Officials Screwed The Bucs; Missed Blatant, Dangerous Penalty On Final Drive (Video)
October 3rd, 2024
There are a lot of reasons the Bucs lost tonight. Kirk Cousins notched 509 of them.
But was there any bigger than what happened on the Bucs’ final drive and immediately before it?
First, Lavonte David intercepted a fourth-down pass he should have batted down. That cost the Bucs critical yardage.
Then the Bucs (Graham Barton) were flagged for a holding call on a Bucky Irving run. But what was missed was the clear face mask call against Irving on the same play. (Video below) How does an official miss that? At least one is assigned to watch ball carrier.
So that combined mess and a negative play pushed the Bucs out of field goal range. They punted and the miserable Bucs defense couldn’t slow the Falcons.
It’s one thing to lose fair and square, but a critical missed call like this makes everything uglier.
absolutely clear & obvious but not flagged face mask
very well could be difference in the game
good job refs pic.twitter.com/255tHWWOfc
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 4, 2024
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:48 pm
No Joe
Bucs lost from crappy defense!!!
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:49 pm
They also lost from terrible coaching!!!
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:49 pm
Defense was embarrassing all night especially Dean!! Thst dude is straight trash
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:50 pm
In hindsight, trading Carlton Davis was pretty stupid. Gotta toss Dean after this year too. Offense and Coen are doing GREAT. Soft ass zone coverage is our biggest problem. I Hate zone coverage with a fiery passion. Todd is probably a great person, but we need fire and drive and energy at HC
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:50 pm
I’d like to blame the refs here and they did screw up but this game was lost by the coaches, sorry.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:51 pm
Stop embarrassing yourself by shaming David for getting an interception
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:51 pm
Kirk owned the Bycs tonight regardless of that call…as usual
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:51 pm
The fumble hurt us real bad, but the defense was nonexistent, softer than baby s**t. Offense was fine until that last possession, play calling was putrid
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:52 pm
The D lost this one, not the refs. Plain and simple the Bucs need a pass rush so bad is sad to watch. Last week all their sacks came at the end except for Vea’s. When they knew the Eagles were passing is when they finally got sacks. Need a new D end quick before this season is gone.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:52 pm
Refs can’t be perfect and they miss big plays every game. That’s on Todd Bowles and his stupid zone scheme with no pass rush. They have a big win like last week and it makes Jason licht puff out his chest but this dude really thinks he’s got a winner without a pass rush or he must think Kancey is his savior because he’s got nothing otherwise.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:52 pm
Someone help me with the rules here. I thought a penalty by the offense under 10 seconds to play is a run off of time. The play before the field goal that was penalized I thought should’ve been end of game. Obviously not, but someone explains the penalty run-off clock rules to me.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:54 pm
Toilet bowl blew it tonight. His defense got destroyed.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:54 pm
Just stop. We also fumbled the ball in the first half and somehow Rah didn’t challenge it. Coen and Bowles went into turtle mode in the second half even though our defense was horrendous from start to finish. This was a complete failure by all facets of the game other than special teams. Huge loss to a division foe but they definitely got what they deserved.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:54 pm
This loss is on licht. He drafted tryon, diaby, kancey and numerous others who literally did not show up in the box score. Hall made 2 plays out of maybe 60 he played. The defensive talent has maybe never been lower.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:55 pm
Dead ball Booty
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:55 pm
The Bucs just passed the NFC south torch! Bye being scorched for 500 yards of passing.
Bucks fumble was the turning point.
Looks like we’re headed to the doldrums of the early 90s and 2010s and teens.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:55 pm
Every week the refs blow important calls. The NFL has a serious officiating problem. They need the UFL video ref immediately. Its pathetic.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:57 pm
The Bucs screwed themselves. I been saying it all week, there’s no quit in the Falcons. They’re to going to play until the final gun. The Bucs ran out of gas, or started loafing while the Falcons kept fighting.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:57 pm
.The offensive line was just that in the second half.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:58 pm
@ Please
What was the penalty? I was in a crowded bar. I thought it was illegal motion foul, which I thought would run off the clock. A foul that prevents the ball from being snapped is a 10 sec run off.
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:58 pm
We lost. Get over it. Our defense overall sucked to holy hell. You gotta be able to stop people in this league. We cannot and did not. Thats the real reason we lost.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:02 am
The commenters here are too emotional and don’t understand ball. Bucs overachieved with their injuries to defense. The one that finally exposed them was Sirvocea going down. That was the difference in the game.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:03 am
Pathetic
October 4th, 2024 at 12:10 am
Yes I’ve been screaming about this for 20 minutes.
Changed the game.
Bucs pickup the 1st if that’s called cuz it cancels out the phantom holding penalty that set us back.
Good chance tonight becomes a tie breaker in the NFC South.
I’m so angry.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:16 am
Bucs deserved to lose, but it did seem the officials were trying to keep this game close and competitive til the end. I cannot believe Atl had the time to get the ball spiked with 6 or less seconds, the ref sure hustled to set the ball (did he?), but never got to his “official” place before the spike. Then the flag? I’m still confused.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:17 am
Defense minus LVD, play calling/coaching and the Refs destroyed us today.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:30 am
Literally even with how crap the Bucs played they should have won Refs screwed them hard.. Offsetting penalties makes it first and 10 again running clock so atlanta is forced to call a timeout and 1 first down seals the game. Yeah the Bucs Defense didn’t show up but that was Bull…. The calls the last few years especially when I watch KC seem very questionable and it’s really getting old and ruining the game for me.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:31 am
Sorry to disappoint you guys but football has gone the way of wrestling. It’s all a show and a moneymaker for Vegas. Refs are so bad but keep their jobs because they’re doing as they are told. Nobody’s that blind.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:46 am
BootyLover Says:
October 3rd, 2024 at 11:58 pm
@ Please
What was the penalty? I was in a crowded bar.
