What A Waste!
January 13th, 2025
Strong effort flushed.
This makes Joe want to pound his head on the keyboard.
It seems Baker Mayfield may have turned one of his best statistical games of his Bucs career last night. Or at least one of his best if you believe NextGen Stats.
And for nothing! Here are the details by way of Grant Gordon of NFL.com, Mayfield was, well, quite successful throwing the ball. (Joe won’t mention the handoff issue between Jalen McMillan and Mayfield.)
Baker Mayfield completed 15 of 18 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, recording his highest success rate in a game since joining the Buccaneers (65.2%).
And it all got flushed down the toilet largely because of a fumble and largely because one of the league’s worst pass defenses was absolutely getting sliced and diced by a rookie quarterback who broke a 12-year drought for winless rookie quarterbacks on the road in the postseason.
Oh, and Jayden Daniels became the first Washington rookie quarterback to win a playoff game since the great Sammy Baugh. (There is no truth to the rumor that back in the day, Ira and Baugh got into a fistfight over Muriel Berkowitz.)
As the one and only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo would say, look him up.
January 13th, 2025 at 3:32 pm
yeah, AND Baker had the 2nd best run of the game and the TOUGHEST Run of the game-just think if Coehn wouldnt of gotten cutesy plays in and would of just let Baker throw the ball more-play our regular game-send Bucky NOT JUST UP THE MIDDLE and let Bucky be Bucky -well-we might of pulled it out anyway
THE DEFENSE NOT STOPPING JAYDEN 4 ALMOST THE ENTIRE GAME COST US THE GAME AND BOWLES FEARRUL MOVES AND COEN DECIDING 2 CHANGE WHAT WORKED 4 US- NOT THE ONE PLAY THAT JMAC ARRIVED 2 EARLY AND BAKER MISSED HAND OFF-BAKER TOOK THE HIT-BUT-THE REPLAY SHOWED WHO MESSED UP-AND IT WAS ONLY IMPORTANT CAUSE DEFENSE DID BOWLES BAD DEFENSE _- THEY ALL BOTH SIDES MADE BAD P:AYS N MOVES CAUSE WE WERE PLAYING DESPERATE- COEN IS NOT HEAD COACH MATERIAL N I KNOW we R STUCK WITH BOWLES BUT HE STINKS ! THE OTHER COACHES MAKE HIM LOOK A BIT BETTER UGH
HAPPILY MOST WILL B BACK NXT YEAR N MAYBE WE WWONT HAVE THAT MID YEAR SLUMP AND WE WIN THE SUPERBOWL-WITH OR WITHOUT BOWLES AND COEN _ OUR TEAM AND QB! BAKER R TALENTED ENOUGH @ DO IT!!!!!!!
January 13th, 2025 at 3:37 pm
Would add on the list of shame:
– stupid pre-snap penalties and bad-luck officiating
– Barton’s bad snap on third and one, leading to the decision to kick a field goal to tie the game
– generally lousy clock management.
All of this is consistent with the team’s MO this year: consistently inconsistent. There is talent, there were key injuries, but the Bucs rarely brought their “A” game for 4 quarters.
January 13th, 2025 at 3:39 pm
Bucs should’ve hired john lynch as gm
January 13th, 2025 at 3:48 pm
Daniels is the best QB Washington has had since RG III, Doug Williams or Joe Theismann. Will he be another RG III? or will he win a SB like Williams and Theismann?
Let’s see how he performs vs Lions next week.
He was great vs Bucs last night.
January 13th, 2025 at 3:50 pm
and people say bowels should’nt get canned?????
January 13th, 2025 at 3:55 pm
Offense didn’t live up to their billing, plain and simple.
Defense did enough. 2 x 4th down stands. Held Washington to 23.
Offensive issues were not JUST that fumble but it was huge. Penalties and plays for loss, cute or predictable play calls etc. The offense failed to get the points we needed (or meet their “average”), and they had numerous chances to change the momentum/game but they didn’t.
