It’s time for Scott Reynolds’ 2-Point Conversion post-game column, which features two big statements, two probing questions and two bold predictions. The Bucs fell to 3-5 on the season after losing to the Baltimore Ravens, 27-22, on Thursday Night Football. Tampa Bay has now lost three straight games and five of its last six games, yet is still in play to be leading the NFC South after Week 8.

The Bucs lost in familiar fashion, with few points and several stalled drives on offense, followed by a defense that surrendered over 200 yards rushing in the second half and allowed 24 second-half points. After the game, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles indicated that changes could happen to the coaching staff this weekend.

2 BIG STATEMENTS

STATEMENT 1: Leftwich Must Be Replaced

The Bucs defense was its usual mess in the second half: missing tackles, getting blown out of gaps, giving up big chunks of yardage on the ground. But there is a reason why that happened.

An effective running game is designed to wear down a defense, and the Ravens’ ground game, which is elite, did just that. After spending the first half trying to attack the Bucs’ perceived weakness – a wounded secondary that was missing four starters – Baltimore shifted gears and just played to its strength, which was a dominant rushing attack.

Bucs OC Byron Leftwich – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles’ game plan worked in the first half. His defense blitzed Lamar Jackson repeatedly, sacked him twice, and limited him to one yard rushing on two carries. The Ravens threw the ball 30 times in the first half, ran the ball seven times for just 27 yards and had just three points to show for it.

Then, Ravens play-caller Greg Roman made a big adjustment. Instead of trying to attack the Bucs’ weakness, he shifted gears and just played to the Ravens’ strength – running the football. Jackson threw just eight passes in the second half and Baltimore ran the ball 26 times for 204 yards, scoring 24 points in the final 30 minutes of its 27-22 win.

That brings us to Bucs offensive play-caller Byron Leftwich and his failure – once again – to adjust. Surprisingly, Tampa Bay started the game hot – scoring a touchdown on its opening drive and a field goal on its second drive.

The Bucs’ first drive had everything that was missing this season. A change at left guard (and some steady play) with Nick Leverett. A big, explosive play on a 44-yard catch-and-run by Chris Godwin. A 5-yard run by Leonard Fournette on third-and-1 out of … a three-receiver set – instead of a three-tight end set, which created a lighter, more favorable box to run against. And an opening drive touchdown.

But after that drive, the Bucs’ red zone woes surfaced once again, and Tampa Bay could muster up only 10 points in the first half. The offense went five straight possessions in the second and third quarters with five punts, totaling just 19 plays.

Nineteen plays, 64 yards.

While Roman adjusted and his offense started getting back to its identity, Leftwich’s offense totaled just 64 yards in 19 plays, punted five times and scored zero points.

Meanwhile, the Ravens had an 11:24 to 3:36 time of possession advantage in the second quarter and an 11:45 to 3:15 time of possession advantage in the third quarter during the ineptitude of the Bucs offense. Like it or not – that wore down the Bucs defense.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Now, Bowles’ defense could have gotten off the field with a third down stop to force a punt – or even a takeaway. But the Bucs defense has now gone four games without a takeaway, which is shockingly bad.

Without help from the offense, the defense just wore down at the end – losing the time of possession 38:23 to 21:37. That’s roughly 17 minutes more of possession time – an entire quarter of football.

Leftwich’s offense didn’t score and couldn’t sustain drives long enough for the Bucs defense to catch its breath and rest. The same problems that have plagued the offense since the preseason – scoring, red zone, third downs and short yardage – reared their ugly head once again on Thursday night.

It’s time for Leftwich to go. Who replaces Leftwich is up to Bowles, of course. With so many Bruce Arians disciples on the staff, if Bowles wants a newer, fresher approach on offense, his wild card selection could be assistant wide receivers coach Thad Lewis. I’ve written about him as a possibility before.

Lewis, who joined the team in 2020 as a coaching intern, made a strong, favorable impression on Arians, who told Pewter Report in 2021: “He’s a former quarterback. He’s extremely bright. Last year, I used to make him give me game plans. What would his game plan be? It would be spot on every week. There will be a time very, very soon where he’s calling plays in this league.”

Lewis is a former Duke quarterback who bounced around the league as a backup QB from 2010-2017. He joined Chip Kelly’s staff at UCLA from 2018-19 as an offensive assistant before his internship with the Bucs in 2020 that led to his full-time role in Tampa Bay in 2021.

