Welp, that was something.
Carrying a tw0-score lead through three quarters, the Buccaneers imploded in all phases and got outscored by geriatric Aaron Rodgers and his only two functioning receivers to the tune of 23-3 across the fourth quarter and overtime. The result? An embarrassing 26-19 loss to mark yet another failing in one-score affairs.
Baker Mayfield will be back next week, though at 1-5 it doesn’t really seem like that will matter at all. The defense plays really well until it actually matters,
so I guess Todd Bowles can hang his hat on something even as his house slowly goes further up in flames.
Time for some shoutouts and then some dinner.
Offensive Top Performer: No One
You can’t give anyone real credit when the offense not only goes completely dormant in the most important frame of the game but actively works against Tampa’s chances.
Jalon Daniels, as previously stated, is a very likable person who plays hard and has shown some good tape. But sadly, he’s still an undrafted rookie playing in a poor offensive system, and that was made readily apparent with all the sacks he took, late decisions he made, and backbreaking interceptions he threw (Jamel Dean, how could you do this to us?).
It’s unclear what a recovered Baker Mayfield will do for this team when he comes back next week, but he certainly doesn’t need to worry about his long-term security after Daniels’s performance Sunday.
Not much else to really highlight here. Emeka Egbuka looked fine enough but still missed on some major plays when the team needed him. Don’t think his busted coverage TD really makes up for that in the long run.
Chris Godwin logged a couple uncharacteristic drops, Bucky Irving couldn’t replicate his dominant Week 5 performance. Zac Robinson continues to show he has an extremely limited feel for creating a consistent, easy-to-operate game plan, and it continues to hurt the team.
Defensive Top Performer: EDGE David Walker
The defense, and the pass rush in particular, played extremely well through three quarters. They forced 5 Steelers 3-and-outs and held them to 3 points. Then Aaron Rodgers started spamming the quick game and the seams like most modern offenses do to this defense and it went downhill fast.
This how Bowles chooses to live and die with his defense, and it’s finally run its course in this league. Even when you get tremendous individual efforts like Sunday, most times it’s not enough.
David Walker continued his ascension, logging two high-quality pass-rush wins to notch 2 sacks (as well as 5 tackles) and extend his team lead to 4 sacks overall despite playing a fraction of the snap as other outside linebackers. He feels like the real deal.
The pass rush overall got to Rodgers 5 times, one of which being rookie Rueben Bain Jr. The highly touted draft pick finally looks healthy after dealing with nagging shoulder and groin ailments, as he flashed on some nice reps last week and produced a high-quality win for his first career sack this week. He also recorded a pass deflection that led to A’shawn Robinson’s second (!!) interception. Keionte Scott, another rookie, continued his proficient pass-rushing start with his first career sack.
The opportunities aren’t always going to be there, again because of Bowles chooses to play defense, but it’s clear there is talent in this edge room.
Special Teams Top Performer: Chase McLaughlin
McLaughlin continued to show why he needs his big-time extension and why it should’ve happened months ago.
He remained perfect on the year with four makes, including a 53-yard launch that tied the game and forced overtime. He’s now top 10 in NFL history in 50-plus-yard makes and remains one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history to boot.
