had happened, and it perfectly summed up both the night and Tampa Bay's season thus far.
That says it all right there, folks.
Sunday's loss was almost poetic in how well it served as a metaphor: the Bucs blew a golden opportunity to move a step closer to punching a playoff ticket, but instead fumbled it away. Tampa Bay was the superior team and should have never been in a position where White needed to try and play hero ball on a game-winning drive.
Nothing has come easy for the Bucs and it has long since worn fans thin. Calls for Todd Bowles to be fired only grew louder and there's no hiding the amount of egg the team has on its face right now. Before kickoff MIke Tirico and Cris Collinsworth dubbed the Bucs a team nobody wants to see in the playoffs right now, and thanks to how things went after that we might not see them there at all.
As dire as things seem after the loss, Tampa Bay's season is hardly over. The Bucs no longer control their own destiny, though, and need some help over the next two weeks to get in. Baker's face says it all about what happened with White's fumble, but it also perfectly sums up the season and everyone's feelings about how much harder the team makes it on themselves.
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