4 Buccaneers who don't deserve blame for loss to Falcons

There's a lot of negativity going around after the way things went for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8. It's hard to feel good when the team loses the way it did, with everything from missed calls to bad decision-making factoring into the loss.

However, not everything was bad. Tampa Bay has lost two straight games but is only 4-4 and right on pace with where it was last season. The Bucs started out 3-1 and fell into a 1-6 slump but still made the playoffs; this year the team started 3-1 but have once again fallen on hard times.

All hope is not yet lost, even if things seem pretty grim given all that has happened. There will be plenty of time this week to chew on the things that went wrong -- and rightfully so -- but let's not allow that to block out a few things that went right.

4 Buccaneers who don't deserve blame for loss to Falcons

Cade Otton, TE

With both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans out there were questions about who would get the ball and keep the passing game alive.

Cade Otton was the answer, and the truth.

Otton had already started to put together an impressive season heading into Week 8, but blew the lid off things with his performance. He finished the game with nine catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns as he fully leaned into National Tight Ends Day

He also firmly established himself as a key piece of the offense even when Evans returns. Otton doesn't singularly make up for the loss of Godwin -- nobody can do that -- but it's also true that Tampa Bay isn't in the game as much as it was if Otton didn't make the plays he did.

Bucky Irving, RB

Coming into the season we knew Bucky Irving would factor heavily into the Buccaneers' run game, but we didn't know just how important he'd be in helping fix it. Irving has been a revelation so far this year, rushing for almost 400 yards at a 5.2 clip, which nearly double what the team averaged in total last season.

It's not just that he's putting up stats, it's how he looks while doing it. Whenever Bucky touches the ball fans can feel an electricity that suggests something massive might happen. More often than not he delievers on that, which is something that helped keep the Bucs in Sunday's game much longer than they otherwise would have been.

He somehow fell to the Bucs in the fourth round this past year, and every week Bucs fans remain grateful that happened.

Rachaad White, RB

With the rise of Bucky Irving, many started to question Rachaad White's place in the offense. That was a horribly short-sighted take, but one that wasn't compeltely unjust considering how White had been part of the run game for two years and hadn't helped fix it the way Bucky has.

To call him out, though, is to overlook just how good he is. While Irving is a lightning bolt out of the backfield, White drops the hammer as part of Tampa Bay's passing game. So far this season White has almost 500 total yards, almost half of which are through the air.

He has been deadly as part of Tampa Bay's screen game, something we saw on Sunday to such an effect that he was getting praised over Bucky in that department.

He fumbled on the first drive, which directly led to an Atlanta touchdown, but besides that mistake, he was an essential part of the offense. That's something that figures to continue being the case moving forward.

Liam Coen, OC

The puppet master pulling the strings, Liam Coen has completely changed the Buccaneers offense in less than eight weeks. Tampa Bay was already one of the highest scoring offenses in football and rank behind only the Commanders and Ravens so far this season. Even with the whopping that Detroit put on Tennessee, the Bucs still have a higher powered offense on paper, which is all thanks to the way Coen has run things.

Sunday was a perfect example of that.

We've watched the Bucs fall into holes before and be unable to dig their way out. For all the good Dave Canales did last season, Tampa Bay would fall behind and then lose itself in the mess. That hasn't been the case this year, as even though the Bucs have lost four game they've never been out of them.

Last week against the Ravens the offense came roaring back to be within 10 points, and this Sunday the Bucs were down just five points and in a position to win the game on the final drive. Coen's ability to scheme the offense was already impressive, but being able to do it without Chris Godwin and Mike Evans otherworldly.

It's to the point where fans are actively calling for Coen to take over as head coach so that the team doesn't lose him. We're not to that point yet, but nobody's stock is higher than Coen's right now, and the Bucs are such a better team for having him in the building.

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