The Drive That Killed The Game (And Maybe The Season)
October 22nd, 2024
Game (season?) turned on injury.
Color Joe unconvinced that the Bucs have a defense capable of being counted on to win games when the offense is sputtering. That was very evident tonight at The Licht House.
And now, for the unforeseen future, that same defense is going to be asked to shut down opponents with the offense’s two star receivers, a Hall of Fame guy and a Pro Bowler, out for who knows how long.
The Bucs weren’t playing the sorry slimy Saints on Monday night. They were playing one of the big boys from the rugged NFC North. And the Crows are just in a different league, forget conference, than the Bucs.
The fact the Bucs collapsed, absolutely collapsed, after Mike Evans got hurt, shows a team that’s either mentally weak or a team that needs its future Hall of Fame receiver to be fully healthy.
The Bucs had a 10-7 lead in the second quarter and looked to be ready to add to the lead when Baker Mayfield went deep to the left for Mike Evans in the end zone. He couldn’t hang onto the ball and suffered a nasty hamstring injury on the play as he was prone on the ground.
Replays showed Mayfield immediately began waving for Bucs trainers to get on the field and look after his favorite target. The game totally changed at that moment.
Mayfield seemed rattled and threw two bad interceptions on consecutive drives after Evans’ injury. And it was off to the races. For the Crows.
The Bucs weren’t remotely in the game after Evans’ injury, save for Zyon McCollum dragging three would-be tacklers 20 yards downfield into the end zone on a scoop-and-score which was called back as McCollum was ruled down.
That play, and maybe a Bucky Irving catch-and-run and an onside kick, were maybe the only plays the Bucs seemed alive after Evans got hurt.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:29 am
Kudos to Zyon on that play btw….
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:29 am
Baker said it in his interview postgame that we’re gonna have to get creative.
I really think seeing White as a slot WR should get some serious consideration especially that we know the Buck & Tuck combo works in the backfield.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:32 am
Even if the Bucs go up 17-7, the defense wasn’t going to stop the Ravens. There is no offensive problem (might be now after injuries), the defense is historically bad.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:33 am
No one thought the Bucs were going to win this game
The Bucs were expected to lose this game
They are not on the Ravens level
It’s as simple as that
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:35 am
We got rolled tonight and it didn’t need until the hip-drop tackle that rolled Godwin
The Bucs D failed its sputtering offense
Lamar the Ravens offense destroyed Bowles tonight.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:36 am
“Mayfield seemed rattled and threw two bad interceptions on consecutive drives after Evans’ injury. And it was off to the races. For the Crows.”
What explains the 3 INTs last week then?
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:37 am
I think the biggest problem that kills Tampa Bay is their philosophy about not going for 7 in 4th down situations when their defense can’t stop the other team from scoring. This simply makes no sense whatsever.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:37 am
2 onside attempts allowed max @joe. Godwin was hurt when we couldn’t even kick an onside if we had scored.
It was meaningless. 0 chance of victory. Fire bowles.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:38 am
From the stands, surrounded by Raven fans, sure looked like the whole offense was disoriented and discombobulated following Mikes injury….
The 2nd quarter was a hot mess, Bakers interceptions were bad throws and the defense ran outta gas.
And I know he hurt his hamstring on that play, but damn – if Mike hangs on to the ball, it’s a completely different vibe.
And the Godwin injury? With less than a minute left and 2 scores down?
Padding stats? Or just a stupid coaching move?
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:38 am
Nfl does not allow 3 onside kicks Ina gsme this year. Per what I’m reading online.
We should have knelt.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:41 am
Why wasn’t Kyle Trask in the game?
Everyone is saying Godwin shouldn’t been in
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:42 am
Bucsfantim Says:
“I really think seeing White as a slot WR should get some serious consideration.”
.
.
