The Buccaneers are an average team at best. The depleted Cleveland Browns managed to outlast Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-17 in overtime in their last game without Deshaun Watson.
This game proves that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the furthest they’ve been from Super Bowl contention since they acquired Tom Brady three years ago. This roster has been allowed to decay and fester in the name of ‘ring chasing’ as Brady’s ‘veteran acquisitions’ of late have been injury-prone, worn-down shells of their former selves, while the younger stars have failed to take up the burden left by said veterans.
Sure, these veteran acquisitions worked a few years ago when the Bucs only needed them for one Super Bowl run, which was all everyone expected Tom Brady to be able to pull off during his time with the Buccaneers. At the very most, these Bucs players would have expected Brady to play for two seasons with the team, hopefully win them a ring or two, and then ride off into the sunset as the greatest football player to have ever lived.
And that did happen…for 40 days.
Now, I don’t want to keep going back to Brady’s retirement, the offseason drama stemming from his marital problems, and then his subsequent divorce from Gisele Bündchen, but it is a major factor as to why the Bucs have been so disjointed this season.
Nevertheless, I’ll get to the problem of this game…which has been the Bucs problem all season long: THEY CAN’T RUN THE BALL!!
Again, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers running game failed to rush for over 100 yards as their leading rusher, Rachaad White, only finished the game with 14 CAR for 64 yards. Their second highest rusher was WR Julio Jones, even though he only had one carry for 15 yards. That just shows how inept this running attack really is.
Like a decent amount of this Bucs roster, the running game has been proven to be washed. Lenny Fornette, who missed this game due to injury, is washed at the highest level, Rachaad White is not a #1 RB, and a 33-year-old Julio Jones should never finish as a team’s second-highest rusher.
The Buccaneers need to draft a running back this offseason as it is well past time this team gets younger.
Regardless, once the Bucs running game never took off, that forced the offense to solely rely upon the arm of Tom Brady. And, as we’ve seen time and again, that’s a losing formula for Tampa Bay.
Yes, Tom Brady (29/43, 246 yards, 2 TDs) has held up remarkably well for being 45 years old, but that doesn’t mean he has the arm strength or capacity to win football games alone anymore. He needs help from his running game and wide receiver, and that didn’t happen today.
Aside from Chris Godwin (12 REC, 110 yards, 1 TD), not a single Bucs receiver or running back had more than 65 total receiving yards. Mike Evans had an abysmal game with only 2 catches for 31 yards, Julio Jones is proving that his time in the NFL is coming to an end with only 3 catches for 40 yards, and Cameron Brate showed that he is no Rob Gronkowski with only 2 catches for 15 yards.
Tom Brady will not win with these stats, and neither will the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Even when their defense plays outstanding as they did today.
Led by a monster performance from Devin White (13 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 PD, 1 QB Hit), the Tampa Bay defense stood their ground and kept their team in the game up until the final moments of overtime. If it wasn’t for the group coached by Todd Bowles (who has really lit a fire in these guys these last few weeks), the Bucs would have been blown away midway through the 3rd Quarter.
Jacoby Brissett, Nick Chubb, and the rest of the Browns offense were like starving caged wolves behind rickety bars (which was the Bucs offense). Yes, the cage (the Bucs defense) kept them from escaping completely, but the bars were unable to stop them from unleashing significant damage.
Chubb was eating up the Bucs rushing defense as he had 26 CAR for 116 yards and the game-winning touchdown, while Brissett proved his worth in his final game as the stating QB as he went 23/37 for 210 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT to beat his former Patriots mentor.
Brissett’s connection to Amari Cooper (7 REC, 94 yards) was the difference between the two passing games today as one QB duo was able to connect on the important, game-changing moments while the other was forced to try to connect on every moment.
The one that was able to change the game was always destined to win it.
Nevertheless, this game really doesn’t change too much in regard to the playoff picture as the Bucs (5-6) will win the poor NFC South division title to secure the 4th seed in the NFC, and the Browns (4-7) will just miss out on the playoffs in the competitive AFC Wild Card race.
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