Buccaneers have to fix drops if they want to beat the Lions
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't just beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night – they pounded them into the dirt. The Eagles never had a chance, as the Bucs led wire-to-wire all night long. Baker Mayfield's three passing touchdowns and Todd Bowles' relentless blitzing were key factors that drove Tampa to its first postseason win […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't just beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night – they pounded them into the dirt.
The Eagles never had a chance, as the Bucs led wire-to-wire all night long. Baker Mayfield's three passing touchdowns and Todd Bowles' relentless blitzing were key factors that drove Tampa to its first postseason win since the 2021 season when, yep you guessed it – they beat the Eagles in Raymond James Stadium.
Mayfield was especially good and it ended with him becoming the first Bucs quarterback to record 300 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in a playoff game. Something that Brady never did.
The wild part about Mayfield's performance, though, is the fact it could've been even better. Bucs receivers dropped a ton of passes during the game, which prevented not only a better stat line for Mayfield, it prevented Tampa from looking even more dominant.
In all, Tampa was credited with four drops on the night, per Pro Football Focus. But the key is the severity of the drops. Sure, Cade Otton was under duress when he dropped the pass in the end zone, but he could've caught it, still. That cost the Bucs at least three points, as they had to kick a field goal from the 3.
The other big one was Mike Evans' drop near the goal line. There's a very good chance it would've been a touchdown if it were caught. Fortunately, David Moore scored off a big catch-and-run a couple of plays later to even things out. The Bucs can't count on that though – they have to execute and finish plays when they have an opportunity like Evans did.
It was pretty strange to see, considering drops haven't really been an issue for the Bucs in 2023. Per PFF, Mayfield's 5.7% drop rate tied for ninth-lowest among quarterbacks with at least 213 regular season dropbacks, which is made up of 37 qualifying players. They averaged an 11.1% drop rate against the Eagles, which would beat Tommy DeVito's dead-last rate of 9.5% by a wide margin if it were a season-long sample.
The Bucs simply can't afford for this happen against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, especially when considering the Lions' ability score at pretty much any given point. Tampa Bay could easily find itself in a shootout this weekend and if it does, dropped passes will prevent the offense from matching points and then things could get really ugly.
It's been a very successful season for Bowles and the Bucs. Hardly anyone had them making the postseason, much less beating the defending NFC champs in the first round.
But, all of that success will quickly come to an end if this keeps up in Motown. And the key part is, it's something the Bucs can avoid – they just have to keep their focus intact.
