Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons: Full Report Card Grades for Tampa Bay
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers endured one of the worst losses in franchise history Thursday night, falling to the Atlanta Falcons 56-14 in front of a national audience.
The Falcons scored early and often, and Tampa Bay miscues in every phase of the game gave Atlanta every opportunity to turn this into a bloodbath. The Bucs managed a pair of garbage touchdowns in the fourth quarter after trailing an embarrassing 56-0 after three periods.
Tampa Bay was outgained 488-217 in total offense, averaging just 3.8 yards per play and converting only three of its 13 third-down attempts.
Both teams showed some sloppiness, combining for nine turnovers, the most in any game in the NFL so far this season.
Matt Ryan set a Falcons franchise record for completion percentage in a game, completing 21 of his 24 passes for 286 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Julio Jones ran free throughout the Bucs secondary, hauling in nine catches for 161 yards and a pair of scores.
Devin Hester stole the show in the second quarter. The former Lovie Smith draft pick scored on a 20-yard end around on the first play of the quarter and then broke Deion Sanders' all-time NFL record for career return touchdowns with a 62-yard punt return for a score.
Josh McCown completed just five of his 12 pass attempts for 58 yards and an interception before a thumb injury forced him from the game. Backup Mike Glennon finished the game with a decent stat line, going 17-for-24 for 121 yards and a touchdown, but he had multiple interceptions dropped by Atlanta defenders.
Here's how each unit graded out for the Bucs in Thursday's game.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Josh McCown was hoping to follow up two poor performances to start the season with a rebound effort against Atlanta, but his downward spiral continued. The veteran, who signed a two-year deal in the offseason, completed just five of his 12 passes on the night for 58 yards and an interception.
McCown continued to look uncomfortable, staring down receivers and struggling with timing. His lone interception was returned for a touchdown and helped open the floodgates for Atlanta's scoring barrage.
Mike Glennon entered the game after McCown left with an injury to the thumb on his throwing hand and was more effective. The second-year pro who started 13 games as a rookie in 2013 did have multiple throws dropped that should have been interceptions, but he finished a respectable 17-for-24 for 121 yards, including a three-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson.
McCown's play deserves an F, but though Glennon wasn't anything special, he did enough to raise the grade by a hair.
Grade: D
Running Back
2 of 10
After Bobby Rainey had an impressive performance last week again the Rams, Bucs fans hoped to see him produce big numbers again this week against an unimpressive Atlanta defense.
But last year's leading rusher for Tampa Bay struggled for most of the evening, fumbling twice and picking up most of his yardage as a receiver out of the backfield after the game was well in hand. Rainey finished the night with 105 total yards on 18 touches, but his turnovers were extremely costly.
Mike James carried the ball four times for four yards, and his only catch was on a screen pass that lost five yards.
Rainey's fumbles were one of many catalysts to the Falcons' early, insurmountable lead. When you're responsible for multiple turnovers as a running back, it's hard to get anything near a passing grade.
Grade: D-
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
After being one of the few bright spots in last week's loss, the Bucs receiving corps turned in a poor effort against Atlanta.
Vincent Jackson had multiple drops and didn't seem to be clicking with his quarterbacks for most of the game. Even with a three-yard touchdown catch in garbage time, the Bucs' top target left much to be desired Thursday night.
Mike Evans caught four passes for 52 yards but showed his inexperience by losing yardage after the catch on multiple plays while trying to extend plays laterally instead of simply moving upfield and taking what was there. Thirty-six of Evans' 52 yards came on one catch.
Brandon Myers caught five passes but for just 33 yards, not threatening the defense vertically in the slightest, while fellow tight end Luke Stocker grabbed two receptions for 15 yards. Rookie Robert Herron caught one pass for five yards but dropped one over the middle that could have given the Bucs a first down.
Like most of the team, Tampa Bay's receivers had a terrible night. They had too many drops and never threatened Atlanta's secondary at all.
Grade: F
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
After showing marked improvement against the Rams last week, the Bucs offensive line regressed in Week 3, looking completely ineffective against a Falcons team whose front four isn't that impressive.
The Bucs rushed for just 64 yards, averaging just 3.6 yards per carry. They also surrendered three sacks to a Falcons team that had yet to notch one this season.
One of the team's more prized free-agent signings this offseason, Evan Dietrich-Smith had an absolutely awful night. He had one snap over Mike Glennon's head and one that hit himself because he thought Glennon was under center instead of in shotgun. A pair of personal foul penalties out of frustration marred the entire game for Dietrich-Smith.
