The Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew a golden opportunity to take control of the NFC South, losing 30-26 to the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Buccaneers took the opening kickoff and took an early 7-0 lead before the Falcons would come back to tie the game at seven.
Both teams would trade scores, but the Falcons took a 21-17 lead—a lead they would never relinquish. The Falcons went on to win the game 35-31, the first time the Falcons have swept the Bucs in a season since 2017.
The loss drops the Bucs into second place in the division, with a 5-3 record. The Bucs will play games against Kansas City and San Francisco in the next two weeks.
Playing their first game without their star wide receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the Buccaneers out-gained the Falcons 432-394.
Tight end Cade Otten was Mayfield’s go-to receiver against Atlanta, catching nine passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bucs offense tried a few trick plays but came up with zero treats in the loss to the Falcons. First up was a fake punt, which Atlanta was all over, and the Buccaneers lost a yard.
The Buccaneers then tried a flea-flicker to Ryan Miller in the third quarter, which led to Mayfield’s second interception by Jessie Bates.
There are a lot of troubling signs surrounding this Buccaneers team, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
While the offense continues to perform at a high level even without Evans and Godwin, the same cannot be said for the defense.
The Buccaneers are averaging 28.6 PPG, which is good for 4th in the league. They also rank third in the third down conversions.
Meanwhile, defensively, the Bucs are giving up the third most yards in the league at 387 yards a game. The run defense is 19th, giving up 132 yards a game. The Buccaneers are giving up 27.7 points a game. That is in the bottom five in the NFL.
This is Todd Bowles’s defense. Every year, there seems to be a problem with consistent play and execution of fundamentals during the season.
This defense seems to be regressing instead of progressing. When asked about the defense’s regression, Bowles said, “That’s a good question. It starts with coaching. It starts with me. It starts with the defensive coaches, and it starts with players. We’ve got to play better. We have to fix it. Nobody is coming to save us. We have to do a hell of a lot better job then we’re doing and that starts with me.”
Yes, Bowles is responsible, but the players must also be held responsible at some point.
Another stat that shows how the Buccaneers’ defense is regressing is that in the first four games of the season, the Buccaneers’ defense allowed 19.5 PPG. In the last four, the Buccaneers are giving up 33.75 PPG.
Offensively, the Bucs have gone 1-3 in the last three games and have scored 138 points, 34.5 per game, but that is still not enough to propel the Buccaneers to a win. That’s how out of sync this Tampa defense has been.
Without Evans and Godwin, Mayfield has tried to do a bit too much, and that has caused him to have five turnovers in the last two games. The former No. 1 overall pick finished the game against the Falcons 37/50 passing for 330 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Mayfield threw the two picks at critical points when the Bucs were driving. Mayfield threw one to AJ Terrell in the first half and Jessie Bates in the second half. The Bucs were moving the ball both times when Mayfield threw the picks.
Mayfield has also thrown seven interceptions in the last three games. He threw just two picks in his first five games. He is now tied with the league lead in interceptions with Patrick Mahomes with nine.
Without Evans and Godwin, the Buccaneers’ downfield passing game is lacking, which hurt Tampa Bay in the game against the Falcons.
Defensively, the defense has to find a way to get pressure on the quarterback. Against the Falcons, there was very little pressure on Kirk Cousins until it was too late in the fourth quarter.
The Buccaneers will travel to Kansas City next week for a Monday night game against the Chiefs.