Bucs can’t slow down Falcons in 34-20 loss.
At Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta on a Sunday afternoon, the season came to end for the Buccaneers. Well, there are still five games remaining on the schedule, but the loss to the Falcons almost assured the Bucs that they will miss the playoffs for a tenth consecutive season.
The Bucs are now 4-7 on the season and have as many losses as all of last season.
Again this was a case of the defense getting beat up and down the field and the offense not making plays when they needed to in the 34-20 loss to the Falcons. It seems like I could write the same story each and every week. The defense stinks, the offense never seems to make enough plays and at the end of the day its another one in the loss column for the Bucs.
I wish yesterday the result was different and the outcome was a lot better for the Bucs, but it wasn’t to be. The much maligned defense and well deserved I might add gave up a season high 516 yards to the high flying Falcons. Matt Ryan had to be licking his chops as he waited for game day knowing that he would have his way with this Bucs defense. Ryan passed for 368 yards, 253 of which went to Julio Jones as the Falcons built a 27-6 lead. This was season highs for both Matt Ryan passing and Julio Jones receiving this season.
The issues were the same that we have discussed all season. Lack of consistent pressure on Ryan. When you don’t pressure the QB it can make for a long afternoon for your DB’s and thats what happened yesterday. Koetter said the Bucs used 14 different coverages in trying to slow down Julio Jones and nothing seemed to work. The Bucs defense did force a fumble trailing 27-20 in the fourth quarter which was returned by Brent Grimes, but the offense could not cash in.
Third down conversions have been an issue for this defense all season as they can’t seem to get off the field on third down. The Falcons converted 11/14 which was a season high allowed by the Bucs.
Doug Martin left early in the game with a possible concussion and that left the run game to Jacquizz Rodgers and Peyton Barber. Barber scored the two TD’s for the Bucs as the run game averaged 4 yards per carry.
Ryan Fitzpatrick managed the game well, but was haunted by a couple of key drops by Mike Evans.
Jameis Winston was cleared to begin throwing today. If all goes well and he suffers no set backs, he will be cleared to take all the reps in practice starting Wednesday And could be the starter for the first time in over a month Sunday at Green Bay.
Where do the Bucs go from here with five games remaining? There is no guarantee that the coaching staff will be back. Depending on how the season plays out, Koetter may stay and replace both Todd Monken and Mike Smith. Monken is rumored to be the leading candidate to replace Dan Mullen at Mississippi St.
Pride is a big word and a word that is sometimes used too loosely in locker room settings. But that is about all the Bucs have to play for at this point.
These next five games can set a tone for the off-season and a kick start to the 2018 season. There is a lot to improve upon and a lot to play for if you’re a Buccaneer.
