Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tampa Bay Grades, Notes & Quotes
For head coach Lovie Smith and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the drought is over.
After dropping 11 straight home games dating back to 2013, the Bucs notched their first home win under Smith with a 38-31 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday.
Doug Martin led the way for the Bucs, racking up 158 total yards on 27 touches, finding the end zone twice on the ground and once through the air. Charles Sims—Martin's partner in crime in the Tampa Bay backfield—had a day of his own, tallying 136 total yards on 16 touches.
Tampa Bay's defense gave up 31 points to a Jaguars team that was only averaging just over 15 per game, but they posted six sacks and two takeaways, one of which went for a key touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Jacksonville's Blake Bortles threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns, but it wasn't enough for the Jags, who fell to 1-4 on the season. Allen Hurns led the Jags with five receptions and 116 yards—also grabbing a touchdown—while Allen Robinson caught seven passes for 72 yards and a pair of scores.
A pair of early Connor Barth field goals sandwiched around Hurns' 12-yard touchdown catch had the Bucs down 7-6 in the second quarter, but back-to-back scores from Martin sent the Bucs surging to a 20-7 lead. But the Jags wouldn't go quietly into the locker room with Bortles finding Robinson from 13 yards out to cut Tampa Bay's halftime lead to 20-14.
The Jags came out firing in the third quarter, taking the lead thanks to a 31-yard Jason Myers field goal and a four-yard touchdown catch by rookie T.J. Yeldon.
But another field goal from Barth brought the Bucs back within one point, and a huge fumble recovery for a touchdown by Jacquies Smith put the Bucs back on top. A two-point conversion from Jameis Winston to Vincent Jackson gave Tampa Bay a 31-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Martin's third touchdown of the day stretched Tampa Bay's advantage to 38-24, but the Jags refused to pack it in as Bortles would find Robinson yet again to bring them back within a touchdown. But Jackson would recover the ensuing onside kick, sealing the big win for the Bucs.
Tampa Bay moved to 2-3 on the season with the win, putting them in the No. 3 spot in the NFC South.
Position Grades for Bucs
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | B |
| RB | A+ |
| WR | C- |
| TE | C |
| OL | B |
| DL | A |
| LB | C- |
| DB | D |
| Special Teams | A |
| Coaching | C |
After a disastrous four-interception outing last week, Jameis Winston bounced back with a fairly mistake-free performance against the Jags, not turning the ball over and improving his decision-making and ball placement.
Tampa Bay's one-two punch in the backfield of Doug Martin and Charles Sims easily gets the game ball for the afternoon. The two backs combined for 294 of the Bucs' 369 yards and all three touchdowns on offense.
Since those two hauled in seven of Winston's 13 completions, the receiving corps didn't move the needle much, aside from Brandon Myers making a couple of solid catches in place of the injured Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Mike Evans caught three passes for 41 yards but dropped a pair of would-be big plays down the field. After a season-high 10 catches for 147 yards last week, Vincent Jackson was held to just one catch for 14 yards.
Tampa Bay's offensive line continues to overachieve, plowing the way for 183 yards on the ground against the league's fourth-ranked rushing defense while allowing just two sacks.
Across the line of scrimmage, Tampa Bay's defensive line came up big, holding the Jaguars to just 55 rushing yards on 17 carries and accounting for 3.5 of the team's six sacks on the day. And while Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander each had a sack of their own, Tampa Bay's linebackers struggled all afternoon in coverage, giving up too many easy yards with poor position and missed tackles.
In similar fashion, the Bucs' injury-riddled secondary had a rough outing, getting carved up by second-year quarterback Blake Bortles to the tune of 303 passing yards and four touchdowns. Bradley McDougald's interception was a bright spot, but this unit still has plenty of room for improvement.
Special teams was a huge strength for the Bucs thanks to Connor Barth making all six of his kicks and Bobby Rainey continuing his strong season as a return specialist.
On the coaching side of things, Lovie Smith got his team to respond in a must-win situation, but there are still serious issues to correct. Penalties continue to be a problem—10 for 72 yards—and Smith's clock management at the end of the first half was questionable, at best.
Doug Martin's Big Day Leads the Way
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After posting his first 100-yard game of the season last week, Doug Martin put up even better numbers on Sunday against the Jaguars, rushing for 123 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. He also added 35 yards on three receptions, including another touchdown through the air.
