Tuesday, 3 a.m.
5 Thoughts
- I still think Baker Mayfield is better than Kyle Trask. But not by much.
2. So Joe Tryon-Shoyinka runs into a sack, and suddenly he’d arrived? Hey, it was his only tackle (he did have assist) on the afternoon. Someone needs to raise their standards.
3. Their nature is to wait until the season is over to fire a coach. But if I was Todd Bowles, I wouldn’t buy green bananas.
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4. Except for the U.S. Army, this might be the most expensive tank in history.
5. Maybe it’s me, but I think the loser of Sunday’s Bucs-Carolina game will finish last in the NFC South. Not that third place is any better.
5 Comments
(From Todd Bowles’ day-after press conference)
(On why the losses have snowballed): “I don’t think it’s snowballed, I think we’re making mistakes at the wrong time. Whether we get down to the 1-yard line in the first quarter, or whether we blow something on defense in the second half – it’s a different guy every time. The effort is there, the work is there… You want to win a ballgame – we’re desperate to win a ballgame, just one ballgame – but small things happen against different teams at different times. We can’t play the Bucs plus the opposition.”
(On why he thinks there’s been so many mistakes happening week after week ):“There shouldn’t be. It’s things we’ve done every day – every day. We’ve done them right hundreds of times. At a certain point in time, it doesn’t get done.”
(On being one game out of first place in the division and if it’s a challenge to get the players to understand how attainable the team’s goals are): “No, we understand. We just have to make a play. We’re just trying to win a game. We’re going to try and take them one game at a time and try and win a game and see where we are at the end. We’ve still got all our division games ahead of us, so we feel like we have a chance.”
(On what the Indianapolis Colts did well on offense to move the ball down the field): “I thought they had some short passes, I thought they ran the ball well, I thought we misfit more runs than we typically misfit by alignment – I think that hurt us. They’re a good team, they have a great [running] back, they have a good offensive line, but we helped them, too.”
(On the lack of proven depth and if that’s contributing to the amount of mistakes being made): “No, I don’t think so. I think we’ve done these things hundreds of times. At certain times, they happen at the wrong time. We’re young, yes, but that’s not an excuse because we’re in every ballgame. We have a chance to win every ballgame – we don’t make the plays at the end and we make some critical errors in between.”
Game Balls
Offense: Rachaad White had a 100-yard rushing game. For a normal team, that’s like 876 yards.
Defense: No one was great, but Carlton Davis had 10 tackles and an interception.
Special teams: Jake Camarda averaged 52 yards on four punts.
Grades
Quarterback: Mayfield continues to struggle to throw over defensive linemen. He also had a pick, a fumble and was sacked six times. Grade: D.
Running back: White had his 100, but everyone else on the Bucs had 25. Grade: B.
Wide receiver: You may detest Antonio Brown, who is indeed detestable. But the Bucs were better with a legit third receiver. Grade: C.
Defensive line: Remember when this defense was hard to run against? Grade: D-.
Linebackers: The defense looks different without Lavonte David.
Secondary: They gave up 251 yards to a journeyman. Grade: D.
Power Rankings
- Philadelphia
2. Kansas City
3. San Francisco
4. Baltimore
5. Miami
Bottom 5
32. Carolina
31.Arizona
30. New England
29. N.Y. Giants
28. Tampa Bay
NFL Statistics
Quarterback rating Baker Mayfield. 16
Rushing yards Rachaad White 25
Receptions Mike Evans 11
Tackles Lavonte David 19
Punting Jake Camarda 5