“We’re going to talk about everything this weekend,” Bowles said after the game. “When you’re not playing well everything is on the table for us, and we’ll discuss that as a staff.”

With the weekend off after a Thursday night game we should learn about Leftwich’s fate soon.

STATEMENT 2: White Must Be Benched

Bucs inside linebacker Devin White is not the problem on defense. But he’s certainly one of them.

Thursday night’s stat sheet will reveal that White made 10 tackles. But how many tackles did he miss? How many yards did White give up over-running the play and losing gap integrity by being undisciplined? How many blocks did White fail to shed?

White fans – and probably White himself – will call me a “hater” for sure. But take off your “Get Live 45!” t-shirt and take off your No. 45 jersey and look at the film.

It’s embarrassingly bad – on a weekly basis now. See for yourself from last night’s game, as Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo illustrates. Click the video to watch it on YouTube.

Offensive coordinators and quarterbacks can easily manipulate White in coverage with play-action and counters. He guesses too often – and will often guess wrong.

White losing running back Kenyon Drake on a 5-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to key the Ravens’ comeback is just another example. We saw a similar play with Najee Harris’ 6-yard touchdown catch at Pittsburgh when White just forgot to cover him.

His lack of effort in getting off blocks. The loafing. White doesn’t deserve to have a “C” on his chest. Not right now.

The worst thing that could have happened to White was making the Pro Bowl last year. If White deserved a Pro Bowl appearance, it was after the 2020 season when he was a big-time playmaker during the Bucs’ Super Bowl run. He had a worse season in 2021 and was exposed down the stretch when Lavonte David, who erased a lot of White’s mistakes on the field, was out with a foot injury.

White had a great game against Dallas in Week 1 this year and a good game at New Orleans the next week. He was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month after just three games in September. That turned out to be another negative because White was terrible against Green Bay in a 14-12 loss in Week 3, and the accolades just reinforced his bad on-field behavior.

Bucs ILB Devin White and Ravens RB Gus Edwards – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

White wasn’t even the best player on his own defense in September. That was defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr.

White believes his own hype and doesn’t own his own film. He doesn’t deserve to be a captain because he doesn’t lead by example.

Or maybe White is leading by example – because his fellow Bucs defenders are starting to miss tackles too, and blow their assignments at a startling rate in the second halves of the last three games.

White needs to be humbled. It would honestly be the best thing for him and his career – which might end in Tampa Bay after his fifth-year option next year if his play doesn’t get remarkably smarter and better.

If I’m Todd Bowles, I’d start Olakunle Fatukasi, who led the Bucs in preseason tackles. He’s not the athlete that White is, nor does he have the experience. But he just might be a smarter, more disciplined player. That’s exactly what the Bucs defense needs right now.

And maybe it forces White to look himself in the mirror and get better. Maybe White returns to the starting lineup a changed man later in the season as a result.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: How Bad Was Brady’s Play vs. The Ravens?

Tom Brady isn’t what’s wrong with the Bucs offense right now. But he isn’t what’s right about it, either.

Brady had his worst game of the season against the Ravens, presiding over five straight possessions that netted 64 yards and scored just 10 points heading into the fourth quarter. Brady took sacks he shouldn’t have. He had three passes that should’ve been picked off that were dropped. Brady could’ve easily thrown two interceptions last week at Carolina, but they too were dropped by the defense.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

He was 26-of-44 (59%) for 325 yards and one touchdown. Sure, Brady had some drops to go along with a couple of highlight-worthy throws. But he also had some bad misfires, missing tight end Kyle Rudolph and receiver Mike Evans in the end zone for easy touchdowns – among other poor passes.

Over his career, Brady has had a knack of elevating the play of others around him and making pedestrian receivers look serviceable and making good receivers look great at times. He’s done that in the past with the likes of Scotty Miller, Breshad Perriman and Cyril Grayson in Tampa Bay.

It’s just not happening this year. Brady doesn’t want to get hit. That’s apparent. He’s 45 years old – not 35 – and I can’t blame him.

That’s why there are a ridiculous number of quick receiver screens, and why he will throw the ball in the dirt or at a receiver’s feet if covered. Brady doesn’t want to hang in the pocket and take a hit that is sometimes necessary to allow downfield routes to develop.

