While it wasn’t perfect, the Bucs toppled the Panthers by a score of 31-17 to get their first win of the Tom Brady era. And with a solid win where both sides of the ball played well at times, trying to find disappointing players for the list this week wasn’t an easy task. Here are the players we came up with that could have played better in the win, but fortunately their blunders didn’t cause Tampa Bay to fall to Carolina.
WR Cyril Grayson
Grayson had an opportunity to turn his first career pass from Brady into a touchdown, but instead was unable to get his hands on the ball that instead literally bounced off his helmet. Head coach Bruce Arians said after the game the wind was affecting passes, but regardless, Grayson’s blooper-reel, non-catch will live on this week – and beyond – on social media. That play was Grayson’s only target on the day.
RB LeSean McCoy
McCoy was a big part of the game plan early with a solid first quarter, but ended the day with two dropped passes that hurt the Buccaneers, including dropping what might have been the best pass of Brady’s young Bucs’ career. McCoy ended up with five receptions for 26 yards.
WR Scotty Miller
With Chris Godwin out, Miller was expected to take on a bigger role in the Bucs’ offense on Sunday. And while Miller did see the field more than he has previously in his career, it wasn’t a very exciting or productive day with just two receptions for 11 yards. Miller’s highlight was actually a lowlight, as he dropped a first half Brady pass in the end zone that would have been a touchdown.
DT Vita Vea
Todd Bowles said last week his interior defensive linemen were doing exactly what the scheme is asking them to do, but even if that is the case, the overall No. 12 draft pick in 2018 should have more than one tackle-for-loss. Vea was a non-factor on Sunday, at least from first glance without benefit of game film, and actually split time with undrafted tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches. To hurt Vea’s case even more was fellow defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh notching five tackles, including two sacks.
RB Ronald Jones II
Jones had a first quarter touchdown run where he made a nice play, stiff-arming a Panther defender on the way to the end zone. But other than that, he was basically held in check. Jones also a fumbled handoff exchange with quarterback Tom Brady with the Bucs driving in the first half. For the afternoon Jones had 23 yards on seven carries for just a 3.3 average.