“The Sage” delivers in his thrice-weekly column.
BY IRA KAUFMAN
JoeBucsFan.com columnist
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Come on back, Ronde.
On a day the Bucs honored a star from yesteryear, Tampa Bay’s current defense pushed the rerun button, looking like the sieve on display the previous two seasons at Raymond James Stadium.
There were plenty of culprits, with rookie kicker Matt Gay front and center, or rather, wide right, but the Giants won Sunday because rookie quarterback Daniel Jones shredded Tampa Bay’s defense — despite the absence of Saquon Barkley.
All four of New York’s TD drives covered at least 75 yards and monster games by Mike Evans and Shaq Barrett weren’t enough as the Bucs fell to 0-2 at home before beginning a treacherous road stretch.
It’s difficult to overestimate how demoralizing this setback was to Buc fans who were starting to believe in this team. A Todd Bowles scheme that had played so well for 10 quarters had no answers for Eli Manning’s replacement as Jones threw for 213 yards in the second half.
If this Buc season falls apart, supporters will point to the afternoon of Sept. 22 as the dispiriting turning point. Here’s how it all went down, literally and figuratively: (more…)