Tampa Bay Buccaneers Must Learn to Capitalize on Offensive Opportunities

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped to 1-2 for the 2015 season, falling to the Houston Texas 19-9 at NRG Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

It was a result that simply didn’t have to be.

Tampa Bay’s normally lackluster offensive line played admirably, not allowing a sack and snapping J.J. Watt’s streak of seven straight games with one, but the offense and kicking game failed to take advantage of opportunities to put points on the board.

The Bucs couldn’t sustain drives, converting just one of their 12 third-down attempts and couldn’t get within striking distance to find the end zone. This put the burden of scoring on the foot of Kyle Brindza, which looked like a decent idea after the newcomer blasted a 58-yarder between the uprights to start the scoring for Tampa Bay.

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But Brindza unraveled after that, missing three field goals and an extra point. Outside of a 57-yard attempt in the game’s final minute, all of the other kicks were from extremely makeable distances, leaving Tampa Bay fans scratching their heads and wondering what could have been.

In all, the Bucs kicking game left 10 points on the field. Houston’s margin of victory? Those same 10 points.

Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay offense should never have let the game rest on the kicker, though. The rookie quarterback was erratic all afternoon, struggling with ball placement and saving some of his worst throws for key third-down situations.

Winston’s receivers didn’t do him too may favors, either, dropping multiple passes and failing to create consistent separation against Houston’s defensive backs.

After missing Week 1 with a hamstring injury and being used as a decoy last week, Mike Evans led the Bucs with 101 yards on seven receptions, but he showed plenty of rust as well. Winston targeted Evans seven times on third down, failing to complete a single attempt, including his only interception.

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After giving up an early touchdown pass, Tampa Bay’s defense buckled down and held the Houston offense in check for most of the final three quarters. But with their own offense unable to move the chains and keep drives going, the Bucs kept sending an increasingly tired group of defenders back out on the field, and eventually, the floodgates burst.

The score was 10-9 in favor of the Texans after three quarters, but the Bucs simply couldn’t keep them at bay, giving up a touchdown and a field goal in the final period to stretch the lead to two scores. Tampa Bay’s offense was able to eat up chunks of yardage in the game’s final minutes, but it was too little, too late.

Dropping this game will sting for the Bucs, but next week’s NFC South matchup with the undefeated Panthers looms large as a fork in the road for the 2015 season. With a win, the Bucs would be 2-2 with a 2-0 record within their division. A loss would send Tampa Bay to 1-3 at the quarter-point of the season, keeping head coach Lovie Smith in at least the “warm seat” heading into the meat of their regular season schedule.

Cam Newton has the Panthers looking impressive after three straight victories to start the year, despite the loss of his top receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered during training camp. Carolina has also been without their quarterback on defense, as linebacker Luke Kuechly has missed the last two games after suffering a concussion in the season opener.

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The Bucs have dropped their last four meetings with the Panthers since sweeping the series back in 2012.

If Smith and his crew are going to bounce back with a huge home win against their division rival, they will have to make significant improvements in fundamental areas. They have to improve their ability to move the chains on third down, they’ll need to be able to trust their kicker from makeable distances, and cutting down on costly penalties will be a must.

If the Bucs can make strides in those three areas while the defense keeps improving, they should be in good shape moving forward. If they see more of the same from their Week 3 effort, it could be the beginning of yet another long season for Tampa Bay fans.

Luke Easterling is a featured columnist covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NFL Draft for Bleacher Report. He is also a senior NFL Draft analyst for Draft Breakdown. Follow him on Twitter @Luke Easterling.