Cody Mauch and Luke Goedeke, OL
Just about everyone on the offensive line deserves blame for the loss, but two guys stood out as particularly disappointing.
Rookie Cody Mauch continues to look abysmal, and he had another bad night against the Bills. He was guarding Shaq Lawson when he blocked a field goal on the Bucs second drive of the game and was responsible for a penalty that brought back a 41-yard Mike Evans reception late in the fourth quarter. That second penalty came when the Bucs were trying to mount a comeback, and was a brutal throwback to the many times momentum was stunted last season by dumb penalties.
The other guy was perhaps even more disappointing because his bad performance was so out of character. Luke Goedeke has been a revelation for the Bucs this season, stepping up at right tackle to masterfully replace Tristan Wirfs. For all that has gone wrong on the offensive line, Goedeke’s growth this year has been awesome, but he looked like a shell of that guy on Thursday.
Goedeke was flagged multiple times for false starts, pushing the Bucs back and killing a few plays that could have built momentum. He wasn’t the worst guy on the field, but he was by far the most disappointing given the progress he’s made this season and the raised expectations fans have for him.