Monday, 4 a.m.
The collapse is complete. The season is in wreckage. The nightmare, however, continues.
The Tampa Bay Bucs lost again Sunday. These days, that happens most Sundays.
This time, they lost to the Carolina Panthers, 23-20. They also lost their grip on first place in the NFC South.
It was the team's sixth loss in seven games. They have now lost to their three NFC South opponents in a row.
This time, Baker Mayfield, having a simply awful December, threw an interception late when the Bucs were driving toward the tying field goal.
For the day, Mayfield threw for just 145 yards and had a rating of just 79.8. During the current three-game losing streak, he has a rating of just 72.3 and has an interception in each game.
To be honest, it was as if the Bucs tried to play around Mayfield. They ran the ball 33 times and threw it just 26 (plus two sacks).
The strategy almost worked, But the Panthers' receivers repeatedly beat the Bucs' secondary (nothing new there, either).
The other Bucs who struggled.
-- How about Luke Goedeke, who drew flags repeatedly all afternoon?
-- How about Jamel Dean, who failed to cover Tetairoa McMillian in the dying moments of the first half/. It was obvious that Carolina was going to take a last shot at the end zone before kicking a field goal. Still, he beat Dean cleanly.
-- How about Jason Pierre-Paul, who had zero tackles and zero assists in his return?
It all adds up to a team that is a shell of what it was early in the season,
The Bucs are on the road Sunday against Miami at 1 p.m.