Saints vs. Buccaneers: Full Report Card Grades for Tampa Bay
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' campaign to secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft was in jeopardy for three quarters on Sunday, but another late implosion handed the New Orleans Saints a 23-20 victory at Raymond James Stadium.
Tampa Bay picked off Drew Brees three times and put up its best rushing performance of the season on offense. But a late interception led to a 36-yard go-ahead touchdown catch by Marques Colston, and a safety on the ensuing possession sealed the Bucs' fate and sent them to a 2-14 finish on the season.
Brees finished the game with 283 yards passing, while Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson each tallied a score on the ground for New Orleans. Colston finished the day with two catches for 51 yards, while Kenny Stills led the Saints with five catches for 82 yards.
Doug Martin led the charge on offense for the Bucs, finishing with a season-high 108 yards on 19 carries, while rookie Charles Sims rushed for 69 yards and posted his first career NFL touchdown. Mike Evans led the Bucs with 54 yards on five receptions, hauling in his franchise-record 12th touchdown catch of the season.
The Bucs got out to an early lead, taking a 20-7 advantage into the locker room at halftime and holding it through the entire third quarter. But Ingram's one-yard plunge cut the lead to six points in the fourth, and a Keenan Lewis interception set up Colston's score.
The Bucs would get one last chance to snatch back the victory, but back-to-back sacks—one of which went for a safety—locked up the win for New Orleans and sealed Tampa Bay's spot at the top of next year's draft.
With the loss, Tampa Bay finished 0-8 at home for the first time in franchise history and will now have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft for the fifth time.
Quarterback
1 of 10
This could be the last game of the Josh McCown era in Tampa Bay, and it ended just as unimpressively as it began.
McCown completed just 14 of his 23 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, with his lone interception coming at the worst possible time, setting up the Saints for the go-ahead score. The veteran had the ball basically taken out of his hands in the third quarter then showed why by committing a costly turnover in the game's final minutes.
His performance Sunday was just another chapter in the book that will lead most fans to clamor for the Bucs to use the No. 1 overall pick on his replacement next April.
Grade: D
Running Back
2 of 10
This was the best game of the year for Tampa Bay's ground attack, as both Doug Martin and Charles Sims turned in impressive performances.
Martin went over 100 yards rushing for the first time this season, finishing the game with 108 yards on 19 carries, while the rookie Sims gained 69 yards on 18 carries, including his first career NFL touchdown.
As a team, the Bucs had their best rushing output of the season, racking up 183 yards on 39 carries for an average of 4.7 yards per attempt. Only three of those 39 carries went for negative yardage, and the established running game put the team in position to win after three dominant quarters, even if it wasn't able to close the deal.
Grade: A
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
It was the same song and dance as usual for this group, as Tampa Bay's pass-catchers did the most they could with the limited opportunities they were given.
The highlights of the game for this unit came in the record books, as Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson took just two plays to go over 1,000 yards receiving for the season, becoming the first pair of receivers in Bucs history to accomplish the feat in the same year.
Evans also made history with his six-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter, setting a single-season franchise record with 12 touchdown catches on the year.
Evans led the Bucs with 54 yards on five catches, but Jackson would leave the game early with a groin injury and wouldn't return. Brandon Myers caught four passes for 21 yards, and while Tavarres King hauled in his first two career catches, he also let a late pass bounce off his hands and into the arms of a defender, setting up the Saints' go-ahead score.
Considering the quarterback play and the loss of Jackson, this unit did as well as could be expected, but the late interception on a catchable ball hurts.
Grade: B-
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
This was one of the better performances this year from this group, as both the running game and pass protection were solid for most of the game. But late-game failures can't be overlooked, especially when they lead directly to a loss.
The Bucs had their best rushing performance of the season, carrying the ball 39 times for 183 yards and averaging nearly five yards per carry after failing to register a carry longer than four yards last week.
This unit was adequate in pass coverage for most of the game but gave up two backbreaking sacks on the team's final drive, one of which went for a safety that sealed the loss for Tampa Bay.
Rookie Kevin Pamphile looked encouraging when spelling Oniel Cousins at right tackle, while it looks like Demar Dotson's move from the right side over to left tackle could end up being permanent. Still, the late-game breakdowns were huge and helped cost this team a victory.