It was one step forward, three steps back for this unit over the past two weeks. The O-line needs to regroup from this abominable effort and rebound next week.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Allowing 144 yards rushing and getting just one sack? That's the recipe for another poor performance from a Tampa Bay defensive line that is riddled with injuries and struggling with simply ineffective play.
Akeem Spence got a share of the Bucs' only sack on the night, and the absence of Gerald McCoy was painfully clear as the Falcons ran the ball nearly at will for most of the game. This unit continued to put the defensive backfield in difficult situations due to its inability to generate any kind of pass rush.
This group is holding on by a thread, and it doesn't seem to be getting any stronger. The Falcons had their way with the Bucs up front for most of the night, and it showed by the ease with which Atlanta was able to move the ball on the ground and through the air.
Grade: F
Linebacker
6 of 10
This group made enough plays to avoid the dreaded F grade, but the linebackers didn't fare too much better.
Lavonte David gave Bucs fans one of the splash plays they've been looking for out of the All-Pro in the form of an impressive forced fumble.
Dane Fletcher, filling in for the injured Mason Foster at middle linebacker, struggled on the first few plays but recovered to turn in a solid performance. The former Patriot was all over the field, even getting a share of the Bucs' only sack.
In garbage time, training camp star Danny Lansanah made a pair of big plays late in the game. He made a stellar stop behind the line of scrimmage and then gave Bucs fans their most exciting play of the night by grabbing a pick-six of Atlanta backup quarterback T.J. Yates.
This unit played as well as any on the Tampa Bay side on Thursday, but unfortunately, that's not saying a whole lot.
Grade: D+
Secondary
7 of 10
You know it's a bad night for your secondary when you see the backup quarterback voluntarily inserted into the game in the third quarter.
As expected, the Bucs defensive backs were surgically destroyed by Matt Ryan to the tune of the highest completion percentage in Falcons history. Julio Jones was uncoverable, racking up 161 yards on nine catches and scoring twice.
Poor tackling in the run game was equally to blame for this unit's shoddy performance. Dashon Goldson took a particularly terrible angle that led to a long touchdown run by Antone Smith.
Leonard Johnson and Alterraun Verner did each force a fumble, and Goldson made a smart play on a fumble forced by Lavonte David, scooping up the ball before it went out of bounds and throwing it back into the field of play for a Tampa Bay recovery.
It was nice to see this group forcing turnovers, but it doesn't really matter when you're getting sliced and diced all up and down the field between a few forced fumbles. This group was Swiss cheese for most of the night, and the secondary was simply outclassed in every way by the Atlanta passing attack.
Grade: F
Special Teams
8 of 10
This may have been the worst performance of the night, though some of it might fall on the coaching staff. Kicking to Devin Hester has been a well-known no-no in the NFL for years now, and Lovie Smith should know better than most, having drafted him when he was in Chicago.
But Tampa Bay did kick it to Hester, and the Bucs paid dearly for it by allowing him to bust a 62-yard punt return for a score. He broke the NFL all-time record for return touchdowns in a career in the process.
Kicker Patrick Murray was a non-factor, and I'm betting Bucs fans wish that punter Michael Koenen had been, as well. Return man Solomon Patton's best play all night was finally choosing to stay in the end zone on a deep kickoff.
Grade: F
Coaching
9 of 10
As bad as the players were for Tampa Bay in this game, no unit grades out worse than the coaching staff.
Was it a short week? Sure. Were there plenty of injuries to key players? Absolutely. But the level to which the Bucs looked completely unprepared and undisciplined is a direct result of a poor performance by the coaching staff, from top to bottom.
The Bucs continue to struggle on offense without offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford, who is still recovering from a medical procedure and has yet to call a play in the regular season.
Tampa Bay also racked up 11 penalties for 110 yards, including multiple personal foul penalties that came out of sheer frustration by getting beaten down late in the game.
Lovie Smith has to go back to the drawing board, and plenty will have to change before his team hits the field again. If things don't look different in a hurry, it could be an ugly scene for a team that was showered with optimism all offseason.
Grade: F
Overall Grade
10 of 10
I've seen a lot of Buccaneers football, but this was the worst of it, by far. The Bucs were outcoached and outplayed in every way, and the scoreboard showed it from start to finish.
Tampa Bay fans were sold this offseason on an experienced coach who would return their team to the glory days behind a suffocating defense and an offense that took care of the ball and controlled the clock. This game was just another chapter in the early unraveling of that myth, and the natives are already getting restless.
Lovie Smith needs to right this ship fast, because this was a warp-speed jump in the wrong direction. The offense continues to look inept, and the defense can't get after the quarterback. The whole team just looks plain lost.
Bucs fans are hoping that from Thursday's debacle, there's nowhere to go but up.
Overall Grade: F
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