Bucs Fall Short

On a record-setting day for the NFL’s top-ranked offense, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers mounted one of the most stunning comebacks in franchise history and tied the game with a minute left, only to lose on the final play.

The Buccaneers fell, 37-34, to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday despite erasing a 21-point second-quarter deficit and recording a franchise-record 576 yards of offense. Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 18-yard touchdown pass to TE O.J. Howard on fourth down, followed by a two-point conversion strike to Chris Godwin, tied the game at 34-34 with 1:05 left in regulation. However, the Bengals avoided overtime by driving 50 yards in that final minute – the big blow a 23-yard Andy Dalton completion to A.J. Green down the middle. Randy Bullock’s 44-yard field goal won it as time expired.

Bullock’s only field goal of the day – and the Bengals’ only offensive points of the second half – were technically the difference in the game, but the deciding factor was undoubtedly Tampa Bay’s four turnovers. All four were Jameis Winston interceptions, the last of which was returned 21 yards for a touchdown by S Jessie Bates. Head Coach Dirk Koetter chose to put Fitzpatrick in for Winston after that turnover, and the 14th-year veteran threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns in just over a quarter of play to lead the comeback.

Koetter said he had contemplated pulling Winston before the fourth interception but decided to stick with the fourth-year passer after he connected with DeSean Jackson on a 60-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Had they won, the 21-point comeback would have matched the biggest in team history in a victory, but in the end the weight of the turnovers proved too much to shed.

“That’s a simple message,” said Head Coach Dirk Koetter. “We were minus-three last week and somehow we got a win, and we were minus-four today. It’s almost impossible to win. We can’t turn it over seven times in two weeks. That’s not hard to see. That’s pretty obvious.”

Winston did throw for 276 yards and the long touchdown to Jackson before being relieved, but he was 18 of 35 overall and frequently off-target, usually throwing it too high. He was also sacked five times.

“It’s pretty simple: turning it over,” said Koetter of Winston’s struggles. “Overthrows. It was a very windy day, it wasn’t an easy day to throw it, but two of the four the ball was just overthrown.”

Fitzpatrick completed 11 of his 15 passes and finished with a passer rating of 154.9. After the game, Koetter said it was not yet time to decide on what the Buccaneers would do at quarterback next week and moving forward. Once again, though, he was pleased to have Fitzpatrick available to come in and move the offense effectively.

“Fantastic,” said Koetter of Fitzpatrick’s efforts. “Hats off. That’s why you’ve got a veteran backup. He goes in after a pick-six, so he had about two minutes to warm up and went in there and played with composure and did a great job of bringing us back.”

Part of that comeback effort was a quick strike to WR Mike Evans on the second Fitzpatrick-led possession in the fourth quarter. On second-and-14, following an offensive pass interference call that backed the Bucs up, Fitzpatrick let one rip down the middle of the field as Evans managed to get behind every Cincinnati defender undetected. He practically jogged into the end zone, pulling the Bucs within one score and making the unlikely comeback just slightly more likely. The touchdown catch was the longest reception of Evans’ career and he finished the day with 179 yards receiving on six catches.

“They got 115 yards rushing on us in the first half and we jumped offside four times,” said Koetter. “In the second half, we did better in both areas. We didn’t tackle well and they were getting with that same play on the open side, the B gap. We’ve got to be better. Defensive coaches talking about stopping the run all the time.”

Tampa Bay struggled with penalties on both sides of the ball drawing 11 flags for 75 yards.

The Bengals took the opening drive down to the edge of the Buccaneers’ red zone, with Mixon going straight up the middle for 18 yards on the first play. Boyd’s catch over the middle and extended run after the grab two plays later took it down to the Bucs’ 29. Mixon was stopped a yard short of the sticks on a third-and-three carry and Cincinnati hurried up to the line to go for it on fourth down. Mixon got the ball again but was tripped up almost immediately by rookie S Jordan Whitehead.

The Buccaneers thus took over on downs and got a quick first down on runs of nine and seven yards by Barber. After Winston hit Evans over the middle for 19 yards, S Shawn Williams nearly made a diving interception on third-and-four. The Bucs elected to go for it and Winston escaped a collapsing pocket to scramble for a first down at the Bengals’ 32. Unfortunately, the drive ended on a turnover as Winston overthrew Evans near the goal line and it was easily intercepted in the end zone by Williams, who returned it to the Cincinnati 25-yard line.

Tampa Bay’s defense prevented that turnover from having any worse effect with a three-and-out, began by a Whitehead tackle-for-loss on Mixon. After the punt, the Bucs started again at their own 39. A false start by Ali Marpet erased a third-and-three conversion and Winston’s subsequent third-down pass was incomplete. A 16-yard punt return by WR Alex Erickson gave the Bengals a field-position boost to their own 37.

The Buccaneers fall back under .500 with the loss, at 3-4. They have dropped four of five since a 2-0 start.

Tampa Bay’s defense, which had shown great improvement in Week Seven under new coordinator Mark Duffner, was unable to continue that success into the first half of Sunday’s game. Without usual starting middle linebacker Kwon Alexander, who was placed on injured reserve during the week, the Buccaneers had trouble slowing down Mixon, who ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns, all but nine of those yards in the first half. Dalton also hooked up repeatedly with WR Tyler Boyd, who caught nine passes for 138 yards and a score. The Bengals had 307 yards by halftime, two more than the Buccaneers had allowed to Cleveland in nearly five quarters the previous weekend.

However, the Bucs’ defense stiffened considerably in the second half, allowing just 95 yards after the break, much of that on the Bengals’ final drive. Cleveland’s first four drives of the second half were all three-and-outs. The Buccaneers did not secure a turnover, however, and their only two sacks, both courtesy of DE Jason Pierre-Paul, came in the second half. Pierre-Paul tied a team record by recording at least one sack for the sixth straight game.