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.
It’s borderline crazy to sit here and think the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the darlings of the NFC just a little over a month ago, and Baker Mayfield was considered by many to be the NFL’s MVP.
Now, it’s completely fair to question if this is a good team after Week 11’s bad loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Sunday’s loss featured multiple characteristics of bad teams. The offense couldn’t come through when needed (think the three-and-out that came directly after Josh Allen and Co. took a five-point lead), the defense couldn’t stop anything to save its life, and the special teams unit, mainly the kick return coverage, was an absolute sieve that gave the Bills great field possession on several drives.
In retrospect, the Bucs have just two wins over teams with a winning record. They barely beat bad teams, such as the Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans, and New York Jets, and if the ball bounced a different way in those games, we could easily be talking about a 3-7 team instead of a 6-4 team.
Mayfield, while better against the Bills, still showed plenty of inconsistencies that held the offense back. The ground game, especially Sean Tucker, looked prolific, but that was to be expected against arguably the league’s worst run defense.
The defense has now allowed 11 touchdowns of 25+ yards on the season, with six coming in the last two games alone. And of course, special teams have been an issue all year long, with the latest performance being the worst.
The Bucs are playing their worst football at a time of year when they should be playing their best, regardless of the injury situation. They have no idea how to play complementary football, which is arguably the team’s biggest Achilles heel. If the defense gets a stop, the offense can’t do anything, and once the offense does something, the defense gives up points. It’s a vicious cycle, and it doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.
Worst of all, the vast majority of the issues stem from coaching. Josh Grizzard’s play-calling has become stale as the NFL gets more tape of his offense, and the disconnect with Todd Bowles’ defense is painfully clear. If it weren’t for a game against the hapless New Orleans Saints offense, the unit would have strung together one of its worst four-game streaks since Bowles has been with the team in 2019.
The Bucs are lucky they play in the NFC South, which is one of the NFL’s worst divisions. If they played in the NFC West, for instance, there’s a good chance they aren’t even in the playoff conversation right now.
Now, the Bucs must travel to face the Los Angeles Rams, a legitimate Super Bowl contender, in Week 12. They are staring 6-5 right in the face, and it will get worse if they don’t fix these problems immediately.