———-
The Bucs were running out the clock, like a minute and a half to go, Bucky is dragged down by his facemask, a crystal clear shot of it is on TV, there is zero question about it, the refs don’t call that, then make up a phantom holding call. So not only did the Bucs not get the 15 yards and 1st down that literally ends the game, they got knocked out of FG range. A completely game changing bogus bulls— call if there ever has been one. A 25-yard swing, a 1st down taken off the board, the game was literally over, and the refs changed the outcome.
That’s why I’m not mad at Bowles and his awful defense, I’m not mad at Bucky for fumbling on the previous series, this game was decided by the refs. It was over.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:46 am
Joe, you know the refs never really give the Bucs too many breaks. If Turtle Todd allowed the offense to play more aggressively down the stretch then we would probably be celebrating a win.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:49 am
Stop with this crap about how you have to do this or do that, it doesn’t matter what the Bucs did, the refs determined the outcome of the game. If the refs don’t make that massive BS call, while also missing a blatant facemask, the game is literally over.
The refs decided the game, be mad at them. The Bucs did their job, they were the better team, the entire game had them in the position to win it, the Falcons didn’t beat the Bucs, the refs stole a W from Tampa. That’s the truth of it.
October 4th, 2024 at 12:49 am
A Bucs Fan: you are right about Sir V Dennis being missed; it expose Britt; the new Ryan Neal. But what will Bowels do about it? Nothing I suspect until the Bucs lose 3 or 4 in a row like when he finally benched Neal last year. Bowles is stubborn and complacent; a recipe to getting launched if his D imitates a Mike Smith D many more times this year and having his O go into “Turtle Todd” mode when nursing a small lead.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:20 am
“In football, a face mask penalty occurs when a player illegally: Grasping and controlling the facemask, Twisting the facemask, Turning the facemask, Pushing the facemask, and Pulling the facemask.” None of that happened. Sure his hand goes over the face mask but he doesn’t grab on to it. BIG difference
The refs also missed:
—a horse collar tackle on Cousins (the broadcast…they got him by the collar)
—a flag on the defense for a personal foul on Cousins in the 2nd quarter
October 4th, 2024 at 2:59 am
Losing “because of flags” is for losers. Both teams had numerous decisive plays, errors, and flags. To single out penalty that didn’t get called as the reason we lost is silly.
October 4th, 2024 at 3:52 am
Buckhead Says:
October 4th, 2024 at 2:59 am
Losing “because of flags” is for losers. Both teams had numerous decisive plays, errors, and flags. To single out penalty that didn’t get called as the reason we lost is silly.
———-
Hey stupid, if the call isn’t missed, the Bucs run out the clock. The game was over. This isn’t missing a false start in the 2nd quarter. This literally changed the outcome of the game. The Falcons weren’t the better team, they didn’t beat the Bucs, they were handed a W.
At least be an honest troll. If the Bucs won that way, I’d be happy they got the W, but I wouldn’t go around pretending nothing happened. I’d say, thank God the refs are idiots, at least we got the W.
October 4th, 2024 at 4:53 am
Without a doubt that was a game-changer. Joe noted about the “Zebras” yesterday on his Gameday Tampa Bay post. Well guess what, they missed that blatant face mask and didn’t call it on the Falcons. Joe was right on point. In the end, it seemed as though they did want to give it to the Falcons.
October 4th, 2024 at 6:24 am
Face mask and the late hit out of bounds on Mayfield were terrible calls.
October 4th, 2024 at 6:25 am
There were a few terrible calls and NO calls, it’s sickening. When is KC and Tweez coming back we need help on D bad
October 4th, 2024 at 6:27 am
@RodMunch You couldn’t be more 100%
October 4th, 2024 at 6:31 am
The low tackle on Lavonte’s knee was another BS no call, I hate those dbags
October 4th, 2024 at 8:27 am
That too, Christina. Fully agree.
October 4th, 2024 at 8:41 am
David shouldn’t have intercepted the ball? My goodness I’m out geez on to the next game wow
October 4th, 2024 at 1:22 pm
Paul, you must be as blind as the refs. He did twist his head by pulling on the face mask.
Also, a tackle of the qb by pulling him down by the collar ISN’T a foul if the qb is in the pocket. (Learned that one last week while watching a game)
October 4th, 2024 at 1:33 pm
Also the rules state that offensive lineman helmets must be at the level of the centers hip at the time the ball is snapped.
That being said, the two tackles weren’t properly set so there should have been a flag on Atlanta on the final snap to clock the ball at the end of regulation which would have come with a 10 second runoff with the foul occurring with a running clock….game over.
October 4th, 2024 at 2:30 pm
Tucker, what they meant was he should have just knocked it down. It was 4th down and we would have gotten the ball at the Falcons 20, instead he picked it and got tackled at the Falcons 28. That 8 yards may have made the difference in weather we were still in field goal range after the holding call and non-call for the face mask play.