This Buccaneers team had looked very promising for a while. It’s truly impressive that Todd Bowles and Dave Canales pretty much just threw all of that away. I mean this with no exaggeration, this is the worst game of the season for the Buccaneers. With all of the circumstances surrounding it, all the Saints injuries, there was no excuse for such a pathetic effort. The crowd started leaving with 12 minutes left in the 4th. I don’t blame them.
Baker Mayfield looked like shit, and Canales tried to one-up him in that department. The gameplan of this game was written on a beer coaster while he celebrated the new year. Only explanation for how utterly moronic it was. 2nd and 13? Just run it up the middle. What’s uptempo, just play nonchalantly like you have the lead the whole game while down 20. Again, Mayfield did not help, but Canales did absolutely nothing to elevate the team. It felt like an eternity until Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were schemed open. Surprise, Godwin managed to get a TD one of the few times he was.
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Speaking of bad offense, let me tell you about turnovers. One play perfectly encapsulates everything that went wrong. Trey Palmer catches the deep shot with 4 minutes left, great right? But because it is slightly overthown, he loses balance and the ground causes him to fumble. Not to be outdone, Baker Mayfield throws two terrible picks and add a Rachaad White fumble.
That vaunted run game that the Bucs finally cultivated. It didn’t do anything. And Dave Canales once again stubbornly insisted on running it. The Saints weren’t fooled by it at all. The one time the Bucs were running the ball well, Rachaad White held the ball like a shit-filled diaper and coughed it up.
Derek Carr looked like Tom Brady. It should be noted the Saints were down to a 3rd string RT and they looked like the 2020 o-line. They didn’t even have Alvin Kamara for the whole second half. This pass defense let *checks notes* Juwan Johnson beat them. Juwan Johnson. I have no words. And remember Alvin Kamara being out. Well guess what, Jamaal Williams decided to show up for the first time this year.
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Shout out to Jake Camarda by the way. He saw the whole team suck ass and decided to join them. Almost every single punt and kick was pulled short. I don’t know if he was injured, but he looked absolutely abysmal.
Let me tell you about this coaching as well. The whole team is struggling, and Bowles decides to change nothing until it is near the end of the 3rd. Devin White and Ryan Neal sucking again, don’t bench them until it is too late. Wow, who could’ve predicted that outcome. It’s not as if they are the two most maligned players on defense. I already mentioned the offensive woes.
I’m not even surprised. I sort of figured this team was due to let me down since everyone was buying into us. Just didn’t expect it to be this bad. I still think this team has a good chance of winning the division. For how bad the Buccaneers played, somehow the Panthers were worse. But I am still upset. This was the chance to keep momentum and look up the division. Not only that, but the Saints were missing their best offensive weapon. Easy opportunity to flex on your division opponent. And instead the Saints punched us in the mouth repeatedly and the team did nothing to stop them.
Make sure you check out Devin’s blog at cannoncrunch.wordpress.com.
Cannon Crunch with Devin Sanguinett
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