By Fred Goodall
Associated Press
TAMPA — Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles lamented a wasted opportunity while reiterating there was no need to overreact to his team’s first loss.
“It was as bad as I thought it would be,” Bowles said Monday when asked what he took away from the video of their lackluster performance against the Denver Broncos. “We didn’t play well in any aspect of the game: offense, defense or special teams.”
That said, the Bucs (2-1) — at least in terms of record — are exactly where most people thought they would be after three games.
Instead of getting there by winning a pair of home games in which they were favored after losing to Detroit in Week 2, the defending NFC South champions beat the Lions and finished 1-1 against Washington and Denver, both of which are led by rookie quarterbacks.
Tampa Bay’s defense shut down No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels in the season opener against the Commanders, but had no answer against Bo Nix and the Broncos in Sunday’s 26-7 loss.
Nix, the 12th overall pick in the NFL draft, has yet to throw his first touchdown pass. He ran for a touchdown and threw for 216 yards without an interception to beat the Bucs.
In addition to failing to force a turnover on Sunday, Tampa Bay failed to sack an opposing quarterback for the second straight week.
“There’s a lot of things that can be disappointing to us. We can coach better, we can play better,” Bowles said. “We didn’t move the ball on offense, we didn’t stop the opponents well enough on defense and we didn’t do anything special on special teams to make a difference. So it’s a total collapse of the team, a total loss for the team.”
The coach’s message to the team this week?
“Not too many wins, not too many losses,” Bowles said. “We have to get ready for another game. We have to get ready after we watch the tape and fix everything. That’ll take the taste out of their mouths and we’ll get to work.”
What works
Rookie Bucky Irving led the Bucs in rushing for the second time in three weeks, finishing with 70 yards on nine attempts for an average of 7.8 yards per carry. He had runs of 32 and 13 yards on Tampa Bay’s only scoring drive against Denver. The fourth-round pick also averaged 6.9 yards per attempt in Week 1 but remains second on the depth chart behind starter Rachaad White.
What needs help
Baker Mayfield has been sacked 12 times in the last two games. Denver finished with seven sacks, and Mayfield claimed some of the blame.
“I’ve been under some pressure this week.[…]”There’s a mindset of trying to fix the protections when they put some of those pressures on them, and there’s also a mindset of snapping the ball and getting it out of your hands,” the quarterback said. “All of that doesn’t happen on the offensive line.”
Store
While Bowles didn’t indicate that Irving has been successful in earning a starting role, the rookie could find himself on the field more in the future.
The coach was asked if Irving didn’t get more snaps because of his limited understanding of the playbook or his ability to block passes.
“It has nothing to do with anything. We were behind, so we threw a little bit more,” the coach said. “Rachaad is probably a better pass protector at this point, but Bucky definitely got more reps.”
Stocks down
White ran for 990 yards in 2023, when Tampa Bay had the NFL’s least productive rushing attack for the second straight season. The versatile third-year pro, who is a valuable piece in the passing game, is averaging 2.13 yards per carry (31 attempts, 66 yards). He has 12 receptions for 98 yards.
To be continued…
Bucs vs Eagles
When: Sunday, Raymond James Stadium, 1
TV: WOFL-35
