A Finally Healthy Offense Must Bail Out a Bad Buccaneers Defense

Tampa Bay has a serious deficiency, but with the returns of Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan, Todd Bowles may need to ride a loaded offense to the postseason.

Todd Bowles will need to lean upon his star-studded offense if the Buccaneers hope to win the NFC South and make the playoffs. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

It’s not easy to keep track of snaps and personnel packages during NFL games unless you’re one of the Pro Football Focus employees that’s tasked with doing  that in order to quickly spit out the player grades that J.J. Watt often likes to complain about. 

However, it wasn’t that difficult for the Buccaneers’ game Thursday night against the Falcons because of all the notable names that kept rotating inside of Baker Mayfield’s huddle. For the first time this season, Tampa Bay had its full cast of skill players, with the returns of wide receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan. But the extra help offensively somehow wasn’t enough to beat the flag-infested Falcons after 37-year-old Kirk Cousins carved up the Buccaneers’ very concerning defense in the 29–28 defeat. The Falcons were flagged 19 times for 125 yards, while the Buccaneers had their four stud wide receivers and three-back committee available. And that still wasn’t enough to hold onto a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. 

If the Buccaneers were in a different division, there might have been no coming back from that kind of meltdown at this point in the season. However, they’re once again benefiting from a subpar NFC South, which allowed them to steal the division from the Falcons last year when injuries piled up midway through the season. But there’s no denying this loaded Tampa Bay offense has been one of the biggest disappointments of the season. 

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The injuries took a toll and the Buccaneers (7–7) haven't had the look of a Super Bowl contender since September, but they were supposed to be O.K. to at least win the NFC South once the offense returned to full strength. Now, they’re looking up at the surprising Panthers (7–6) in the division standings and there’s a chance Tampa Bay drops a full game behind if Carolina handles business against New Orleans on Sunday. 

Despite the fourth-quarter collapse Thursday night, these Buccaneers are a lot different when a healthy Evans is making clutch plays downfield. And it’s hard not to view them as a threat in the NFC when Chris Godwin is the fourth receiving option, producing octopi in the fourth quarter. There’s also rookie Emeka Egbuka, who was the second-leading receiver with four catches for 64 yards, behind Evans’s six catches and 132 yards.

Mike Evans hauled in six catches for 132 yards, but it wasn’t enough for the Bucs to hold off a 5–9 Falcons team on Thursday night. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

But this team might not even make the postseason due to an overlooked development—this is a very bad Tampa Bay defense, one that allowed 476 total yards to the Falcons, who didn’t even have star receiver Drake London and were forced to rely on David Sills V, who maybe made more plays than flags drawn. The Buccaneers had one sack, which came from edge rusher Haason Reddick, who has been a disappointing free-agent signing. What coach Todd Bowles has gotten from this poor defense this year hasn’t been talked about enough. And Bowles wasn’t happy about it after the game. 

“Coaches have done all they can do,” he said. “They [players] have to hold themselves accountable.”

But let’s try to stick to the positives for the Buccaneers because Thursday’s blown 14-point lead isn’t season-ending when Tampa Bay and Carolina play each other twice in the final three games of the regular season. Yes, the 32-year-old Evans has struggled to stay healthy this season, and Tampa Bay fans probably said “not again” when Evans grimaced on the sideline after taking a hit to the back in the first half. But if Evans stays available for the final stretch, this offense can take off in the final three games. 

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On Tampa Bay’s first touchdown drive alone, Evans, McMillan and running backs Bucky Irving and Rachaad White all contributed at least one play that went for five yards or more. Sean Tucker, the team’s third running back, capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run, although at the expense of McMillan, who was ruled an inch short of the goal line on his stellar 20-yard catch. 

This was McMillan’s first game this season after sustaining a neck injury during the summer. Evans, Godwin and Irving all missed extensive time this season. This doesn’t even include all the offensive line shuffling, including left tackle Tristan Wirfs being sidelined for a handful of games. 

It’s going to take time that the Buccaneers don’t really have to find the right groupings and rotations for this now-healthy offense, but Mayfield & Co. are the key to Tampa Bay making the postseason. It certainly won’t be the Buccaneers’ defense after how it played against Cousins, Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts Sr. on Thursday night.

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