by Carter Brantley
Phew. It’s been a while since it’s been one of these types of games and stretches.
3 straight losses, each more discouraging than the last.
Sunday night brought possibly one of the worst performances put out by the Pewter boys in quite some time, and they picked a heck of a time to do it, as they showed off their ineptitude in front of a national audience on NBC.
While the Bucs may have wanted to Escape from LA with a victory, the Rams had other plans, as they jumped out to a 31-7 lead by halftime, with the game mercifully ending with a 34-7 loss for Tampa Bay.
Baker Mayfield looked out of sync and out of rhythm, as the offense put up a whopping 41 yards passing in the 1st half.
He eventually had to exit the game with a shoulder injury, giving an already painful day an even bigger problem moving forward as the Bucs cling to their shrinking division lead.
In sharp contrast to the sloppy sequence of events the Bucs were calling an offensive gameplan, veteran QB Matthew Stafford racked up over 200 yards of passing on his way to what could be an MVP-caliber season for the former Lion.
Zyon McCollum looked like he was in La La Land trying to cover Davante Adams.
The former Fresno State man had a pair of TD receptions, both with the recently extended corner getting burnt on the veteran’s savvy and suave routes.
The Bucs found out what it means To Live and Die in LA, as they struggled mightily across the board, with problems even extending to special teams.
Punter Riley Dixon had a funny (but also not funny, kind of sad really) 23 yard punt in the 1st quarter that set the tone for what the Bucs would be putting out on the field for the remainder of the night.
Chase McLaughlin also managed to throw in an illegal kickoff penalty to begin the second half.
The loss brought to an end inarguably Tampa Bay’s hardest section of their schedule. The hope is that they can take advantage of getting to play the Saints and Falcons once more each, as well as the Panthers twice.
Unfortunately, those matchups with the Panthers are not nearly as favorable as they once looked earlier in the season.
Caroline has managed to put together a string of successful games and are now tied with the Bucs at top of the division heading into their Monday night matchup with the 49ers.
The Bucs will at least get to face the Cardinals and the Dolphins as well, a pair of teams that are likely to end up as two of the worst in the NFL.
But hey. It’s a Buc’s life. And it could be worse.
They could be the Dolphins.
