J.T. Olsen
Bucs Report – Special to Sports Talk Florida
It was a heartbreaking loss in Atlanta last night for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite feeling in control for a majority of the game, the Bucs snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and fell in overtime. It’s a loss that have left fans frustrated to say the least.
There was obviously a lot of good in this game for a Bucs team that felt they had the game in hand. However, choking it away also revealed a lot of bad. Some of these things matter for the Bucs long term and some of them don’t.
Here are my big takeaways following the Bucs Thursday night loss to the Falcons.
Britt Was Brutal
The plan of attack was clear for the Atlanta Falcons. That was to attack K.J. Britt in coverage and to do it early and often. This plan worked with great success.
This was Britt’s first game this season where he was asked to be a three down linebacker. Prior to this he was pulled off the field in passing situations in favor of SirVocea Dennis. However, with Dennis going on injured reserve Britt was put in a position where he had to drop into coverage more often.
This experience was not just bad, it was horrendous. We’ve always known that Britt is more of a between the tackles thumper as a linebacker, but we saw him look more agile last year to the point where he might be functional in coverage. Any thought of that is now out the window.
It was so bad for Britt last night that I am now of the belief that general manager Jason Licht should be on the phone looking for help at linebacker. Going out and getting a coverage linebacker such as Isaiah Simmons from the New York Giants could go a long way in helping the Bucs in a potential playoff push. Make no mistake, the Bucs would be better if Britt was just a special teams player who got situational snaps on defense in obvious running situation.
Growing Pains Hurt
The Buccaneers are a young football team. They have several rookies and second year players playing key roles for this team and with that comes inexperience. With inexperienced comes mistakes that young players can learn from, but those are mistakes nonetheless.
We saw this a lot last night. Rookie center Graham Barton was beaten badly several times last night by Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. There is no shame in that as Jarrett is one of the better defensive tackles in the game. However, Barton’s holding penalty that took the Bucs out of field goal range with less than two minutes to play ended up being a critical mistake.
Of course, the Bucs probably wouldn’t have even needed that field goal if another rookie doesn’t drop the ball. Rookie running back Bucky Irving fumbled the ball on Atlanta’s 25 yard line with just over two minutes to go. If he holds onto that ball then the Bucs probably get a first down and end the game. Instead the ball went back to the Falcons and the Buccaneers can’t score, burn the Falcons timeouts or end the game.
We already knew that rookies are going to have ups and downs. These mistakes don’t take anything away from the positive things they have shown this year. However, the spotlight should shine bright on these two when looking for those responsible for this loss.
Baker Mayfield Was Great
In the first half Baker Mayfield looked unstoppable. He threw three touchdown passes and was really doing whatever he wanted to while throwing the ball. He looked like a guy who is getting a lot of early Most Valuable Player award conversation.
Even in the second half, Mayfield was getting the ball to his targets. He also navigated pressure well and escaped for big runs in big moments. Despite the offense only putting up six points in the second half, Mayfield was excellent last night.
Mayfield is the engine that drives this Buccaneers offense. Even with him being cast off by other teams he has been a lot more good than bad with Tampa Bay. The next step for him is finding consistency and this was another strong showing for Mayfield.
Mike Freaking Evans
Only 26 players in the history of the NFL have ever scored 100 or more touchdowns in their career. After his two touchdowns last night Mike Evans is one of those men. Evans is now tied for 11th all time in receiving touchdowns and tied for 23rd all time in total touchdowns.
It’s worth acknowledging that Evans is just one receiving touchdown away from moving to 9th all time on that list and tied for 22nd all time in total touchdowns. As impressive as this accomplishment has been, Evans is still climbing these leaderboards.
Now we start to look at the legendary names he continues to chase. Names like Steve Largent, Tim Brown and even Barry Sanders are in the sights as names that Evans could still realistically pass this season. All history worth watching in the march to the Hall of Fame.
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