Thursday night’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons was a mixed bag for the Buccaneers. There was plenty to be excited about - and most people probably would have if it weren’t for the way the game ended. Understandably, a lot of fans are down and focusing only on the negatives. There were certainly some standout performances on both sides of the spectrum, so let’s dive into the winners and losers for week five
Baker Mayfield
Mayfield continues to shine, finishing 19/24 for 180 and three passing touchdowns plus another 42 yards rushing. Mayfield is currently tied with Sam Darnold for the NFL lead in passing touchdowns with Darnold set to play on Sunday, but what’s even more impressive is how consistently accurate and efficient Mayfield has been this season. He and Liam Coen are really finding a groove early in the season - and much earlier than Mayfield found one with Canales, which bodes well for the Bucs long term.
Mike Evans
Can this guy do anything else to prove to the shocking number of still doubters that he’s not only a Hall of Fame player, but a first ballot Hall of Famer? Evans reached 100 career touchdowns on Thursday with his two touchdown performance. While he has 99 receiving touchdowns and one on a fumble recovery, he’s one step closer to history. With Evans’ next touchdown catch, he will tie Tim Brown and Steve Largent for ninth most receiving touchdowns all-time with 100 and become just the tenth player in NFL history to reach that plateau. Back to back weeks for Evans leading the team in receiving and is now leading the NFL with five touchdown catches on the season.
Lavonte David
Speaking of back to back weeks of standout performances, David once again rose to the occasion. Eight tackles, two passes defensed, and a key interception late in the game that should have sealed the game. David was one of the lone bright spots on the defensive side of the ball against the Falcons as he continues to come up big in huge moments and play like he’s ten years younger than he actually is.
Despite those performances, the Bucs still lost the game and there are a few reasons for that.
K.J. Britt
Britt has struggled the last few weeks and was essentially Kirk Cousins’ punching bag all night long. Britt’s inability to cover in any real sense of the term is hurting this team. His PFF grade for Thursday night’s game was a putrid 38.3 and he’s the 70th ranked linebacker out of 72 according to the site. It’s just been an abject failure. Despite his strong play last season, Britt has been a liability a lot this season and it was never more evident than on Thursday. He’s likely going to see a massive drop in snaps once SirVocea Dennis returns from injury.
Jamel Dean
Dean once again had a subpar performance and was picked on by an opposing quarterback. While the shift to Zyon McCollum being the top corner on the team has pretty much already happened, Dean just hasn’t been the player the Bucs thought they paid over the last year and a half of football. He’s been the guy opposing teams have attacked on third downs, dropped interceptions, and has been slow to react far too often. That was once again the case on Thursday night. Even his best play - a pass breakup on third down while covering Drake London - was negated by an unnecessary roughness penalty from K.J. Britt. You can debate the flag if you’d like, and you’d have a compelling case I’m sure, but even when Dean has made a splash play that stands out, it gets thrown out.
Jake Camarda
Yeah, this is kinda harsh - but for the second week in a row Jake Camarda was a healthy scratch in favor of practice squad punter Trenton Gill. And for the second week in a row, Gill looked like the better punter. Things are trending in the direction of Camarda being released by the team in favor of Gill considering how disappointed the Bucs have been in Camarda’s performance dating back to last season and how well Gill has played. He can boot the ball on kickoffs, he averaged 43.5 yards per punt on Thursday and is averaging 39.5 over the last two weeks. The biggest thing, though, is the consistency. With Gill, you know what to expect while Camarda has been a mixed bag of booming punts and shanks. One more solid performance from Gill and that could be all she wrote for Camarda in Tampa.
Thursday night’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons was a mixed bag for the Buccaneers. There was plenty to be excited about - and most people probably would have if it weren’t for the way the game ended. Understandably, a lot of fans are down and focusing only on the negatives. There were certainly some standout performances on both sides of the spectrum, so let’s dive into the winners and losers for week five
Baker Mayfield
Mayfield continues to shine, finishing 19/24 for 180 and three passing touchdowns plus another 42 yards rushing. Mayfield is currently tied with Sam Darnold for the NFL lead in passing touchdowns with Darnold set to play on Sunday, but what’s even more impressive is how consistently accurate and efficient Mayfield has been this season. He and Liam Coen are really finding a groove early in the season - and much earlier than Mayfield found one with Canales, which bodes well for the Bucs long term.
Mike Evans
Can this guy do anything else to prove to the shocking number of still doubters that he’s not only a Hall of Fame player, but a first ballot Hall of Famer? Evans reached 100 career touchdowns on Thursday with his two touchdown performance. While he has 99 receiving touchdowns and one on a fumble recovery, he’s one step closer to history. With Evans’ next touchdown catch, he will tie Tim Brown and Steve Largent for ninth most receiving touchdowns all-time with 100 and become just the tenth player in NFL history to reach that plateau. Back to back weeks for Evans leading the team in receiving and is now leading the NFL with five touchdown catches on the season.
Lavonte David
Speaking of back to back weeks of standout performances, David once again rose to the occasion. Eight tackles, two passes defensed, and a key interception late in the game that should have sealed the game. David was one of the lone bright spots on the defensive side of the ball against the Falcons as he continues to come up big in huge moments and play like he’s ten years younger than he actually is.
Despite those performances, the Bucs still lost the game and there are a few reasons for that.
K.J. Britt
Britt has struggled the last few weeks and was essentially Kirk Cousins’ punching bag all night long. Britt’s inability to cover in any real sense of the term is hurting this team. His PFF grade for Thursday night’s game was a putrid 38.3 and he’s the 70th ranked linebacker out of 72 according to the site. It’s just been an abject failure. Despite his strong play last season, Britt has been a liability a lot this season and it was never more evident than on Thursday. He’s likely going to see a massive drop in snaps once SirVocea Dennis returns from injury.
Jamel Dean
Dean once again had a subpar performance and was picked on by an opposing quarterback. While the shift to Zyon McCollum being the top corner on the team has pretty much already happened, Dean just hasn’t been the player the Bucs thought they paid over the last year and a half of football. He’s been the guy opposing teams have attacked on third downs, dropped interceptions, and has been slow to react far too often. That was once again the case on Thursday night. Even his best play - a pass breakup on third down while covering Drake London - was negated by an unnecessary roughness penalty from K.J. Britt. You can debate the flag if you’d like, and you’d have a compelling case I’m sure, but even when Dean has made a splash play that stands out, it gets thrown out.
Jake Camarda
Yeah, this is kinda harsh - but for the second week in a row Jake Camarda was a healthy scratch in favor of practice squad punter Trenton Gill. And for the second week in a row, Gill looked like the better punter. Things are trending in the direction of Camarda being released by the team in favor of Gill considering how disappointed the Bucs have been in Camarda’s performance dating back to last season and how well Gill has played. He can boot the ball on kickoffs, he averaged 43.5 yards per punt on Thursday and is averaging 39.5 over the last two weeks. The biggest thing, though, is the consistency. With Gill, you know what to expect while Camarda has been a mixed bag of booming punts and shanks. One more solid performance from Gill and that could be all she wrote for Camarda in Tampa.
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