Team loss… But if the offense had just done what so many of you just assumed they’d do = hang 30 or 40, run it down their throat, blah blah blah, or even just not given them the ball deep in our own territory after a 4 down stand…. The result WOULD have been different.
Everybody knew what to expect. Offense was supposed to be our great strength. IT WAS NOT.
This is not just 1 game the offense has helped lose. Others have explained it repeatedly with much evidence to support their opinions but it matters not to the brainiacs sitting angrily on their couches.
January 13th, 2025 at 3:59 pm
Jayden is at least a top 7 qb already. Their old line is not even good and they have very little weapons
January 13th, 2025 at 4:01 pm
I am not a fan of Bowles. They will NOT win a Super Bowl with Todd turd in the punch Bowles at the helm.
He stans on the sidelines, no nothing from him. What a bump on a log.
January 13th, 2025 at 4:01 pm
I think the Ravens win the SB.
January 13th, 2025 at 4:10 pm
I’ve seen Muriel Berkowitz. There is no red-blooded American male that would not engage in a fight to the death for the mere chance of being in the company of that goddess. :-/
January 13th, 2025 at 4:14 pm
If you really think anything is on Coen, think about it Coen made sure that Baker has more freedom at the line. If Baker felt like there was a problem he should have changed the play. This is a baker problem. not a Coen problem and again, I’m not hating on Baker. He just needs to be better.
January 13th, 2025 at 4:20 pm
I was at the game last night. Great atmosphere! Too bad we didn’t get the result we wanted. I know the fumble was a gut punch, but Washington repeatedly killed us on third downs. It was comical at one point. Washington was 8-15 on third down and 3-5 on fourth down. Our defense couldn’t get off the field. This loss did not come down to one play.
January 13th, 2025 at 4:20 pm
Wow, good for Baker recording his highest success rate in a game since joining the Bucs. I bet he is feeling down now too knowing that data.
January 13th, 2025 at 4:45 pm
Joe nailed it. The Bucs lost the game because:
1) Fumble
2) Bad pass defense (namely tackling and scheme)
January 13th, 2025 at 4:55 pm
Myron Coen’s game plan sucked. The defense played bend not break enough to gift Washington a field goal to win with no time left. Todd has issues seeing the ball at night. Simple. The Bucs this year overall were smoke and mirrors. Weak on defense and surprising on offense. This team was not ever ready for prime time.
January 13th, 2025 at 4:59 pm
Anyone criticizing or blaming Mayfield is a tool…w/o him this team wins 4-5 games maybe… dude is a football player in the old school way…his scrambles alone won us games
January 13th, 2025 at 5:01 pm
“sliced and diced by a rookie quarterback who broke a 12-year drought for winless rookie quarterbacks on the road in the postseason.”
jjjoes. You guys are better than that. There is no need implying Daniels isn’t all that and HIS skill didn’t have a MAJOR bearing on his THIRTEENTH win of the season.
so let’s check out some of his biggest feats from the season so far:
With his overtime touchdown pass against the Falcons, Daniels has now thrown five touchdown passes in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter or in overtime, which is not only an NFL record, it’s two more than ANY other QB in a single season since at least the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
The Commanders QB rushed for 127 yards against the Falcons and now has 864 on the season, which is a new record for rushing yards by a rookie QB. The old mark was held by Robert Griffin III, who rushed for 815 yards in 2012 while playing for Washington.
In the win over the Falcons, Daniels became the first rookie ever to have three passing touchdowns combined with 125 rushing yards or more in a single game.
If you combine Daniels’ win over the Falcons with last week’s win over the Eagles, that makes Daniels just the second rookie QB ever with back-to-back double-dight comebacks in the second half of a game, joining Andrew Luck, who did it in 2012.
Daniels also became the first rookie QB ever to win at least 10 games with 30 or more total touchdowns and at least 4,000 total yards in a single season.
Sometimes you lose, sometimes you simply get whipped, and sometimes you make ONE mistake that upsets the entire applecart.
Daniels has and is going to make more teams look desperate than the Bucs.
