Twice this season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost games to superior teams, but Sunday was the first time the team looked like the sort of dumpster fire experts predicted they'd be during the offseason.
Everything went wrong, as the Bucs played inexcusably bad in a game the team needed to win for a number of different reasons. Control of the NFC South was on the line against Atlanta in Week 7, but Tampa Bay played as though it was still the middle of August and Sunday was merely a preseason game.
The defense stepped up as long as it could, holding the Falcons to just 16 points and giving up only a few truly bad plays. Its reward was watching the offense run around like a newborn deer, stumbling through bad play calling and mustering up just 13 points in the loss.
Had it not been for a 40 yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans, the Bucs would have once again been held out of the endone for a second straight week. Since the bye week Tampa Bay has scored just 19 points and is a pitiful 0-for-4 in the redzone.
The loss drops Tampa Bay to second place, and the team needs to find a way to bounce back on a short week while playing the Buffalo Bills on the road. A nightmare scenario is unfolding for the Bucs, and while there's plenty of blame to go around a few guys stand out as needing a little bit more than everyone else.