On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered loss number eight with a loss at home to the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-23.
Although the team suffered defeat, they looked a lot better with more players back in the lineup to help them finish the season strong. The team itself started the first half off hot, however, the Bengals seemed to gain all the momentum back in the second half en route to their 10th victory.
Brady and the Offense Shines in the First Half
The first half worked out heavily in the Bucs favor. Quarterback Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in the first half to wide receivers Russell Gage and Chris Godwin. Gage would add another touchdown reception in garbage time in the fourth quarter. Brady also contributed with 338 yards on the day.
By the end of the first half, the Bucs held a 17-3 lead. A large part of the success was due to the defense’s play in the first half. Antoine Winfield and Mike Edwards returning in the secondary from injuries made huge impacts in keeping the Bengals’ passing game at bay.
The Bengals ran just 20 plays for 83 yards in the first half. Joe Burrow was also picked off by Carlton Davis on the first drive of the game which set the tone early.
The run game for Cincinnati was not present as well. Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon had just a combined 45 yards. A lot of this was due to the activity coming from the Buccaneers’ linebacking core. Devin White and Lavonte David combined for 13 tackles on the day and were exceptional at stopping the runs up the middle. This was key as Tampa Bay was without one of their top run stoppers in Vita Vea.
Cincinnati Wrote the Second Half Script
The Bengals seemed to have different plans in the second half. They outscored the Bucs 31-7 as Burrow threw four touchdown passes on the way to victory. Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Mitchell Wilcox, and Tyler Boyd were on the receiving end of these touchdowns.
Chase had seven catches for 60 yards as the Bucs kept him from getting “the big play,” but could not stop the connection between him and Burrow.
A killer factor for Tampa Bay was the turnovers that came from the offense, and Brady in particular. He threw two interceptions in the second half and also fumbled the ball twice. One of the fumbles set up Cincinnati at the twelve yard line, while the other was a miscue on a hand-off to running back Leonard Fournette.
Brady on the turnovers in the second half: “You just cannot win football games like that…we literally just gave them the ball… they took advantage.”
The Buccaneers also have struggled in the penalty department and it happened again on Sunday. They had seven penalties, giving 58 yards to Cincinnati.
Up Next
The Buccaneers are still first in the NFC South as we enter the final three weeks of the regular season. Next up, they will be on the road in State Farm Stadium as they take on the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, Christmas eve. Kick off is at 8:25 p.m. E.T.