Kancey came within a whisker twice that I recall, he makes those plays and it would have helped, but make no mistake the fumble is what sealed the deal!
January 13th, 2025 at 5:02 pm
felt like that play before bartons bad snap was a huge overlooked play . it was second and one and baker faked handoff to bucky tried to go up the middle and got stuffed. i have no doubt bucky would have picked up the first down. the team is undisciplined thats why it lost so many close games. this has changed since blowing the coverage on cooper kupp in the playoffs
January 13th, 2025 at 5:02 pm
Gonegator, I’m sorry but you are severely mistaken and just flat out wrong. The offense has carried the Bucs the majority of the season. Offense cost the Bucs maybe 2 games all year but I can count 5 or 6 the defense cost the Bucs games and that’s including last night. Let’s put into perspective, the Bucs had 7 possessions the whole game, the whole game, the Bucs ran 44 plays for the whole game, do you realize how many times they’ve ran 44 plays in the first half of games through out the season. Washington did not punt once, they converted 3 of 5 4th downs one of them being a wide open terry touchdown. Washington controlled the game and clock with 35 minutes of possession time, the Bucs had the ball for 24 minutes. As much as people want to claim about the fumble that is on both baker and Jalen which baker took sole responsibility for, this game was tied with over 4 minutes left in the game, the defense like all game couldn’t get a stop when they needed it. This game loss belongs on both sides of the ball, but I would say 70/30 more blame goes to the defense
January 13th, 2025 at 5:03 pm
hasmt•
January 13th, 2025 at 5:06 pm
the last drive by washington last night was reminiscent of chiefs ot drive. and atlanta and so on just a helpless feeling watching it transpire
January 13th, 2025 at 5:12 pm
Shît happens my dudes. Football is an orchestra of movement and action and sometimes the tiniest of mistakes are magnified under the spotlight. We fumbled the game away when we should’ve driven the field and ate up clock and put more points between us and the opponent. Oh well moving on and enjoying life
January 13th, 2025 at 5:13 pm
One of the worst pass defense in the NFL since Bowles got here and people actually believe free agency dollars will fix the scheme. CJ Stroud last year, Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels this year. When the Bucs play a rookie quarterback the fan base gets nervous. I know the Bowles supporters wish they could fall asleep and wake up on opening day of free agency.
January 13th, 2025 at 5:14 pm
John Lynch is in cap he’ll now no picks
Traded for Lance he not a good GM
BAKER pissed the game away simple
January 13th, 2025 at 5:33 pm
Notwithstanding Baker’s fumble, just look at Time of Possession, 3rd and 4th down conversions and that will tell the story. Our Defense can’t get off the porch, that dog don’t hunt… Pathetic.
January 13th, 2025 at 5:48 pm
If memory serves me correct, we beat the #2 seed Eagles, the #1 seed Lions and tied the #1 seed Chiefs. Most of that was done without our 2 great receivers. Losing your starting receivers hurts.
January 13th, 2025 at 5:50 pm
Simple if the Bucs don’t score 30 they lose. Offense didn’t have a good night but if Washington didn’t have the ball most of the night they would have found their rhythm. Washington was 8/15 on 3rd down 3/5 on 4th down and never punted. lol if you think the defense did enough I’d say your last name is Bowles and you’re related to him. Barton is a rookie, McMillan is a rookie lol Baker is guilty by association.
Just admit Washington wanted it more you know like how the defense wanted to get the ball back for Mike to get that record against the saints. Washington wanted it and they took it the better team won even though we’re more talented they have the better coach
January 13th, 2025 at 5:59 pm
One of those could literally win the superbowl. It was a great year in spite of being without our top 2 receivers. If we would have been healthy we would have been considerably better in the win column. What was it Bowels said about the fumble? “Baker’s the reason we are here” Baker’s the reason, Baker–hilarious
When it mattered most, the last 3 games of the season, Bakers pass rating was 136.5, highest in the entire league!!! By far!!!
January 13th, 2025 at 6:08 pm
GoneGator Says:
Team loss… But if the offense had just done what so many of you just assumed they’d do = hang 30 or 40, run it down their throat, blah blah blah, or even just not given them the ball deep in our own territory after a 4 down stand…. The result WOULD have been different.