He rarely takes the time to scan the field and find the third or fourth option that may be open. Brady doesn’t trust his protection up front. It’s hard to blame him. I’m not sure what the answer is here. If Brady gets hit too often and hurt, that’s not going to help the struggling Bucs offense, either.

But at some point, Brady has to take some of the blame for the offense not executing near its full potential. After the loss to the Ravens, it needs to be said.

Brady, who is dealing with some heavy off-field distractions, certainly isn’t playing great football right now. And the Bucs need his greatness now more than ever.

QUESTION 2: How Active Will Licht Be At The Trade Deadline?

The Bucs are in a precarious situation right now at 3-5. They are a bad football team with a lot of problems. Yet, the way the NFC South is shaping up, the winner of the division could be a team with an 8-9 record. That’s happened before.

The 2010 Seahawks won the NFC West with a 7-9 record. The 2014 Panthers won the NFC South with a 7-8-1 record.

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Of course, winning the division in the NFL means an automatic home playoff game. That’s a ridiculously bad concept by the league, as usually they host a 10-win football team in the playoffs, but that’s a conversation for another day.

The real question that general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles must answer is can this team legitimately get to even eight wins? That’s going 5-4 down the stretch against the likes of the Rams (3-3), Seahawks (4-3), Browns (2-5), Saints (2-5), 49ers (3-4), Bengals (4-3), Cardinals (3-4), Panthers (2-5) and Falcons (3-4).

A quick look at the records of those teams shows only two teams with winning records. That’s tempting for Licht and Bowles to believe they have a shot at this thing – especially with Tom Brady. The Bucs and Falcons were both atop the division at 3-4 heading into Week 8.

But after losing to a pair of one-win teams at Pittsburgh and at Carolina, do you trust this team to win against any of their opponents down the stretch? More importantly, do Licht and Bowles trust this team?

Do they have enough horses without playmaking safety Logan Ryan, who had surgery to repair a broken foot, and outside linebacker Shaq Barrett, who is likely done for the season with an Achilles injury? And how long will playmaking defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr. be out with a concussion?

Because of the shakiness of the division – and the NFC as a whole – I think Licht and Bowles have to believe it can get turned around and the Bucs can still make the playoffs at 8-9 (or slightly better if they can get their act together). This is their last shot with Brady to do so – and anything can happen in the playoffs, especially with him at the helm.

But if they fall short, they’ll regret not trading away some players – perhaps underperforming middle linebacker Devin White – now by the time the end of the season rolls around, and they’ll wish they had gone into fire sale mode at the trade deadline to have more assets to rebuild in 2023.

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1: White Will Supplant Fournette As Starting RB At Some Point

The future starting running back of the Bucs will be Rachaad White, who averaged 4.8 yards per carry (four carries for 19 yards) and had a 20-yard catch-and-run on Thursday night. The rookie is coming into his own and starting to play as well as – if not outplay – starter Leonard Fournette.

It’s only a matter of time before that happens. And the sooner the better. White’s confidence grows with each carry and catch. But he only had seven touches in Thursday night’s game. One of White’s best plays was a special teams tackle in the first half, showing heart and hustle and a team-first attitude.

PREDICTION 2: Bucs Likely Won’t Be Active At The Trade Deadline

The NFL trade deadline is next Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 4:00 p.m. ET. It’s hard to imagine the Bucs giving up draft capital for next year to acquire players that may or may not help the team win enough games to make the playoffs this year.

Yet, one move that could be made – or should be made – is looking at Denver edge rusher Bradley Chubb now that Shaq Barrett might be out for the year with a torn Achilles. Chubb has 5.5 sacks and is in a contract year. The former first-rounder is having a good bounce-back season after having ankle surgery last year after seven games, and missing all but four games of the 2019 season with a torn ACL. As a rookie in 2018, Chubb had 12 sacks, and had 7.5 sacks in 14 games in 2020.

It would cost a second- and third-round pick to trade for Chubb, and the Bucs would have to invest a massive amount of money in Chubb in 2023. They already have Barrett on the books next year for a $21.65 million cap value, according to OverTheCap.com, and the Bucs have a first-round pick invested in Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. It’s unlikely they make a trade for that reason.