The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped their 3rd straight division game to the Carolina Panthers 23-20, and now have to beat Miami and Carolina to win the NFC South.
This game will be remembered, or forgotten, as the one where Josh Grizzard decided to use the run game instead of trying to attack with 4 talented WRs.
It also will be remembered as the game where Todd Bowles called a zero blitz just before halftime instead of playing zone. The result was a back breaking TD which gave Carolina a 13-10 lead with seconds left.
But, isn’t that what bad teams do? They make mistakes which costs them victory.
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The last drive sums up the last few months of Bucs football. The defense forced a Carolina FG just before the 2 minute warning. The Panthers took a 23-20 lead but the Bucs had 2 timeouts and had Baker Mayfield at QB with 4 talented WRs they surely would be able to at least tie the game or win it like they did for most of the games earlier in the year….right?
On the ensuing kickoff, the ball bounced just before the endzone but instead of picking up the ball and returning it, Sean Tucker let it roll into the endzone. That meant the Bucs had to start at the 20….but wait theres more! The Bucs were then penalized for unnecessary roughness when John Bullock decided that headbutting someone was a good idea. Instead of starting at the 30 or better they started at the 10.
Instead of leading a comeback, Mayfield threw an interception when, the player who he should have the best timing with, Mike Evans broke off his route and the ball floated right into the arms of a Panthers defensive back. Ballgame. Bucs lose 23-20.
These past few months the Bucs have found new ways to lose. This team looks like the team that Dirk Koetter coached. We all know how that went for that coaching staff.
As fans we want this team to play with passion, intensity, urgency and smarts but these last 2 months the Buccaneers have played the exact opposite of that. Two games left in the season and most likely for this coaching staff. Thank goodness.
