The Tampa Bay Buccaneers overcame several turnovers to defeat the Las Vegas Raiders 28-13 on Sunday to take over first place in the NFC South. That can only mean it’s time for Carter Brantley’s weekly article “Captain’s Table/Walk the Plank”. Enjoy!
Captain’s Table:
Tykee Smith
Granted, on the interception, it was just an awful throw from Aidan O’Connell, but some defenders might have dropped that pass or had it knocked out. Tykee Smith managed to haul it in and hang onto it to give the Bucs a humongous play.
Rachaad White
In a game where Bucky Irving exited with a back injury, the Bucs needed Rachaad White to step up, and while he wasn’t able to be Bucky Irving or anything, he was at the very least serviceable in his role. He had a pair of TDs, one on the ground and one through the air. Did you see that stiff arm, too?
Mike Evans’ Hurdle
Get up there big man! Not too bad for someone on the wrong side of 30.
Kaevon Merriweather
What an open field tackle on Desmond Ridder when he escaped the pocket. I know Ridder is awful in a lot of ways, but he’s a tough guy to bring down.
Walk the Plank:
Baker Mayfield’s Decision Making
Another week, another turnover-filled performance for Baker Mayfield. 3 at halftime. These brutal decisions can really come back to bite the Bucs. And he honestly just didn’t play well overall, a lot of poorly thrown balls in the 2nd half especially. He costs them a lot of points, both in the opportunity cost of losing the points on offense and the points the defense gives up because of loss of momentum and better field position for the opponent.
The Rest Of The Offense
Everyone was really bad today. Baker was awful, but the offensive line wasn’t really great, either. Receivers were fine, I guess, but missing Bucky was tough, too.
Injuries
Bucky, AWJ, I mean the Bucs cannot catch a break. Such brutal developments in the injury categories for them this year. Lost so many safeties and corners, as well as the obvious loss of CG14 and Mike Evans for an extended period of time. But the Buccaneers have fought through, and this has still been an OK season.
Antonio Pierce’s 4th Down Decisions
Multiple times, in obvious go situations, the Raiders decided to punt or kick a field goal. And that’s honestly what was the difference maker in this game. He was so conservative and afraid of setting his defense up for failure when they were playing really well (or the Bucs’ offense was playing poorly). I know AOC and Ridder are not ideal, and their offense has been bad this season, but you still have to coach these situations.
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