Pat McAfee lost his mind over officials missing facemask penalty on Bucky Irving

It's safe to say that Thursday night did not go the way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wanted. A late collapse meant a drop down the standings, but also saw the team fail to close out the type of victory that would have firmly established them as a true contender in the NFC.

There's still reason to believe the Bucs can be that team this year, especially given all we've seen. Good thing they have back-to-back matchups against the Saints and Ravens to try and regain some footing and prove their worth.

As for the loss to the Falcons, it'll be something that stings for more reasons than one.

Losing the game by blowing consecutive defensive drives is one thing, but the missed facemask call on Bucky Irving is hard to ignore. We all know th story by now; had officials thrown a flag, the Bucs would have benefited from offsetting penalties and might have been able to close the game out.

Instead, they were faced with a 2nd-and-20 that they failed to gain any ground on and opened a lane for the Falcons to storm back. The missed facemasak wasn't the reason the Bucs lost the game, but it certainly contributed.

That's what seemingly had Pat McAfee all worked up when talking about the game on his show.

Pa McAfee lost it over missed facemask in Buccaneers loss to Falcons

On his show the day following the game, McAfee lost his mind trying to comprehend how bad the missed call was and the impact it had. He didn't blame it for the Bucs losing, and gave the Falcons their flowers, but remained baffled by what happened.

"Kade Ellis makes the tackle on Bucky Irving, by his face," McAfee shouted. "People were saying the refs were on the side of the Atlanta Falcons, but that's because most people were on the side of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's crazy, got us."

There are a few things to take away from this, not the least of which is that the call was so bad that McAfee was yelling about it on his show. However, the real takeaway is that McAfee noted that everyone was pulling for the Bucs and feels slighted because the call went against them -- something that's a brand new feeling.

Thanks to how the Bucs are generally received in the national media, fans have been conditioned to believe that most pundits are against them. After all, the way the team was talked about this offseason doesn't make it hard to draw that connection.

Hearing McAfee say that most people were pulling for the Bucs is a breath of fresh air given how the team is usually regarded. Even this offseason, when the team brought back key players, the talkign points about the Bucs were that they didn't do enough to compete in the NFC.

It's a testament to Baker Mayfield and the everyman nature he brings to the team that the stance on Tampa Bay has shifted to sa largely sympathetic one.

The facemask was a total scam, but what has come out of it is a reminder that the Bucs are far more likable than we've been led to belive, and the team needs to do something on the field with all of the off-field momentum.

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