The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost more than a game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night. At least for a little while, it seems.

Franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a sprained left shoulder in the loss to LA, and it could keep him on the shelf for a while. Mayfield was caught by the broadcast camera wincing in pain after throwing a touchdown to Tez Johnson in the second quarter to draw the Bucs back to within 21-7.

That should have raised a big red flag for Todd Bowles in a game that was clearly getting away from the Bucs. Baker went to the injury tent but went back into the game. And with the Bucs down 31-7 with 3 seconds left, Bowles decided to call for a Hail Mary heave from his ailing quarterback.

After last year, he should have known better.

Todd Bowles apparently didn’t learn from Chris Godwin’s injury against the Ravens last season, and Mayfield paid the price

Bowles took a lot of heat from the fallout of a crucial injury with a minute left in the Bucs’ 41-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in October of last year. With the game for all intents and purposes over, the Bowles continued to press for a score from their own half of the field down 10 with his starters in. Godwin was tackled and suffered a gruesome dislocated ankle that ended his season and carried over through training camp and into the start of this season.

In a similar vein, Mayfield was in a situation he had no business being in on Sunday night. The game was, for all intents and purposes, over. The Rams were flat-out dominant, and a final, extremely low percentage heave-ho from Tampa Bay’s own 37-yard was not going to change that. A knee should have been taken, and an evaluation of his quarterback under the circumstances should also have been undertaken at halftime, as Bowles said after the game that he knew he was dealing with a shoulder issue.

Instead, Mayfield tried his best and let it rip, but in doing so, he hurt his shoulder further and fell to the ground while holding his shoulder in significant pain.

Bowles admitted after the game that the final throw aggravated his injury.

“I thought he hurt it earlier. He said he was fine. He went back, and he re-aggravated it on the last play.”

Mayfield is having an MRI on Monday, so we’ll hopefully find out this week if there is any clearer prognosis as to his potential absence. But the unfortunate thing is that it’s a potential absence that did not have to be as long as it will be.

Tampa Bay is entering a crucial stretch to try to claim its fifth straight NFC South crown, as they are tied with the Carolina Panthers at 6-5 entering Monday. Their margin for error is now miniscule. Fortunately, their stretch of playoff teams is behind them, as they have a very navigable stretch of games starting with 3-8 Arizona at home on Sunday.

But without Mayfield, every game will be a fight. And it could be a situation that Bowles has unfortunately helped the Bucs deal with that they didn’t have to.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers News

Bucs fooled everyone during the first half of the season, but their true colors were exposed against the Bills

The Bucs are lucky they play in a bad division because they’d be in trouble, otherwise.

Evan Winter