There was a moment late in the Tampa Bay Bucs’ 44-32 loss Sunday to the Buffalo Bills when the outcome may have hung in the balance.
The Bucs, trailing 37-32 with just over seven minutes to play, faced a fourth and 2 from their own 39. Buffalo’s offense, powered by quarterback Josh Allen, had shown no signs of slowing down, scoring on two of its prior three possessions and taking control of the game’s momentum in the frigid and windy confines of Highmark Stadium.
At the same time, the Bucs had been enjoying tremendous success running the football – with Sean Tucker in the midst of a monster day (finishing with 106 yards and two touchdown runs – one for 43 yards, as well as a 28-yard catch and run for a TD). The combined ground game would eventually rack up 203 yards against the weak Bills run defense.
But now they faced a crucial decision:
They could try to get the two yards for the first down, which would give them renewed life and a shot to re-take the lead late in the game. Of course, coming up short would set Buffalo up in ideal scoring position and very likely doom Tampa Bay's chances.
Or they could punt the ball back to the Bills, hope to hold them and then regain possession. Yet on the flip side, that risked giving the seemingly unstoppable Allen time to score while eating up valuable time.
Anyone who watched the game knows what happened next.
Head coach Todd Bowles opted for the punt, pinning the Bills at their 15. But Allen proceeded to march the offense downfield in nine plays and score on a nine-yard run with 2:35 left, effectively putting the win on ice. The Bucs nearly forced a field goal situation but an incompletion on third-and-four from Tampa Bay’s 29 was negated by a marginal face-mask penalty, allowing the drive to continue from the Bucs’ 15.
Bowles was asked about the decision in his Monday press briefing and said the possibility of going for the first down was discussed, but ultimately discounted.
“I think it was on the minus-39 (yard line),” he said. “From a schematic standpoint, we talked about it – one or less (yards) was positive, two was more or less (opting for) the punt. We figured we had enough time to get the ball back. I think it was seven minutes left. We thought we could get a good punt and hold them down there. Obviously, it didn’t work out. But, you know, that’s what the thought process was.”
Considering the Bucs twice by-passed extra points in the game to go for the riskier two-point conversions – each unsuccessful – you might have thought they’d have gone the Riverboat gambler route of Lions coach Dan Campbell and tried for the first down.
Bowles reacts to a play in the fourth quarter. © Mark Konezny But given their other issues Sunday, it may not have made a difference anyway. Bowles discussed some of those problems Monday – in particular. the poor kick return coverage that led to the Bills amassing 234 yards on returns and constantly giving Allen a short field to work with.
The Bucs have had problems with different phases of the special teams this season, whether in missed kicks or blocked punts. Asked if new players filling in due to injuries might be the cause, Bowles dismissed any relationship between the glitches.
“Yesterday was just the kickoff team,” he said. “There are no new players involved in that. You’ve got to be able to tackle and want to tackle and give maximum effort to tackle. The effort was there. We didn’t make the plays. You’ve got to make the plays when you’re not a starter on this team and you’re here because of special teams. You’ve got to play better than that. You’re better off kicking it out of bounds or in the end zone than what we did yesterday.”
Did they consider that option? “We tried that – that didn’t work out, either,” he said.
On average, opponents have been starting at their 31 after Buc kickoffs this season, somewhere in the middle of the pack. So what does Bowles think should be fixed?
“I want to have better tackles … and tackling inside the 30 will be outstanding,” he said. “We’ve had games where we were okay. Yesterday we were not very good and that wasn’t acceptable.”
The defense once again giving up big plays was also a concern for Bowles – especially the 52-yard catch-and-run by tailback Ty Johnson on an Allen screen pass. Johnson ran most of the way down a crease on the left side untouched, giving Buffalo new life with a 21-17 lead late in the first half.
“On the screen play, we misfit – either two guys jump inside or two guys jump outside, and leave the crease, and we’ve got to get that corrected,” he said. “(Allen) had time to throw. We were in zone coverage, and we drifted out of our zone. That part has to be corrected as well. It’s almost like it’s a different guy each week – and it’s Week 10 or 11 right now. …Small details. We did some good things, and we did some great things offensively. We just have to put it all together.”
“The concerning part,” he added, “is when we’re covering, we’re not rushing and when we’re rushing we’re not covering. So it’s this combination of everybody on defense. It’s not the back end. It’s not the front end. It’s everybody together. We did better stopping the run because (James) Cook’s a dangerous back, but those small details on the two plays we gave up in the first half (are) critical.
“Regardless of where they start on the field-position-wise, you can’t just give them plays. They’re already a good football team. To aid them even more is not what we’re trying to do.”
The 6-4 Bucs now hold a half-game lead over 6-5 Carolina in the NFC South, and hope to get things corrected next Sunday. That's when they travel to Los Angeles to play the NFC West-leading Rams, who improved to 8-2 with a victory over the Seahawks. Will they have Bucky Irving and Chris Godwin back in the lineup finally? Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, here are some of the other topics Bowles touched upon:
(On if there’s an update on cornerback Jamel Dean’s injury status)
“He’s got a hip flexor strain. Right now, he’s day-to-day. He’s getting more tests run – we’ll see later on this week.”
(On if there were any other injuries sustained during the game)
“[There were] quite a few. We’re getting tests run. We’ll have a better update later on.”
(On if he has any more clarity on the statuses of wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. and running back Bucky Irving for Week 12 at Los Angeles)
“They’ll get worked in more and get more reps and then we’ll kind of evaluate them as the week goes on, but they’ll definitely get worked in.”
(On how he would assess the production from edge rushers)
“We need more. We need more.”
(On whether outside linebacker Haason Reddick could play this weekend)
“[It is] too early to tell right now. He’s getting better, but it’s way too early to tell.”
(On outside linebacker Yaya Diaby dropping into coverage on the long touchdown to Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers)
“That was a three-man rush. We had a bunch of guys back there who were supposed to have made that play – not Yaya. He was just reacting, running to the ball.”
(On where the other defenders were on the aforementioned play)
“We drifted.”
(On facing the Los Angeles Rams this week and what he can recall about quarterback Baker Mayfield’s Thursday Night Football win with them in 2022)
“I remember seeing the first quarter – that might be about it. I [saw] him make a nice throw down the middle of the field, that might be the only play I remember, to be honest with you. I don’t catch too many night games.”
(On whether running Sean Tucker has earned more playing time even when Irving returns)
“That’s hard to say. We go with the hot hand. We’ve got three good backs – we play them all, rotate them all, and whichever one gets hot usually gets the most touches.”