The Bucs moved to 2-5 on Sunday following a their 27-23 loss at the hands of Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Tampa Bay failed to find the end zone on two separate occasions, despite getting down inside the Tennessee five-yard line, and turnovers allowed Tennessee to start two drives inside of the Bucs’ 10-yard line.
These are the most disappointing performances from Sunday’s game.
CB Carlton Davis
At times Davis played well in coverage on Sunday but his tendency to draw flags that result in first downs overshadows the positive plays he makes. With Tennessee driving in the third quarter Davis was able to come up with two pass breakups and two interceptions, but both of the interceptions were wiped out due to pass interference penalties, resulted in first downs, and eventually three points, for the Titans. His worst place of the game was poor technique on the Titans go-ahead touchdown when with help to the inside Davis still bit on an inside plant then dropped off and didn’t use the boundary to his advantage. These are the plays head coach Bruce Arians was furious about following the game.
Offensive coaching staff
Despite having two weeks to prepare for their game against the Tennessee Titans, the Bucs offense looked disjointed at times, unless Jameis Winston was throwing the ball to Mike Evans.
Tampa Bay had two chances to put up touchdowns after getting the ball inside the Tennessee five-yard line but settled for two field goals. One of the attempts also resulted in a wasted timeout after the offense risked a delay of game penalty.
As far as play calling, preperation and execution? There was a collision between Dare Ogunbowale and Breshad Perriman on a third-and-goal play due to a mistimed motion, Tanner Hudson was targeted on a jump ball at the goal line despite zero career receptions, the Bucs opted not to go for it on fourth-and-1 in Tennessee territory despite having the momentum and a six-point lead and were stopped on a fourth-and-1 run play up the middle by Barber with the game on the line.
And to top things off, the Buccaneers failed to target wide receiver Mike Evans at all in the fourth quarter despite Evans having a career game through three quarters.
C Ryan Jensen
Early in the first quarter, with Jameis Winston working out of the shotgun, Jensen sent a snap back to his quarterback before Winston was ready for it. The play resulted in a fumble and a turnover, giving Tennessee the ball inside the Tampa Bay 10-yard line before a touchdown pass to tight end Jonnu Smith put the Titans ahead 7-3 early.
OG Earl Watford
Bruce Arians commended Watford’s play after he took over at right guard in Week 6 for the injured Alex Cappa, but conceded that he wished the offensive lineman could have played better in the run game. Watford once again struggled to block for the ground game on Sunday and was flagged for a false start penalty and a holding penalty that moved the Bucs’ offense in the wrong direction.
OT Donovan Smith
With Tampa Bay trailing by four late in the fourth quarter the Bucs took over with a chance to respond and take the lead back from Tennessee. On the second play of the drive Smith was beat on the outside by Isaiah Smith who was able to knock the ball loose while Winston was in his throwing motion. Smith then recovered the fumble and Tennessee took over with 9:03 remaining.