The good, bad and ugly in Buccaneers' loss to Falcons in Week 15

The Buccaneers sure don’t make things easy on themselves, and the path to the playoffs became much harder after a 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football.

After a sloppy first half, Tampa Bay started to pull away with a two-touchdown lead in the second quarter, but they let the Falcons right back in it to make the game closer than it needed to be. It came down to a defensive stand with two minutes remaining, with the Falcons just needing a field goal to win. The Bucs defense got the Falcons into a 4th & 14 situation at midfield, but let them convert and kick the game-winning field goal to fall to 7-7 on the season.

The Bucs desperately needed the win after dropping four of their last five games and putting their playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Bucs will have 10 days off before traveling to Carolina, and without a win there, they will likely miss the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

In another tough game to watch, here are the good, bad and ugly from the Bucs' loss to the Falcons.

Good

WR Jalen McMillan

In his first game back from an awful neck injury, McMillan made his presence felt on his first catch of the game. Looking to find the first points of the game, Baker Mayfield found McMillan for a gain of 19 yards to the one-yard line. It was originally called a touchdown but was overturned via replay. McMillan was also out in front blocking for his backs and helped spring Rachaad White’s 20-yard run in the first quarter. McMillan only had one more catch during the game for 19 yards, but it was a successful return to the field for the second-year wide receiver.

WR Mike Evans

Evans made his presence felt on Thursday night in his return to action. He ended the day with six receptions for 132 yards on 12 targets, but his impact went beyond the stat sheet. The attention Evans drew helped open things up for others on the field, but his biggest impact may have come on the three flags he drew to come up with first downs for the Bucs, two of which led to touchdowns.

Bad

DB Christian Izien

Izien was beaten on two of Kyle Pitts' many big plays of the day. The first was his touchdown that tied the game. His second came at the end of the second quarter when Pitts broke free for a huge 35-yard gain. On the next play, it was Lavonte David’s turn to get beaten for the 17-yard score. Izien also misfit a run early in the first half that led to an explosive play by Robinson, but it was called back due to holding. Izien did redeem himself in the waning seconds of the third quarter with a forced fumble on Bijan Robinson to set the Bucs up on the Falcons' 25-yard line.

S Antoine Winfield Jr.

Lining up in coverage across from Kyle Pitts in the final minute of the first quarter, Winfield was beaten inside by tight end Kyle Pitts for a huge 26-yard gain to bring the Falcons across midfield. Two plays later, he was stiff-armed by Bijan Robinson on his way to picking up seven yards to set up a third and five. On the next play, Winfield was again beaten by David Sills to pick up the first down.

CB Zyon McCollum

It was another tough night for Zyon McCollum. An offside penalty on the Falcons' field goal attempt in the first quarter gave Atlanta a fresh set of downs, and they wasted no time turning it into seven points to bring the game to a tie score. He was badly beaten in coverage by Bijan Robinson for a crazy one-handed catch, and although it didn’t count as he was out of bounds, it was a poor display of coverage by the newly paid corner. To add insult to literal injury, McCollum left the game in the first half with a hip injury and would not return.

The Ugly

Interior offensive line

The Bucs are missing Cody Mauch and Ben Bredeson in the worst way. Although they’ve done an admirable job, Dan Feeney and Michael Jordan have not been up to the task of keeping Mayfield clean. He was sacked three times on the night, five if you include times he was sacked that were wiped out due to penalties. It wasn’t Barton’s best game of the season either — there were several plays where he was pushed into the pocket and ended up on the ground. There’s no solution to the problem either, as Mauch and Bredeson are on injured reserve, with Mauch’s season over indefinitely.

QB Baker Mayfield

Mayfield's struggles continued on Thursday night. He missed several throws, had passes batted at the line and his inability to trust his offensive line led to frantic play at the most important position on the field. Trying to create some “Baker Magic,” he was sacked three times in the first half — however, he was bailed out by Falcons' penalties to give the Bucs a first down on two of those.

While the offensive line certainly has played a part in Mayfield’s effectiveness in the pocket, he’s been struggling to make easy throws all season and did so once again against the Falcons. To add icing on the cake, Mayfield threw an interception mid-way through the fourth quarter that allowed the Falcons to drive down the field for a touchdown, bringing the game within two points.

Middle of the field defense/Kyle Pitts coverage

If you read what I wrote ahead of the game, the Bucs desperately needed to guard the middle of the field. Whelp, they didn’t.

The Bucs were tormented by tight end Kyle Pitts all night, who went off for 11 receptions, 166 yards, three touchdowns and three big explosive plays. A big chunk of Kirk Cousins' 300 yards came from his completions over the middle of the field, which the Bucs defense had no answers for. With SirVocea Dennis and Tykee Smith out, the Bucs deployed Deion Jones and Nick Jackson at linebacker and Izien at safety, and while they combined for 14 tackles, they were a major reason the Bucs were abused on the night.

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