Yes to this. It can’t hurt to try, and he is a very smooth receiver.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:42 am
Joe,
Nobody doubts ME13 HOF credentials. Great player and great teammate. Not sure why you say ME “couldn’t hang on to Mayfield’s TD throw.” It looked to Troy Aickman and many watching at home that he dropped a perfectly thrown ball. Don’t know how much a factor injury played in the drop. Subsequent to that drop Mayfield threw an end zone interception. Point is when you are playing a strong opponent, a team can’t afford the mistakes that were made all over the field tonight. The defense seemed to sleep walk through the game. Not sure why Bowles called off the blitzes that seemed to be effective early. Anyway, the better team won tonight. There has been a lot of stability in Baltimore especially true when Ozzie Newsome was running the show and draft. Bucs do not have enough line backing talent and LB speed. That problem keeps showing up.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:44 am
Rod Munch Says:
“What explains the 3 INTs last week then?”
.
.
Didn’t two of them come off of tipped passes?
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:45 am
But somewhere, some moron who calls himself “Boss” is going to tell us the Bucs are so much better without Evans.
Again, he’s a moron, but he’ll still tell us this.
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:53 am
So Bowles says Godwin was still in game so they could attempt 3rd onside kick smh
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:53 am
MANY are spreading misinformation about the NFL onside kick rules…..
There is NO rule that says your only allowed 2 onside kicks.
That was a proposed rule but it didnt pass!!!!
October 22nd, 2024 at 12:54 am
Impressed with zyons strength on that one. Reminda me of gronk dragging guys along
October 22nd, 2024 at 1:04 am
Coulda, woulda, shoulda. Bucs coulda easily been up 14-0 in the 1st qtr if not for the holding penalty on Wirfs. We coulda potentially tacked on another 14 points in the 2nd qtr if Mike had been able to hang onto that ball & if Baker hadn’t thrown 2 INTs that qtr. We coulda added another 3 points in the 3rd qtr if we hadn’t missed the FG. And since we scored 3 TDs in the 4th qtr that would’ve given us 21 more points, for a total of 52 points.
Obviously using that logic we shoulda blown the Ravens away. But for some reason the final score doesn’t agree with that logic. As they say, a strange thing happened on the way to the coliseum. Bucs beat themselves yet again. Not the first time; probably won’t be the last time.
October 22nd, 2024 at 1:08 am
Thank you Tbbucs3.
‘There is no NFL rule explicitly stating a limit on the number of onside kicks a team can attempt in a game, but under the current rules, a team can only attempt an onside kick in the fourth quarter when trailing, effectively limiting the number of onside kicks a team can attempt in a game to potentially just one, as they must declare their intention to attempt an onside kick beforehand, removing the element of surprise.
Key points about the new onside kick rule:
o Only in the fourth quarter: A team can only attempt an onside kick in the fourth quarter of a game.
o Must be trailing: The team attempting the onside kick must be losing at the time.
o Declaration required: The team must declare their intention to attempt an onside kick to the officials before the play.’
October 22nd, 2024 at 1:34 am
I like our chances without Evans more than I do without Godwin. Losing both of them is just a downright travesty. I suspect baker will look VERY average moving forward Joe.
October 22nd, 2024 at 2:49 am
“Rugged nfc north”. Apparently the writers on this blog are on par with the bucs defense. They don’t even know what team conference or division just embarrassed the bucs tonight
October 22nd, 2024 at 3:05 am
I only had them winning 9 from the beginning. Especially with their schedule, too! The injuries aren’t helping either.
October 22nd, 2024 at 7:43 am
rashad white as a receiver for sure
October 22nd, 2024 at 7:59 am
Mayfield ruined the game and season. If the Bucs would’ve scored after Mike “drop easy catches “ Evans got hurt everything would have gone differently. Mayfield killed the entire moral on the team as he has done everywhere…….. START TRASK
October 22nd, 2024 at 8:37 am
Mike Evans is obviously a great WR overall.
But man he had some crucial drops over the years that have killed this team too.
I think that drop last night injured his pride as much as it injured his hammy.
He probably could’ve played the rest of the game, but had to sit out to milk the injury and have it as an excuse for dropping the ball. SMH
I may be wrong about the faked injury, but either way that was drop blew the game for us.
The combination of the drop and injury were too much to overcome, mentally and physically.