Buccaneers vs. Redskins: Tampa Bay Grades, Notes and Quotes
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers squandered a 24-0 first-half lead, falling to the Washington Redskins 31-30 in the final seconds on Sunday.
The Bucs fall to 2-4 with the loss, while Washington improves to 3-4 with the dramatic home victory.
Despite a dominant performance on offense, the Bucs allowed Kirk Cousins to slice up their secondary for more than 300 yards passing and a trio of touchdowns. Jordan Reed caught 11 passes for 72 yards and a pair of scores, the second of which came with 24 seconds left to win the game.
A pair of Jameis Winston touchdown passes and a Connor Barth field goal had the Bucs out to an early 17-0 lead, and the boos started to rain down at FedExField when a strip-sack by Jacquies Smith was returned for a touchdown by Howard Jones to give the Bucs a 24-0 lead in the second quarter.
But joy wouldn't last for Tampa Bay fans. Cousins would score on an eight-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 24-7 just before the half, then lead another scoring drive in the third quarter to shrink the deficit to 24-14.
Washington then recovered a surprise onside kick, turning it into immediate points with another Cousins touchdown pass and making it a 24-21 game heading into the fourth quarter.
The teams traded field goals early in the final period, but the Bucs looked to have sealed the win with a 49-yard Doug Martin run that put them deep in Washington territory. But they couldn't punch the ball into the end zone, settling for another field goal and putting the pressure on the defense to hold the six-point advantage.
They were unable to do so, as Cousins marched the Washington offense right down the field, culminating in the dramatic scoring toss to Reed to give them the win.
In a losing effort, Jameis Winston threw for a career-high 297 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while not committing a single turnover. Doug Martin tallied more than 100 yards on the ground for the third straight game, while Mike Evans had his best game of the year so far with 164 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions.
Position Grades for Bucs
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | A |
| RB | A |
| WR | A |
| TE | B |
| OL | B- |
| DL | D |
| LB | D |
| DB | F |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | F |
The Bucs couldn't have asked for a better performance from their offense, as Jameis Winston, Doug Martin and Mike Evans all put up fantastic numbers. Winston and Evans had their best games of the year so far, while Martin topped 100 rushing yards for the third game in a row.
The reserves were impressive on offense, as well. Charles Sims had 66 total yards on 12 touches, while rookie undrafted free agent Donteea Dye made a sweet grab to haul in a touchdown on his first NFL reception.
Despite being incredibly thin at receiver thanks to injuries to Vincent Jackson and Louis Murphy, Winston completed passes to nine different teammates, with four of his completions going to tight ends.
Tampa Bay's offensive line also turned in a solid performance, paving the way for 190 yards rushing—6.3 yards per carry—and only allowing one sack all afternoon.
On defense, it was a completely different story.
Aside from Jacquies Smith's strip-sack that was returned for a touchdown by fellow defensive end Howard Jones, Tampa Bay's defense failed to create a hostile environment for Kirk Cousins, allowing him to carve up the Bucs down the field.
The Bucs did a good job of bottling up the run early and forcing Washington to win the game through the air, but thanks to a lackluster pass rush and a completely inept back seven in coverage, that's exactly what Cousins and company did.
Connor Barth was a bright spot, converting three field-goal attempts and three extra points for the second straight game to remain perfect on the year. He also forced touchbacks on five of his seven kickoffs.
The majority of the blame for this loss falls on the shoulders of Lovie Smith and the Tampa Bay coaching staff. From poor clock management and a plethora of penalties to a turtle-shell approach on defense in the second half, Smith and his crew set the team up to fail down the stretch in this game.
Penalties, Conservative Approach Doom Bucs
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After building up a commanding 24-0 lead in the second quarter, head coach Lovie Smith stuck to his typical conservative philosophy in an attempt to preserve the victory.
But, as is often the case, Tampa Bay's transition to a "prevent" approach would ultimately be their downfall, as Washington's Kirk Cousins picked apart Smith's defense over the final two-and-a-half quarters. Smith showed questionable decision-making and clock management on offense as well, which also played a part in the team's unraveling in the fourth quarter.
Penalties were also a huge part of Tampa Bay's problem on Sunday, as they have been all season long. Already one of the league's most penalized teams so far this year, the Bucs were flagged a season-high 16 times for 142 yards.
