The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to 6-3 on the season after a tough 28-23 loss to the New England Patriots. TreVeyon Henderson led the Patriots with 183 rushing yards and three touchdowns, while Baker Mayfield threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns for the Bucs.
That can only mean it’s time for Carter Brantley’s weekly article “Captain’s Table – Walk the Plank”.
Walk the Plank:
Injury Reports
I’m not trying to blame the Buccaneers for their injury woes. I’m not calling for pitchforks and saying the whole training staff needs to be fired. But what I will say is their lack of transparency regarding the injuries to Bucky Irving and Chris Godwin has been frustrating to say the least. I understand that these things are not automatically supposed to be known by the public, but it’s been incredibly strange. I don’t really know why or what advantage they would have in playing a lot of these injuries off as not being a big deal and then turning out to be extended absences for these players. But oh well, what do I know?
The Running Game
We seem to be back to the Brady-era levels of rushing efficiency, which is not a recipe for success for this team. The defense has been playing well over their skis and despite the final score, they actually held up against a very good Patriots offense. That final interception was miraculous and should have been the start of something fun, but alas, it was not meant to be.
Josh Grizzard
The Buccaneers are still without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan, but that’s no excuse every team deals with injuries. The offense has not been up to snuff, and Sunday was a great example of that. Baker has been doing all that he can but the play calling seems to have fallen off quite a bit which was to be expected going from Liam Coen to a first year play caller. But it’s still a disappointment.
The Run Defense
Over 150 rushing yards allowed is not going to cut it. They held up their end of the deal in regards to pass defense for the most part, but their front seven was dashed by rookie TreVeyon Henderson, as the former Buckeye ran for 147 yards.
Captain’s Table:
Emeka Egbuka
What a revelation the young rookie has been so far this season. As much as as they could’ve also used a linebacker, I don’t know that this team is at the top of the division right now without Emeka Egbuka. He submitted another 100+ rec receiving yard performance Sunday afternoon. He has been outstanding.
Tykee Smith
The interception that Tykee Smith came up with at the end of the fourth quarter should be a much bigger deal than it actually ended up being if the offense would’ve actually done its job. Unfortunately, it’s sort of a footnote and a sad reminder of what could’ve been with this game. That does not mean that Smith does not deserve credit for a wonderful, diving interception. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for the buccaneer defense as they’ve struggled to generate turnovers in years past under Todd Bowles.
Follow @ctbrantley12 on Twitter and listen to him on the RBLR Bucs Podcast
Follow, Like and Subscribe to Bucs Report
For more on this, the NFL and everything Buccaneers check back here hourly at BucsReport.com
