Looking back on Bucs’ loss to Lions

by Gary Shelton on October 22, 2025

in general

Evans out for the season./CARMEN MANDATO

5 Thoughts

  1. I try not to blame officials for losses. But I have to tell you, it's delightful to hear Baker Mayfield do it after that mess on Monday night.

2. I don't care what their record is. The Saints in New Orleans feels like a trap game.

3. It would be easier to take if Mike Evans' thousand-yard streak ended without injury, wouldn't it? Or without a defensive back draped all over him on the play in which he was hurt.

4. Congratulations are in order, I guess. Haason Reddick threw a perfect game against Detroit. In 44 snaps, he had no sacks. No tackles. No assists. It might as well have been you.

5. I prefer to remember Doug Martin as a grinning kid out of Boise State. The rest is sadness.

5 Comments

(From Todd Bowles' press conference)

(On how he would assess Tampa Bay’s tackling in Monday night’s game): “It was definitely an issue on the first drive – we missed two tackles that got them down the field. We missed two more later on. Overall, we can be better at open-field tackling. It has to do with angles and fundamentals.”

(On how difficult Detroit’s defense makes it for a quarterback to get comfortable): “It’s tough. When you’re chipping with the tight end and the [running] back and trying to just get three guys open, it’s awfully tough when they were mixing the coverages like that. They were getting pressure up the middle [and] even if they weren’t getting there, they were kind of disrupting where his feet were. We’ve got to do a better job of protecting, but we’ve got to do a better job of getting open, as well.”

(On how losing WR Mike Evans for an extended period changes the offense, and if Offensive Coordinator Josh Grizzard will have to make adjustments to the overall gameplan): “He’s definitely going to have to do that, but we’ve been doing it the past couple weeks since he’s been out, so it’s kind of the norm right now, unfortunately. When you lose somebody like that, it’s always going to affect your offense and you’re going to have to change and do different things.”

(On what Grizzard can take away from Monday night’s game): “Patience. Every game is going to be different – just patience. If your quarterback is not on and not going, you’ve got to help him out with either the run game or screen passes. When you have to protect, you have to do different things and chip. If the running game isn’t going from a power standpoint, we’ve got to try to get on the edge – just different tips. He’s going to learn each week – whether he scores 40 points or 10 points – he’s going to learn different things each week that he can put in his arsenal and get better at next week.”

(On his assessment of the interior offensive line’s pass protection against Detroit): “Like I said, they were up and down. We had some plays where we had protection and we couldn’t get [anybody] open and they got through late on those things. A few times, they had some games and some pressures up the middle that went a little fast for us. For the most part they’ve been doing a good job, but we can be stouter.”

Mayfield had a tough night./TIM WIRT

Game Balls

Offensive: Not much to grab onto, but Tez Johnson's touchdown catch was nice.

Defensive: Not much to grab onto, but Tykee Smith had 13 tackles.

Special teams: Not much to grab onto, but Riley Dixon averaged 43.8 yards on six punts and nailed four inside the 20.

Grades

Quarterback: Baker Mayfield wasn't to blame for his interception, but he was wild high all night. Grade: C.

Running back: The Bucs had 41 yards rushing. Grade: F.

Offensive line: They were beaten at the point of attack and gave up 40 yards. Grade: F.

Wide receiver: No time to air it out and take advantage of Detroit's secondary. Grade: B.

Defensive line: The Bucs gave up 164 yards. Grade: D.

Linebackers: The tackling could be better. Grade: C.

Secondary: Amon-Ra St. Brown was invisible. Grade: D.

Bucs have missed Irving./TIM WIRT

5 Toughest Injuries

  1. Mike Evans

2. Bucky Irving

3. Tristan Wirfs

4. Luke Goedeke

5. Chris Godwin

... And Five More

6. Cody Mauch

7. Calijah Kancey

8. Jaden McMillan

9. Ko Kieft

10. Haason Reddick

5 Losable Games Ahead

  1. Buffalo (away)

2. L.A. Rams (away)

3. New Orleans (away)

4. New England (home)

5. Carolina (away)

Power Ratings

  1. Kansas City

2. Detroit

3. Indianapolis

4. Green Bay

5. Buffalo

---

7. Tampa Bay

Bottom Five

32. N.Y. Jets

31. Miami

30. New Orleans

29. Tennessee

29. Las Vegas

Wirfs needs help on the line./TIM WIRT

NFL Five Stars

  1. Bo Nix

2. Jalen Hurts

3. Jaymir Gibbs

4. Micah Parsons

5. Joe Flacco

5 NFL Flops

  1. Tua Tagovailoa

2. Justin Fields

3. Spencer Rattler

4. Geno Smith

5. Tyrod Taylor

Rookie Receivers

Emeka Egbuka 31 527 5

Tetairoa McMillan 30 413 2

Travis Hunter 28 298 1

Matthew Golden 28 248 0

Elic Ayomanor 19 225 2

Baker Mayfield Stats

Passing yards 1767 6

TD Passes 13 7

Rating 99.8 11

Rating in wins 114.72

Rating in losses 74.17

NFL Stats

Receiving Yards Emeke Egbuka 527 27

Rushing Yards Bucky Irvin 237 37

Tackles Tykee Smith 58 t-15

Interceptions. Jemel Dean 3 t-3

Field Goals Chase McLaughlin 14 t-5

Detroit handles outmanned Bucs

by Gary Shelton on October 20, 2025

in general

Mayfield had a rough night./TIM WIRT

Tuesday, 4 a.m.

