Most of the blame for Sunday’s loss falls on the offensive side of the ball. Credit: Photo via Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The good news? Every team in the NFC South lost Sunday.

Unfortunately that included the Bucs, as Tampa Bay took a 20-6, creamsicle-colored loss to the 4-1 Detroit Lions.

Most of the blame for Sunday’s loss falls on the offensive side of the ball, as Baker Mayfield & co. were unable to punch anything into the end zone (Tampa Bay’s six points came off the foot of Chase McLaughlin who hit two field goals).

Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales had his first really bad game as a play caller, with some questionable decisions in the red zone (or orange zone in the spirit of the throwback uniforms) and within the final two minutes of the first half.

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Canales called a strange second down run inside two minutes that was followed by an even weirder bubble screen that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.

In the red zone, he called up a fade for Mike Evans that didn’t even come close to working, something reminiscent of the uncreative, high-execution-reliant play calling that Byron Leftwich brought to the table the past few years.

Of course, Canales wasn’t helped by some poor execution by Mayfield, who missed a wide open Mike Evans down the field for a potential touchdown (it instead ended up tipped and intercepted).

Mayfield also missed rookie receiver Trey Palmer down the field for a potentially big gain in that same two-minute drill at the end of the first half that was so disastrous for everyone involved with the offensive side of the ball. The Baker man missed the rookie down the field again in the fourth quarter on third-and-two (why Tampa Bay went for a deep shot like that in a short yardage third down situation is also beyond me).

The Bucs defense did just enough to make the game competitive, but was unable to create any takeaways to try and help make up for such a horrendous offense. Lions QB Jared Goff took care of the ball and set up his elite playmakers, with receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and recently reinstated former first-rounder Jameson Williams hauling in a TD each.

It is indeed a Bucs life yet again. But at least the division kept up.

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