5 Buccaneers to blame (and 3 to praise) after 27-14 loss in Week 11

Loser: Devin White

A lot was made this offseason about how Devin White wanted a new contract from the Bucs. It's not that Tampa Bay didn't want to give him one, it's that the $100 million price tag was both a bit rich and pretty laughable.

It's true that when he's playing to the level he's capable of, White is one of the best linebackers in football. The problem is he hasn't been on that level since 2020 and it's been a steady downward trajectory for him since. He'll still have games and moments where he makes an impact, but he'll also have games like he did on Sunday where he's a traffic cone that the opposing offense easily navigates around.

White started the game by getting cooked by Christian McCaffrey for a touchdown, one that saw him out of position and badly beaten. CMC is one of the best players in football, but if White wants to get paid $100 million then he makes stops on plays like this:

A lot was made this offseason about how Devin White wanted a new contract from the Bucs. It's not that Tampa Bay didn't want to give him one, it's that the $100 million price tag was both a bit rich and pretty laughable.

It's true that when he's playing to the level he's capable of, White is one of the best linebackers in football. The problem is he hasn't been on that level since 2020 and it's been a steady downward trajectory for him since. He'll still have games and moments where he makes an impact, but he'll also have games like he did on Sunday where he's a traffic cone that the opposing offense easily navigates around.

White started the game by getting cooked by Christian McCaffrey for a touchdown, one that saw him out of position and badly beaten. CMC is one of the best players in football, but if White wants to get paid $100 million then he makes stops on plays like this:

Things didn't get much better from there on out. White was bullied by Kyle Juszczyk in the run game and was a bystander for Brock Purdy's perfect day of passing. Not since Joe Montana has a 49ers quarterback thrown a perfect game, but that's what happened on Sunday as Purdy picked apart the Bucs zone coverage. White hasn't looked good in zone all season, and he looked even worse against the 49ers on Sunday.

What was truly the nail in his coffin was the loss of Lavonte David. It was a chance for White to step up and fill David's shoes as the defensive leader, but instead, he finished the day with just three tackles and zero impact.