_______________________
omfg an offense shouldnt have to score 30-40 points to win a game. im also tired of hearing about the two times (all night) that they got a stop and washington turned it over on downs. perhaps the bucs wouldnt have turned it over “deep in their own territory” if the defense hadn’t let them drive the whole field before they finally got the stop? they didn’t have to punt a single time and left the bucs offense riding the bench for most of the night.
baker completed 84% of his passes, 2 TD, 185 yds, and a 146 passer rating. he had several huge plays where he converted 3rd downs-one of them he plowed right through wagner like it was nothing.
January 13th, 2025 at 6:21 pm
Still blaming Baker. Dude barely had a chance to get on the field because of our idiot head coach
January 13th, 2025 at 7:01 pm
No defense
January 13th, 2025 at 7:04 pm
Let cohen walk..Calling a trick reverse play at the 12. You do that at midfield. Alex Van Pelt is available.
January 13th, 2025 at 7:09 pm
Quarterbacks are better these days coming out of college.. They are staying 4-6 years and making millions from NIL but also having a blast in college. They can jump around and play in 2-3 different offences. These are triple A players.
January 13th, 2025 at 7:23 pm
Still feeling this one,, will be for a bit ,,, But it was a fun year ,, a good year ,,, only one team can win a Super Bowl each year (unfortunately I mean 1 team) ,, we are kind of Blessed that we have 2 ,,, think of all the teams that have 0,,,, I hope one of them get it this year ( Bills , Lions, Vikings , Houston),,,, that said , we have good young talent ,, we need to fill the holes ,,, the young guys (due to injuries) got lots and lots of valuable experience ,,,, I think we will be ok
January 13th, 2025 at 7:49 pm
Might as well get used to it everyone. Todd Bowles will be back in 2025 and the Buccaneers are in position to make a very strong run at their third Super Bowl Championship. We just need a few great draft picks on defense.
The Bucs lost last night because the offense made too many mistakes. That’s on Liam Coen, the offensive coordinator.
Baker took responsibility but it’s not his fault. He was trying to execute a very difficult maneuver on the Commanders 13 yard line. Had this play been successful, it would have resulted in a 20-40 yard gain or more.
The Commanders will fall to the Lions next week, and the Lions may very well be Super Bowl bound to play the Bills, Chiefs, Ravens. We shall see.
Looking forward to the 2025 season.
Go Bucs !!!!!!
January 13th, 2025 at 7:59 pm
@Sunny
You are right. We shouldn’t have to score 30-40. And we wouldn’t have had to if the OFFENSE had been able to put more than 1 decent drive together. The O had opportunities – they had the ball – what did they do?
Mistakes on offense weren’t limited to one fumble. Penalties, bad snaps, bad play calls….Not a juggernaut. Frankly, just a plain crap show on offense. 14 point swing on one play. Field goals instead of TD’s. The entire unit has regressed lately but no-one wants to even acknowledge that.
Liam needs to be held accountable, along with Todd, position coaches, the individual players etc.. Some people can’t seem to think beyond the 1 hero – 1 villain bullspit narrative being pushed by many here.
The defense played better than most expected. Injuries are facts. The defense kept it close. The offense could have been the heros if they werent crapping in their pants most of the game. I’m a huge Baker fan – I think Liam COULD be a great O.C. but he’s been outcoached (and its not really close) in the last 2 games @ least. And there have been multiple other games this year where the offense has contributed to losses or been bailed out by hero ball from Baker.
Go back and watch the game again….with a critical (or just fair) eye on the offense. But but but time of possession cause of the defense not getting off of the field blah blah you may say.
IF the offense can sustain drives the T.O.S. shifts. You could say the offense couldn’t stay on the filed long enough to help the D out, and that would be true, but you won’t hear that from the majority of people – even if its objectively true.
Like I said before, Team loss. Plenty of blame to be shared on both sides of the ball but only some of us seem to be able to see that.
