After starting the season in an unexpected, fabulous way with two consecutive wins in New Orleans and then at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, both playoff contenders, the Bucs have now lost two contests in a row one against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home and in Chicago against the Bears.
While the Bucs looked like an unstoppable force on offense in the first two weeks with Fitzpatrick as the quarterback, things have turned around quickly for Tampa Bay, and there is no more Fitzmagic to be seen offensively.
After a terrible first half against the Steelers, Fitzpatrick got it together in the second half and saved his starting job with a formidable second half. However, the first half in the Bears game was not much better, as the Bears’ defense completely dominated Tampa Bay‘s offense and lead 38-3 at the half. This caused Dirk Koetter to take Fitzpatrick out of the game and put Jameis Winston under center in his first game back after his suspension.
Winston fared better than Fitzpatrick. When he was put in the game, it was practically out of reach. He had 16 completions on 20 passing attempts, which reflects an 80% completion rate. He added one touchdown and 2 interceptions, one of which was not really his fault because the ball was knocked loose on a hit by Khalil Mack as Winston released the ball. The second interception came on the Bucs‘ last offense play of the day on simply a bad pass.
On the other side of the football, Tampa Bay‘s defense has never looked good this year. Against the Bears, it was easily the worst performance so far this season. The Bucs could not stop anything and left opposing wide receivers wide open on multiple occasions because of miscommunication, conclusively allowing Mitch Trubisky a career game with a whopping 6 touchdowns and 354 yards through the air.
Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith will certainly find himself on the hot seat after this game (if he wasn’t already there before). Something has to happen to this defense; the performances so far are simply not acceptable.
Now which Bucs team is the real one this season? The one we saw in weeks 1 and 2? Or the one we saw in weeks 3 and 4? Only time will tell. Up next is a much-needed bye week. After that the Bucs travel to Atlanta to play the Falcons in a very crucial divisional game with Jameis Winston as the starting quarterback for the first time this season. This game should provide a good idea of where the Bucs are going this year.