Grade: C-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Just like last week, the Bucs got after one of the league's best quarterbacks early but couldn't sustain a consistent pass rush and ended up giving him just enough time to make the plays needed to win.
Punctuated by Clinton McDonald's bodyslam number in the game's early going, the Bucs sacked Drew Brees twice and kept him uncomfortable for most of the first three quarters. McDonald also came up with a huge pass deflection that was intercepted after being tipped.
But with the game on the line down the stretch, Brees was given a clean enough pocket to make plays down the field.
On the ground, the Saints managed just 70 yards on 23 carries, good enough for a three-yard average per attempt.
This group was without its best player in Gerald McCoy, but while McDonald did his best to fill that hole, edge-rushers Michael Johnson and Jacquies Smith weren't able to get the job done. The rush defense is encouraging, but upgrading the pass rush will clearly be an offseason priority.
Grade: C-
Linebacker
6 of 10
This unit was without its normal starters for most of the game but still put together a decent performance.
Lavonte David tallied five tackles and a forced fumble before hitting the bench in the second half, while Danny Lansanah managed just two tackles before doing the same. Dane Fletcher led the team with four solo stops, playing most of the snaps with fellow reserve Orie Lemon, who had three tackles of his own.
The best thing this group did was help limit the Saints to just 70 yards rushing on the game with an average of just three yards per carry.
This game was a great opportunity for the Bucs' backups to get some quality snaps against the league's top-ranked offense, and they did a good enough job, considering.
Grade: B
Secondary
7 of 10
For the second week in a row, Tampa Bay's defensive backfield played extremely well against one of the NFL's best quarterbacks.
Drew Brees ended the day with 283 yards passing, but he was picked off three times, with two of them coming inside the red zone and costing New Orleans points. The Tampa 2 defense is built on bending but not breaking, and this game was a perfect example of what that should look like, with the secondary clamping down in the red zone and forcing timely turnovers.
Bradley McDougald continues to prove himself a diamond in the rough, coming up with a big interception in the end zone and making multiple plays in coverage. He's easily earned a starting spot heading into next season.
There's plenty for Bucs fans to be excited about for next year, and this unit is high up on that list.
Grade: A
Special Teams
8 of 10
It was another strong outing by this entire group this week, as the kicking, return and coverage teams all impressed.
Patrick Murray ended his rookie season with another solid performance, hitting both of his field-goal attempts to finish 20-of-26 on such kicks this season, ending the year with a streak of 13 makes in a row. Punter Michael Koenen punted just twice but averaged 40 yards per kick.
Bobby Rainey was impressive enough on both kick and punt returns, while Russell Shepard provided the biggest play of the day from the coverage teams, knocking a punt from out of the end zone to pin the ball just outside the Saints' own end zone.
Grade: A
Coaching
9 of 10
We've beaten the absence of Jeff Tedford like a dead horse, but it was Lovie Smith's conservative style that was the biggest issue with Tampa Bay's coaching performance this week.
With a healthy halftime lead, the Bucs didn't attempt a single pass in the third quarter, playing it safe and setting the stage for Drew Brees to mount yet another fourth-quarter comeback win. The running game had been fantastic for most of the game, but it was clear Tampa Bay was playing not to lose in the second half, unless you buy into the notion that it was tanking for that top draft pick.
Either way, retreating into its shell in the second half had a huge impact on the final result. The penalties were few and far in between, which is an important improvement, but the Bucs have some serious questions to answer about the coaching staff in the offseason.
Grade: D+
Final Grades
10 of 10
The script for this game was all too familiar to Bucs fans. Get out to an early lead, go into a conservative shell, find a way to implode and give the game away in the final minutes.
There was plenty of good for the Bucs to be encouraged by, as the ground game and the secondary helped set the tone for a dominant first three quarters. But conservative coaching and a losing culture of a team that just doesn't know how to close out games ended up undoing the Bucs on yet another Sunday afternoon.
Many Bucs fans will be pleased with the result, as it secures them the No. 1 overall pick in next year's draft, but in the box score, it will be just another one they let get away.
Grade: C-
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