January 13th, 2025 at 8:12 pm
They played too conservatively, played to keep the game close. Low scoring. Exactly the type of game Bowles excel at. Problem is, that isn’t the Bucs talent. That is the Commanders talent. Bucs should have played aggressive. Use the pass to set up the run. Take more downfield shots. This is an offensive team, and they need an offensive coach willing to take chances
January 13th, 2025 at 9:38 pm
What a waste??? That’s an understatement! Bucs’ defense couldn’t get off the field, thus keeping their own offense on the sideline. Washington never punted. They just chewed up the clock. Daniels threw the ball 35 times…Baker just 18 times. Daniels QBR was 118…Baker’s QBR was 156…almost perfect. Washington controlled the ball all game. Buccaneers’ defense was more than inept: they kept their own offense off the field. Yeah…Baker fumbled but he fought like hell to try to keep the offense on the field. This was just a pathetic performance by the defense. We have an elite NFL offense with the worse NFL defense.
January 13th, 2025 at 11:35 pm
Yah…GoneGator is right! the Buccaneers defense played a great game for the Commanders by keeping the Buccaneers’ offense off the field for the most of the game. I heard when the Commanders’ HC gave out game balls after the game in the locker room, I heard he gave one to the Bucs’ defense!
January 14th, 2025 at 1:55 am
I’d say to let go of bowles if we could have kept Cohen due to Baker and his cohesiveness and grabbed up Bill B. How could wouldnjave been to take Brady and get a bowl. Then Bill comes and gets a Bowl here also. If it’s a possibility at all to get him to say goodbye to North Carolina and come here, I would do it in a heartbeat. Our defense would instantly improve Bill is a better D. Coordinator than Bowles hands down and how could the players not respect Billy 6 crowns. Glazers step in and override Licht on thsi one please. Bill looked very happy to be in college but I have seen stranger things happen.
January 14th, 2025 at 2:15 am
The most important stat of the game was? Washington never had to punt the ball!! That is gross defense by the bucs! Washington dominated the time of possession in OUR stadium! Embarrassing. Do not blame the offense. We would not have been a plus 500 team without them. The Defense was embarrassing.
January 14th, 2025 at 8:30 am
Diehard Browns Fan Here – We want to thank Bucs fans for embracing Baker – We certainly miss him here in Cleveland. That Run where He ran over 1st Ballet HOF Bobby Wagner was the type of plays He would make for us , even in 2021 with a torn labrum – He is willing to die for the logo on his helmet!
I agree with others in that the DEF really let you guys down this year. I watched both of the OT Games vs ATL and KC -The offense did their part but the def failed both times ( Not to mention the refs missing the False start in the KC game) . Hopefully a new DC or HC might help get you guys over the hump!
We wish best of Luck to you guys! GO Bucs!
January 14th, 2025 at 9:00 am
Bucs Offense and Mayfield’s success is based on Timing. That play was not the first time they ran a Jet Sweep. When Mayfield turned and saw the carrier’s back side he should have never let the ball go. Timing was off. If it was not that fumble it would have be an ill advised throw into double coverage ala Divisional 2023.
With 15 main characters on Offense that is not even a third of the team. Bucs have a ways to go.
Joe Burrow had a better year statistically and didn’t make the Playoffs. That’s because they play in a Division that is not decided by what team sinks to the bottom last.
Through the 2024 season Bus ran 44% and passed 55% of the time. Team gets to the Playoffs and runs 58% of the time and passes 41% of the time.
So you have a Ferrari in the garage but in the most important game of the year you bring out a 4 door Ford? Looks to me like Bucs got fooled by Mega Yards Rushing by the Rookie against crappy teams during the season and leaned on it to much.
January 14th, 2025 at 11:25 am
If Todd’s defense is 29th in the league in passing after 17 reg season games then what exactly is he good at?
January 14th, 2025 at 6:05 pm
Hayes is SOFT. Gave up a 4th& 2 to McLaurin, by playin a soft zone inside the 10 yard line, when we needed a stop the most. Terrible