Discipline and poor coaching continue to be Tampa Bay's biggest problems, and it starts with Smith and his staff.
Impressive Offensive Performance Wasted in Loss
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The Bucs may have let this game slip away in gut-wrenching fashion, but the offense did nearly everything in its power to come away with the win, turning in an impressive performance on Sunday.
Jameis Winston led the way with the best game of his career, throwing for nearly 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns while not turning the ball over. Doug Martin topped 100 yards rushing again, making him the first Buc to eclipse the century mark for three games in a row since Cadillac Williams in 2005. Mike Evans followed up last year's dominant showing in Washington with another gem this year, posting season-highs in receptions and yards.
Tampa Bay's late collapse will be the story from this game, but the offense proved there's a bright future ahead on that side of the ball.
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Bucs Make Struggling Cousins Look Like a Pro Bowler
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Having thrown multiple interceptions in four of his six starts heading into Sunday's game, Kirk Cousins should have had the Tampa Bay defense licking their chops all day Sunday.
But aside from a sack-fumble that turned into a defensive touchdown, the Bucs let Cousins dissect them all game long. The Michigan State product easily had his best game of the year so far, completing 33 of his 40 passes for 317 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions—though the Bucs dropped at least two would-be picks.
The Bucs stuffed the run for most of the game, forcing Cousins to lead the comeback victory through the air, but that's just what he did. He even added an eight-yard touchdown run, catching Tampa Bay completely off-guard with a read-option keeper.
For yet another week, the Tampa Bay defense turned a favorable quarterback matchup into a passing clinic for their opponent.
QB Jameis Winston on Failing to Finish
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The Bucs blew a 24-0 first-half lead on Sunday, and even though the Tampa Bay offense did their part, rookie quarterback Jameis Winston still took responsibility for his team's inability to finish off Washington, per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com:
"We've just got to finish. We battled and overcame so much adversity, with penalties and stuff like that…we battled. It's just a tough one. We've got to finish. It's my job to get us in the end zone. Doug had been doing his part all day and I've got to put us in the end zone. That's the bottom line.
"
Winston had his best game yet as a pro, but the Tampa Bay offense failed to punch the ball into the end zone on a key drive later in the game, settling for a field goal and giving Washington the opportunity to mount the game-winning drive.
The defense deserves most of the blame for Sunday's outcome, but the few opportunities the offense did miss out on aren't lost on Winston.
Head Coach Lovie Smith on Painful Loss, Final Drive
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Tampa Bay's heartbreaking loss on Sunday marks Lovie Smith's 18th defeat in 22 tries as the Bucs' head coach.
Smith admitted this one was one of the more painful losses he's experienced, while noting his defense's failure to execute in the game's final moments, per Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune:
"All losses really hurt, but you have some that really leave a deep scar and this was definitely one of those. This one hurts about as much as any I can think of. But, it’s supposed to hurt when you finish the way we did.
When you get down close to the goal line, you make them throw a fade. You don’t let them complete the easiest throw. We didn’t get that done today. And that’s normally what it comes down to, how you play at the end. And we had our opportunities. We just weren’t able to close the door.
"
Even after embarrassing blowout losses against the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens last year, this loss ranks pretty high when it comes to the most sickness-inducing of Lovie's young tenure in Tampa Bay. Any momentum the team built up after a big home win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5 has already dissipated.
CB Johnthan Banks on Defense's Failures
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Despite an impressive first-half performance that included a scoop-and-score thanks to a Jacquies Smith sack-fumble, the Bucs defense collapsed in the second half, allowing Kirk Cousins and the Washington offense to mount an historic comeback.
Johnthan Banks knows he and his teammates missed plenty of opportunities and simply didn't do what needed to be done to seal the win, according to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com:
"They made a play, came back, onside kick, got a little momentum, and we didn't get the job done. We didn't stand up like we're supposed to stand up and get a stop, and that changed the whole swing of the game. We have this feeling in our mouth again, and it's bad.
(Cousins) played a good game. We had our chances to make plays and we just didn't make them. I missed one, Chris (Conte) missed one. We had our chances to make plays. They played a good game, but we really missed a lot of plays and they came back and beat us.
"
Banks' return from a two-game absence due to injury was supposed to be a huge boost to the secondary, but the unit surrendered yet another 300-yard passing performance to a quarterback that had previously struggled for much of the season.
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