This was not the way Tampa Bay wanted to come out of the bye week. The Bucs suffered an embarrassing, 29-19 loss at Washington to fall to 6-3 on the season. The Bucs lost the turnover battle (2-1) and the time of possession (39:08 to 20:52), and the battle on third down (57.9 percent to 40 percent) and were thoroughly outplayed by a Washington Football Team that entered the day with a 2-6 record.

Here were the most impressive Buccaneers in the loss at Washington:

ILBs Devin White and Lavonte David

It wasn’t a pretty performance by White and David by any means, as both Bucs’ inside linebackers missed some tackles and were not in their correct run fits at times. But White did lead the team with a career-high 18 tackles and came up with two big sacks on interior blitzes. On a defense that lacked energy, passion and productivity, at least White filled up the stat sheet and brought some energy. White didn’t have any sacks in the first eight games, but finally got home on Sunday in Washington. It was White’s most productive game of the season, which was an encouraging sign for a player that disappointed in the first half of the season.

David also had a productive game with 14 tackles, which was a season high and the most he’s had in any game since 2017. Additionally, he had a key forced fumble, which was recovered by safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. in the fourth quarter.

Yet the high tackle totals of White and David were more of a function of the defensive line letting running back Antonio Gibson break free to the second level too many times. And also the result of the Bucs defense allowing Washington to convert 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) of third downs on Sunday and stay on the field too long. There is a difference between making tackles and making plays. David and White made a lot of tackles on Sunday, but not enough plays to get the Bucs defense off the field.

WR Mike Evans

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

Evans faced double coverage through most of the game courtesy of a safety over the top, and was limited to just one catch for 22 yards in the first half. But Evans was tackled by his facemask on that play, which set the Bucs up in field goal range. Tampa Bay pulled to within 16-6 at halftime as a result.

In the fourth quarter Evans found a rare case of single man coverage and took advantage of it. He discarded cornerback Kendall Fuller at the line of scrimmage and caught a beautiful pass from Tom Brady and raced 40 yards for a touchdown that kept the Bucs in it and made the score 23-19 in the fourth quarter.

Evans was only targeted three times on Sunday, largely due to the double coverage he faced. Brady too often checked the ball down to Leonard Fournette, who was targeted nine times, instead of giving his receivers like Evans the chance to get open downfield by hanging in the pocket.

Safeties Antoine Winfield, Jr. and Jordan Whitehead

The safety tandem of Winfield and Whitehead had their moments, especially in the run game. Winfield had 11 tackles at Washington, including two tackles for loss. He also had a timely fumble recovery in the fourth quarter. Whitehead had nine tackles, including a nice tackle for loss playing in the box. Yet he had a chance for an interception, but couldn’t hall it in.

Like White and David, the 20 combined tackles by both safeties were a product of the defense not being able to get off the field more than anything. Still, at first glance it looked like Winfield and Whitehead were sound in coverage and didn’t have noticeable gaffes. The Bucs could have used a couple of more Whiteheads and Winfields on defense on Sunday.

OLBs Anthony Nelson and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka

Nelson recorded the third sack of his career by dropping Taylor Heinicke in the first quarter. His second career sack happened at Washington in last year’s playoff game, so he obviously likes to play in the nation’s capital. Despite his athletic limitations, Nelson finished with four tackles, which was the most of any Tampa Bay player along the defensive line.

Tryon-Shoyinka got his third quarterback sack of the season when he dropped Taylor Heinicke for a 2-yard loss in the first quarter. Tryon-Shoyinka now has three sacks on the season, which is half a sack more than starter Jason Pierre-Paul in very limited playing time. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles spent too much time dropping him into coverage, though, as he finished with just one tackle.

On a day when starting outside linebackers Shaquil Barrett (zero tackles) and Pierre-Paul (one tackle) were largely invisible despite playing against above average offensive tackles, the Bucs’ backup edge rushers played better. Barrett and JPP were terribly ineffective at Washington.