The fall back to ordinary is a painful one.

All of the sudden, the quarterback doesn't look like the MVP of the league. The team doesn't look like the best in the conference.

The magical rookie can't be found. The defense gives up gaping holes. The new offensive coordinator doesn't look like a wizard.

There is no comeback, no miracle.

Instead, there is defeat. For one night, the Tampa Bay Bucs looked pedestrian. They lost, 24-9, in a convincing defeat.

The Bucs ran for just 42 yards. Baker Mayfield threw for 228, but he had several throws that saile on him. The offensive line gave up four sacks and constant pressures. The defense gave up 136 yards to Jahmyr Gibb. The secondary gave up 86 yards to Amon-Ra St. Brown.

It was a disappointing loss for a team that had challenged in all six of their previous games (although they lost one). Yes, the Bucs are still a wounded team, but the Lions were limping in their own secondary.

Wide receiver Mike Evans returned to play, but left with another injury (announced as a concussion and a shoulder). Rookie Emeka Egbuka played, too, after spending most of the week on the injured list. But he and Mayfield couldn't connect. (Egbuka caught just four balls on 12 targets).

In all, the Bucs were beaten by the Lions' quarterback, offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, pass rush, tackling and secondary. Ouch.

The Bucs are scheduled to travel to New Orleans Sunday.

Stumbling Lightning falls again

by Gary Shelton on October 19, 2025

in general

Ryan McDonagh scored for Bolts./ TIM WIRT

Sunday, 4 a.m.

Is it possible for the Tampa Bay Lighting to go winless for the rest of the season?

The Bolts fell again Saturday night, losing 3-2 to a Columbus team that had only one win coming into the game themselves.

Oh, probably not. But who really thought the Bolts would have just one win after as half-dozen games.

Once again, the Bolts were offensively challenged, getting off only nine shots in the first two periods.

Even with that, the Bolts took a 2-1 lead on goals by Ryan McDonough and Anthony Cirelli. But the Jackets' Damon Severson tied it in midway through the second period and Kirill Marchebj broke the tie in the third period.

Tampa Bay's Jonas Johansson stopped 28 shots out of 31.

The Lightning is home on Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Bulls roll again in victory over FAU

by Gary Shelton on October 19, 2025

in general

Golesh has USF rolling./TIM WIRT

Sunday, 3 a.m.

The offensive machine that is the USF Bulls kept rolling Saturday night.

The question is how USF will manage in the most important part of its schedule.

The 19th-ranked Bulls ran their record to 6-1 with a comfortable 48-13 victory of FAU. USF wasn't quite as explosive as it had been over the last month, but it pulled away with 27 consecutive points in the second half.

The Bulls scored 48 points. Over their last four games, they've 228 points. They rushed for 259 yards. In their last four games, they've rushed for 1,224 yards.

Bulls' coach Alex Golesh also dipped into his bag of tricks. Offensive guard Cole Skinner scored for the second straight week. And USF converted a long onside kick in the first half.

The Bulls also had two touchdowns called back -- one by an officials' review and the other by penalty.

As usual, quarterback Byrum Brown led the Bulls. He threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 111 yards and another score.

FAU stayed close for a while because quarterback Caden Veltkamp threw for 244 yards and the team was seven-for-eight in going for it on fourth down. But the Owls ran for only 23 yards on 30 attempts.

Jeremiah Koger caught 90 yards worth of passes. Nykahi Davenport ran for 71 yards.

USF is at Memphis on noon on Friday.

Florida 23, Mississippi State 21: When things are off-track, as they are with the Gators, you accept a big play whereever you can find it.

Take Saturday, when the Gators staved off losing with a leaping interception by 349-pound defensive lineman Michai Boireau with 21 seconds to play.

The Bulldogs had driven the ball downfield, and had seemingly drawn within distance of a winning field goal. That's when Boireau peeled back into the throwing lane and picked off Blake Shapen.

The Gators, 3-4 on the season, had to scramble to hold off Mississippi State. The Bulldogs threw for 324 yards and rushed for 144.

The Gators moved the ball themselves. Quarterback D.J. Lagway threw for 280 yards (although he threw two interceptions). Jadan Baugh ran for 150 yards and Vernell Brown III caught five passes for 95 yards.

The Gators play on Nov. 1 against Georgia in Jacksonville at 3:30 p.m.

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