Martin was unstoppable for most of the afternoon, showing an equal amount of power and quickness and picking up plenty of yards after contact. His season-best performance came against a Jacksonville defense that was ranked fourth in the league against the run, previously allowing just 83 yards per game.
After a Pro Bowl season in 2012 that saw him rack up nearly 2,000 total yards, Martin was held back by multiple injuries over the past two seasons, leading to the Bucs announcing they wouldn't be picking up his fifth-year option for next season. Clearly, Martin is proving he's worthy of a contract extension.
Veteran Barth Brings Instant Stability to Kicking Woes
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After missed kicks cost them 17 points over their previous two games, the Bucs made a change at kicker, releasing Kyle Brindza and bringing back veteran Connor Barth. Barth was beaten out in training camp in 2014 by then-rookie Patrick Murray, who is currently on Tampa Bay's injured reserve.
Barth wasted no time rewarding the Bucs for their renewed confidence, connecting on all six of his kicks Sunday. He made all three of his extra-point attempts and converted field goals from 35, 45 and 47 yards.
Barth set Tampa Bay's franchise record for field goal percentage in 2011 and was successful on 15 of his 16 attempts for the Denver Broncos last season. It's just one game, but it looks like Barth has brought much-needed stability back to the position, giving the Bucs one less thing to worry about.
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Winston Bounces Back, No Turnovers
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Last week, Jameis Winston had the worst game of his young NFL career, tossing four interceptions as the Bucs endured another beatdown in front of their home fans.
But this year's No. 1 overall draft pick responded with a clean performance on Sunday, completing 13 of his 19 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers.
Winston did a much better job of taking what the defense gave him this week, checking down when necessary instead of forcing ill-advised throws down the field. If he can continue to limit his mistakes and the ground game can get the job done on a weekly basis, Winston and the Bucs offense should only continue to improve.
DE George Johnson on Key Defensive Score
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During their glory days in the early 2000s, Tampa Bay's defenses prided themselves on finding the end zone on a regular basis.
That hasn't been the case as of late, but the Bucs came up with a huge defensive touchdown on Sunday that helped swing momentum in the fourth quarter. Defensive end George Johnson said the unit knew they needed to make something happen, and that's just what they did, per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com:
"We said coming off the sideline, 'We need a big play,' and it just happened to come when I got upfield. You saw what happened—it changed the whole game, a 14-point swing. We go out there, we score on defense—that’s our main goal, to score on defense, and we actually did that. And the offense came out and scored on their next drive.
"
Despite giving up 31 points and over 300 yards passing, the Bucs racked up a season-high six sacks and forced two turnovers, coming up with big plays at key moments late in the game. In a close victory, the team needed every one of them.
RB Doug Martin on Much-Needed Win
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Thanks to his three-touchdown performance, Doug Martin will rightfully get the lion's share of the credit for Tampa Bay's big win on Sunday.
But Martin pointed out that the team got the job done in all three phases of the game, per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com:
"It was a team effort, something that the fans had a long time coming. I'm glad we could get a win at home. Like I said it was a team effort—special teams dominated, defense pulled it out in the end and the offense stayed consistent throughout the whole game.
"
The Bucs got big contributions on special teams from kicker Connor Barth and return man Bobby Rainey and bagged six sacks and two takeaways on defense, in addition to riding Martin's big day to their second win of the season. The Bucs still have plenty of work to do, but they'll take away quite a few positives across the board as they head into the bye week.
DT Gerald McCoy on Making Big Plays, Finishing
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One of Tampa Bay's biggest issues last season was the inability to protect a lead and close out an opponent, failing to come up with big plays when it needed them most.
That wasn't the case on Sunday as the Bucs answered the call on offense, defense and special teams, holding off a late rally by the Jaguars and finishing them off for a huge, morale-boosting victory.
Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy knows how important it was for the team to finish strong, per Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune:
"That’s just finishing—finishing and want-to. At some point, somebody has to make a play, and you saw us make a flurry of them there. And we got them from all different people. And to me, that’s the biggest thing about this game. We came up with the plays we needed when we needed them. and we finished. That’s been a big issue for us in the past, but we were able to do it today. Today, we finished.
"
McCoy had 1.5 sacks on the day, both plays coming late in the fourth quarter, giving him 4.5 on the season. Both he and linebacker Lavonte David—who also tallied a sack on Sunday—were given lucrative contract extensions recently, and they made the big plays that should be expected of them this week.
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