Despite Heartbreaking Week 7 Loss, Buccaneers Still Show Plenty of Bright Spots

Just when you thought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had found every way to lose in the Lovie Smith era, they defied the odds by blowing a 24-0 lead and allowed the Washington Redskins to mount the largest comeback in their 84-year history on Sunday.

But despite the historic collapse—Washington won 31-30 on a touchdown pass with 24 seconds left—Bucs fans do indeed have a few silver linings with which to dry their tears as they look ahead to the rest of the 2015 season and beyond.

Winston’s Progress

Tampa Bay’s heartbreaking loss came in spite of a career-best day for rookie quarterback Jameis Winston, who made big throws all game long and avoided any costly mistakes.

Winston completed 21 of his 29 passes for 297 yards and a pair of touchdowns while not committing a single turnover. He did fumble on an attempted scramble, but he fought back to the loose ball and recovered it himself.

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After throwing four interceptions in a Week 4 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Winston has now gone two straight games without turning the ball over. This is an encouraging sign as the No. 1 overall draft pick is proving his ability to bounce back from a poor performance, learn from his mistakes and put his team in position to win in consecutive games.

Sunday’s performance by Winston was even more impressive considering how thin the Bucs were at receiver. Thanks to in-game injuries to Vincent Jackson and Louis Murphy, Winston spent a large portion of the game with Mike Evans and rookie undrafted free agent Donteea Dye as the only healthy, active receivers available. Even so, Winston was able to distribute the ball all over the place, completing passes to nine different teammates.

Despite taking plenty of criticism in the wake of his Week 4 outing and a season-opening struggle against fellow top rookie Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans, Winston has leveled out to put up some solid numbers so far this year. Through his first six career starts, Winston is averaging nearly 250 passing yards per game and is just shy of completing 60 percent of his passes. He’s accounted for 10 touchdowns and eight turnovers while compiling a QB rating of 85.7.

“Dougernaut” Continues to Dominate

Easily the most outstanding offensive player in Tampa Bay so far this year, Martin has returned to his rookie year form, showing the same toughness and explosion that helped earn him a Pro Bowl berth in 2012.

With another 100-yard game on the ground on Sunday, Martin became the first Buccaneer since Cadillac Williams in 2005 to eclipse the century mark in rushing yards in three straight games.

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Over those three games, Martin has racked up 472 total yards on 74 touches, averaging 6.37 yards every time he gets the ball and finding the end zone four times. Martin’s 541 rushing yards so far this season trail only Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman, who has played one more game than Martin and tallied 621 yards on the ground.

After being held back over the past two seasons by multiple injuries, Martin’s fifth-year option for 2016 was understandably not picked up by the Bucs this offseason. But with his performance so far this year, the former first-round pick is making it clear he’s worth bringing back on a second contract.

Offensive Line Quietly Exceeding Expectations

Other than a lackluster pass rush, the biggest issue Bucs fans expected to see was a shaky offensive line, as the team continued to overhaul a unit that struggled mightily in 2014.

But despite having two rookie starters and two veteran newcomers thrust into the lineup, Tampa Bay’s performance up front has been pleasantly surprising, and it’s getting better each week.

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The Bucs currently rank fourth in the NFL in rushing, averaging 133.7 yards per game on the ground and 4.4 yards per carry. They’re also getting better in pass protection, having allowed just five sacks over the last four games after giving up seven in the first two weeks of the season.

Tampa Bay knew there would be growing pains with rookie Donovan Smith starting from Day 1 at left tackle and fellow second-round pick Ali Marpet doing the same at right guard. But thanks to injuries to returning starters Evan Smith and Demar Dotson, late additions in Joe Hawley and Gosder Cherilus have had to fill holes at center and right tackle, respectively.

This unit took plenty of grief last year, and with good reason. But after a rocky start to the 2015 season, things are starting to come together and should only keep improving as the year moves along.

Evans Finally Arrives

After an incredible rookie season that saw him top 1,000 yards and set a new single-season franchise record with 12 touchdown catches, expectations were sky-high for Mike Evans heading into his sophomore campaign.

But a preseason hamstring injury lingered into the beginning of the regular season, forcing him to miss Week 1 and relegating him to decoy work in Week 2, leaving him without a single reception through the first two games of the year.

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Evans did top 100 yards in Week 3 against the Houston Texans, but the rust was clearly evident, as he had multiple drops that cost the Bucs in key moments. Over the next two weeks, Evans would only catch a total of six passes for 73 yards and no touchdowns.

But against the team he destroyed last year, Evans had another coming-out party in Washington on Sunday. His first catch was a 40-yard touchdown on Tampa Bay’s third offensive snap of the game, and there was plenty more where that came from throughout the afternoon. Evans finished the day with 164 yards on eight catches, despite the Bucs losing Vincent Jackson and Louis Murphy to injury earlier in the game.

Both Winston and Evans seem to be hitting their stride and developing a strong chemistry, one they hope will last for years in Tampa Bay and help lead the team back into playoff contention.

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.

*All stats courtesy of NFL.com