The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell 36-30 to divisional rival the Atlanta Falcons in overtime on Thursday Night Football. That can only mean it’s time for Carter Brantley’s weekly article, “Captain’s Table/Walk the Plank.” Enjoy!
Walk the Plank:
The Pass Defense
Leave it to the Bucs to allow Kirk Cousins and this mid Falcons offense to find its footing. I get that it’s a Thursday night game, on the road, against a division rival. This was going to be tough. But the offense did its part. Did its job. The defense did not. Over 500 yards is inexcusable and they ought to be ashamed of themselves. The Bucs have been a loser franchise for most of their existence, it only makes sense for them to play like one in front of a national audience against the other biggest loser of a franchise in the NFL. Just pathetic. Why even show up? The Falcons might have had a harder time scoring against air.
Injuries
Good gracious, I know it’s the NFL, this is the nature of the business, people are going to get hurt. But this sucks. Watching so many quality players go down with injuries every week, across the league, really blows.
Bucky Irving
The fumble. Ouch. Being so loose with the ball in such a big moment when your team is driving down the field and trying to salt away a game is something I don’t know if I’ll ever quite understand.
The Refs
No facemask on the Bucky Irving run in the Bucs’ final drive?
Trenton Gill
What an awful punt to not pin the Falcons back at all for their final drive. Like I can’t even fathom being given a chance to make a huge impact on a team and potentially win a starting job and just fumbling it that severely. Cut him tomorrow.
Captain’s Table:
Chase McLaughlin
Another week, another wonderful outing for the Buccaneers kicker, who’s doing his best to earn that nice contract he got over the off-season.
The NFL
Hey, I can be fair, and the NFL does the right thing with these Thursday night games by still allowing people to watch the broadcast on a local channel. You don’t have to shell out money to Big Daddy Jeff and that unholy Amazon Prime.
Tavierre Thomas
A blocked kick! What a job by one of my favorite underrated free agency signings. Sure, his actual on-field contributions have been minimal, but by golly he sure picked a heck of a spot to make an impact.
Lavonte David
Lavonte David did his best to save this game with that interception, even if the rest of the defense was unmotivated. The vet is just so locked in, he always does his thing, and it’s a joy to watch.
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