5 Thoughts
- 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.”
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.
5 Toughest Injuries
- 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
- Buffalo (away)
2. L.A. Rams (away)
3. New Orleans (away)
4. New England (home)
5. Carolina (away)
Power Ratings
- 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
NFL Five Stars
- Bo Nix
2. Jalen Hurts
3. Jaymir Gibbs
4. Micah Parsons
5. Joe Flacco
5 NFL Flops
- 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