Credit: Photo via Tampa Bay Bucs

Credit: Photo via Tampa Bay Bucs
Last night, on the final drive for the Bucs offense, TB12 made a terrible pass to a very well-covered Cameron Brate. He then held up the number 4 to the sideline, indicating he thought it was only third down and he had an extra play, and looked like… well, a confused old man. 

It was pretty much the perfect summary to what was a disappointing game for the Bucs (to say the least), as they lost 20-19 to the now somehow 4-1 Chicago Bears. Just a reminder, the Bears are not a playoff team, and if they manage to sneak their way in they will be absolutely ripped apart by whoever they play (unless it’s the Saints).

That may sound harsh, and it was just one bad moment in a game that was not a poorly played one by the GOAT (although not an amazing one either: 253 yards, a TD pass, no INT’s). Brady’s offensive line committed stupid penalty after stupid penalty. Plus, Donovan Smith is turning into a human revolving door, and the officials seemed determined to gift wrap this game for the Chicago Bears. 


Remember that weirdly overturned incompletion that resulted in a fumble and a touchdown for Chicago, the roughing the passer call on Shaq Barrett that luckily didn’t result in any problems, the neutral-zone-infraction that should have been a false start on Chicago that also lead to a third-down conversion, then a touchdown, and then the no-holding-call on that third-down conversion? 

Gronk made some nice plays in the passing game, but in that final drive he missed a pivotal catch that could have given the Bucs a first down, and possibly gotten them into field goal range to set up a game-winning kick. Speaking of field goals, Ryan Succop was 3-3 on field goals today and made the lone extra point he attempted. Silver lining, am I right? 

Ronald Jones also ran for 106 yards (second straight week of 100+ yards rushing) and had 19 yards receiving, while corner Jamel Dean had 4 pass deflections. So there were at least some bright spots. But mostly bad. 

Vita Vea went down with a gruesome ankle injury after Lavonte David landed on it while they both tried to make a tackle and was carted off of the field. It is feared Vea may be done for the year. 

The Bucs were also without Fournette and Chris Godwin. Mike Evans looked a little slow, as he continues to battle ankle injuries. But even with those guys it might not have made a difference, as the offensive line allowed 3 sacks and 8 QB hits on the night.

This all came against Nick Foles, who couldn’t seem to throw the ball accurately more than 10 yards down the field, and a Bears team who looked awful against the Colts last week. If the Bucs want to be taken seriously as contenders, these are games they have to win. 

Otherwise we won’t have to worry about what they’ll do in the playoffs, because the Bucs will just be sitting on the couch, watching playoff football with the rest of us. Like every other year. 

So yeah, rough night for Tampa. The Rays also lost to the Yankees in the ALDS, but not quite in such spectacularly embarrassing fashion. 

The Bucs take on the Packers at home next week, and if Vita Vea is truly out for an extended period of time, that could get ugly. 

It feels like they’re so close to greatness, but they are letting it slip away. I remember when there was just no hope, and it was always fun to simply guess how many picks Jameis would throw that week. This feels a little more painful.

@CTBrantley12

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This article appears in Oct 8-15, 2020.