The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell behind once again in Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles, but this time, they weren’t able to complete the comeback, falling to 3-1 on the season.
It was an ugly first half for the Buccaneers. The offense couldn’t produce points, special teams allowed a blocked punt for a touchdown, and defense gave up 17 points and over 200 yards of offense.
Tampa Bay had a strong comeback effort after the early mishaps, with Baker Mayfield hitting Emeka Egbuka and Bucky Irving for touchdowns
of 77 and 72 yards. But, this time, the Buccaneers had a fumble and interception from Mayfield, while they turned it over on downs on their final possession.
The string of comeback chances have been a clear pattern for the Buccaneers through the first four games. While they’ve certainly been entertaining, Tampa Bay needs to be in better positions to end games where they’re controlling leads, not chasing them.
Still, the biggest issue that hurt the Buccaneers on Sunday was the early blocked punt that led to an Eagles touchdown. And it’s not the first time that Tampa Bay has seen a special teams blunder this season.
In addition to the blocked punt, Riley Dixon had a punt go for 18 yards out of bounds from the Tampa Bay 39-yard line. Now, Philadelphia did have a holding penalty on the play, but they still ended up scoring on a six-play, 67-yard touchdown drive on the ensuing possession.
Last week, a blocked field goal nearly cost the Buccaneers, as the New York Jets returned one for a touchdown to take a 27-26 lead in the final two minutes. Baker Mayfield did lead a go-ahead field goal drive to win the game, but that was another concern.
The week before, Dixon had another punt blocked that gave Houston great field position for a score.
Those aren’t the only special teams problems. Chase McLaughlin has missed three kicks so far, including two between 40 and 49 yards, although he did have an impressive 65-yard field goal this weekend, breaking an NFL record for the longest in an outdoor stadium. Additionally, Riley Dixon’s net average punt yards rank third-worst in the NFL at 32.8 yards.
From a return perspective, Tampa Bay also ranks fourth last in return yards per kickoff at 23.1, so there are both major and minor problems to fix on that side of the ball.
The Buccaneers will certainly take a 3-1 start with their only loss being a defending champion. But, cleaning up some of these special teams woes could help them with some of those closer games.
What’s your biggest concern about the Buccaneers heading into Week 5 against the Seahawks? Weigh in below in the comment section.
