5 losers (and 2 winners) from Buccaneers embarrassing loss to Broncos

There's no nice way to put it, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were totally dominated by the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon.

Maybe it was Sean Payton's curse, who always seems to have Tampa Bay's number, or maybe it was a lack of proper preparation after such an emotional win last Sunday. Whatever it was, the Bucs looked like a shell of the team we've seen over the first two weeks and got cooked by one of the league's least-efficient offenses so far this season.

Bo Nix might have a bright career ahead of him, but he's been a total mess the first few games. Coming into Sunday he had combined for just 106 yards and zero touchdowns through his first two games, but it took him one half to surpass all of those totals.

It's better to have this sort of humbling loss now, but the question is whether or not the Bucs are about to fall into a slump the way we saw them do last year. If that's to be avoided, the guys who let the team down on Sunday need to figure out how to fix things sooner rather than later.

Winners and losers from Buccaneers 26-7 loss to Broncos

It was a pitiful day of football in Tampa Bay, but a few guys managed to step up even if most of the team let everyone down.

Winner: Bucky Irving

If there was one bright spot for the Bucs on Sunday, it was rookie running back Bucky Irving. He was the only source of offense, leading the team in rushing and putting together some runs that looked like they might spark some sort of turnaround.

While nobody else did their job, Irving was doing things like this to try and make anything happen:

Irving finished the day with 70 yards and nearly had a touchdown in the second quarter. His knee hit the ground right before he was able to cross the goal line, but it was simply a teaser for what looks to be a breakout rookie season.

He averaged 7.8 yards per carry behind an offensive line that was in shambles all afternoon, and outran Rachaad White by over 50 yards. Tampa Bay still needs to figure out its run game, but it's looking more and more like Irving is going to be a stud.

Loser: Baker Mayfield

If we praise him when things are going well, it's only fair to call him out when things start to skid. That's what happened on Sunday, as Baker finished the game with fewer than 200 yards passing and a pretty bad interception.

That pick led to a Broncos touchdown, which put the Bucs in a 14-0 hole before the game could even get started. Tampa Bay once again failed to score an opening drive touchdown and didn't start finding a rhythm until right before halftime.

Baker was bad, there's no other way to put it, but his response to the loss helps redeem some of what happened. He took the blame for getting the offense into trouble, but held the rest of his teammates accountable as well. the maturity we've seen out of Baker over his time in Tampa Bay has been amazing to watch, and the message he sent after that this loss won't simply be brushed aside is the type of leadership the team needs after what happened on Sunday.

Loser: Buccaneers Offensive Line

While Baker wears a lot of the blame for the loss, even more needs to be put on the offensive line that failed to protect him.

Denver's defense did a great job of taking away the passing game, which forced Baker to hold the ball longer than he wanted. This might have been fine if the line had blocked for him, as there was constant pressure all afternoon that resulted in busted plays and stunted momentum.

Baker was sacked seven times for 31 yards, and even his signature Angry Runs were broken up before they could get going. Everyone was bad, from Tristan Wirfs to Graham Barton, with Cody Mauch looking like a turnstile for most of the game. This isn't a new issue, which is the most trouble part about the struggles, and the Bucs need to fix things before this problem spirals out of control.

Loser: Justin Skule

Injuries played a role in Tampa Bay's poor offensive line play, and once again exposed a rather clear weak spot on the line and the depth chart. Luke Goedeke missed his second straight game with a concussion, which meant Justin Skule started in his place.

For the second consecutive week, Skule's lunch was eaten by the guy he was supposed to be blocking. Last week it was Aiden Hutchinson setting a new career high in sacks, and this week Jonathan Cooper and John Franklin-Myers cooking Skule all afternoon.

Cooper and Franklin-Myer combined for two sacks, two quarterback hits, and two tackles for loss while bringing pressure all afternoon. Nobody on the offensive line was good, as even Tristan Wirfs struggled to block Zach Allen, Dondrea Tillman, and Nick Bonitto but Skule has looked bad in two straight games and it might be time to play Robert Hainsey at right tackle if Goedeke is going to miss more time.

Loser: K.J. Britt and Anthony Nelson

It was a bad afternoon for the entire defense, but one specific play both set the tone and serves as a perfect representation of what happened.

Denver went for a 4th-and-goal on its third offensive drive of the game, running a pitch to Jaleel McLaughlin. Anthony Nelson had the Broncos' running back dead to rights eight yards behind the line of scrimmage but was juked into another universe and taken out of the play.

The next closest player was K.J. Britt, who tried to catch McLaughlin but didn't have enough closing speed to cut him off before he waltzed into the endzone. It was a score that put Denver up 14-0 and buried the Bucs deeper into a hole they never climbed out of.

This was probably the most embarrassing play of the afternoon because it so perfectly sums up everything that went wrong. Denver should have never scored, Nelson should have stopped McLaughlin and the momentum would have shifted back in Tampa Bay's direction.

Instead, the Broncos went up by two scores and the energy remained flat on both sides of the ball. This was a potential turning point, and Tampa Bay failed to capitalize.

Winner: Zyon McCollum

Not everything on defense was bad, as the play of Zyon McCollum continues to be one of the most impressive things about the season so far.

He filled big shoes when the Bucs elevated him to a starting cornerback role after Carlton Davis III was traded to the Lions, and McCollum has made everyone behind that decision look great. He was fantastic the entire game, aside from one bad mistake in the first quarter, and almost ended up with an interception that could have flipped the momentum.

We've seen a lot of that from McCollum, as he always seems to be in the right place and is quickly developing into a very real CB1 option for the Bucs. He outplayed Jamel Dean, who was eaten alive by Bo Nix, and is a guy to keep an eye on as someone who will only continue to flourish as an important piece of the defense as key players start returning from injury.

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