The Bucs were 6-2 going into this game, Washington was 2-6.
The Bucs had the best pass offense in the NFL, and Washington had the worst pass defense in the league.
All signs pointed toward an easy W, especially coming off a bye week and an embarrassing loss to the Saints on the road.
This is Tom Brady, right? The GOAT? He looks like he’s in the “best shape of his career,” he was tied for first in MVP odds, this should have been the easiest slam dunk of a win ever.
Instead, the Bucs lost a head-scratcher 29-19 in Washington, with Brady submitting another crappy performance unbecoming of someone with his aura and reputation.
In the first three-and-a-half quarters, Brady played like Drew Brees in his final couple of seasons in New Orleans, having to dump the ball off short to Leonard Fournette or Chris Godwin on seemingly every play, before finally turning it on near the end of the game with a nice tourchdown to Mike Evans (only Evans’ third target of the game, a number that shows the problems the Bucs faced offensively all game).
Unfortunately the problems the Bucs faced offensively even spread to the ever-dependable Ryan Succop, who missed a key extra point following that Evans score in the fourth quarter.
The defense didn’t play particularly well, but it played decent enough for a victory. Brady threw a pair of interceptions to start the game (four picks over the past two games, for those counting) which led to a Washington field goal and touchdown. Other than those 10 points, the defense gave up 19, which when playing against Washington’s 30th ranked pass defense should have been more than enough.
While the defense looked atrocious on third down, giving up a 61% third down conversion rate, the elite Lavonte David forced a fumble in the fourth quarter that led to the Evans TD, a play that seemed to shift momentum in Tampa’s favor on the road.
But the Bucs D just couldn’t get off the field at the end, giving up four third down conversions on Washington’s last drive of the game, which was the longest in the NFL so far this season, taking 18 plays and 10-plus minutes. To make matters worse, Vita Vea suffered an injury after Washington’s last touchdown, getting carted off the field and putting an even darker cloud over this turd of a game.
You could try to pin this game on the defense, especially after that last drive which sealed the game for Washington, or Ryan Succop for missing that extra point at the end, but it’s hard to overcome a pair of first quarter picks and a first half where the offense didn’t score a touchdown.
This game is all on the offense. It gave Washington 10 points and only managed to score a pair of touchdowns against a team that was giving up 28 points per game. Brady ended up with an 80.5 QBR and two picks, getting outplayed for a second straight week by a no-name QB (Taylor Heinicke racked up 256 yards through the air and a touchdown of his own).
In some good news, the Saints lost their second straight game, falling to the Titans 23-21 and allowing the Bucs to maintain their shaky one game lead in the NFC South. Oh, well. It’s onto Monday Night Football and the New York Giants. Don’t be surprised if the Bucs blow that one, too.
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