by Carter Brantley
Coming into their Week 8 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons, the focus and buzz around the Bucs would be how they’d replace star wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who both went down with significant injuries in last week’s Monday Night Football outing against the Ravens.
That was an issue, but the story of the game was their defense looking lost again against the Falcons and this Kirk Cousins-led offense, allowing the veteran to pick them apart for 276 yards in the 31-26 loss.
The banged-up Bucs secondary, playing without starting outside corner Jamel Dean and starting nickel Tykee Smith, was unable to stop tight end Kyle Pitts, who hauled in a pair of touchdowns, or receiver Darnell Mooney, who racked up 92 yards receiving.
Pitts wasn’t the only tight end to show out on National Tight End Day though; Cade Otton continues to play like a man possessed, as he managed a team-leading 88 receiving yards on 9 catches with 2 TDs leading to a couple Gronk spikes.
Baker Mayfield put together another multi-interception performance, making that 3 straight weeks with at least 2 picks thrown, 7 total over that span.
The run game showed another sign of improvement eclipsing the 100-yard mark as a team, giving credence to their selection of center Graham Barton in the first round as fellow rookie Bucky Irving had another wonderful outing despite the Bucs’ loss, with 84 yards from scrimmage for the day.
The next few weeks might be rough for the Bucs, as they face the 49ers and the defending Super Bowl champions in Kansas City in consecutive weeks.
Luckily they’ll have a Bye Week before their weaker matchups to finish out the year, still giving the team a chance to finish strong and compete for the NFC South or a Wild Card spot.
4-6 and a 4-game losing streak is looking pretty likely, and the Bucs really needed this victory to set themselves up for a nice potential double-digit win total for the season that could secure a playoff spot. It’s still possible to reach that goal, but it’s not probable for this group to go 6-3 the rest of the way. 5-4 would’ve been a bit easier to imagine.
At least the uniforms looked cool, and the thematic elements around the stadium were fun for creamsicle week.
