Given an opportunity to make a play for the NFC South division lead, the Bucs blew another close game. There were plenty of candidates, but here is what was the most disappointing from the team’s 27-20 loss to the Colts.

Bucs Run Defense

Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. and Colts RB Jonathan Taylor – Photo by: USA Today

The two-man tandem of Zack Moss and Jonathan Taylor were able to combine for 146 yards on 23 carries against a run defense that was supposed to be stout and the strength of the Bucs’ entire team. Both backs were given open lanes to run through drive after drive.

Greg Gaines, Logan Hall, and Calijah Kancey all got moved off the line of scrimmage on multiple occasions, while SirVocea Dennis and Devin White were unable to consistently fill. The result was a Colts run game that converted first down after first down while eating up over 45 minutes of game clock. Missed tackles plagued the the Bucs’ second and third level defenders as well.

LB Devin White

With Lavonte David out due to a groin injury, the Bucs needed White to step up and play like a first round (top-10) linebacker. He didn’t get the memo. White was exploited by Indianapolis throughout the first half, getting launched backwards by Zack Moss in run defense, missing tackles and just plain missing.

White was directly involved in both of the Colts’ first two touchdowns. On Jonathan Taylor’s touchdown run, White met him in the hole before failing to wrap up as Taylor was able to easily surge into the end zone. On the Colts’ next touchdown, White overran quarterback Garnder Minshew, allowing him to waltz in for the score. This is a game to forget within a season to forget for White. He is clearly playing through a lot of pain, but the alternative of the backups is, at this point, probably better than the product White is putting on the field lately.

QB Baker Mayfield

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Mayfield made some big plays on the day. His dime to Godwin on 4th & 10 in the second half was awesome. And no doubt the drops by Palmer and Godwin hurt him and the offense. I’ll concede all of that.

But the bottom line is, he had an ugly interception that led to a Colts touchdown, and he took two bad sacks on drives the Bucs needed touchdowns on. That’s the difference between Mayfield and the quarterback many Bucs fans want the team to find going forward. And it cost the team on Sunday.

NCB Christian Izien

Izien was a part of the poor tackling effort the Bucs defense put out on the day. He missed at least three tackles as the Colts ground game got rolling throughout the game. Izien also got sucked in on a run-pass option while in man coverage on a crucial third down in the first half, letting Michael Pittman Jr. get open for a 24-yard catch and run to extend what became a touchdown drive.

WRs Chris Godwin and Trey Palmer

Palmer is a promising rookie who is so close to having a breakout every week. Well, almost every week. On Sunday, Palmer missed an easy catch on 2nd & 17 that would have gone for a first down into Colts territory for a score to pull the Bucs within a score. Palmer finished the day with just 17 yards on four catches – a 4.25 yards per catch average – but it was the drop that had the biggest impact of the day.

Godwin is not a rookie. He is a veteran receiver making $20 million a year. And on Sunday, he did not play like it. Two drops and catching less than 50% of his targets is not the type of performance the Bucs can afford to sustain from one of their best players when the margins for the team overall are razor thin. Three catches for 45 yards is a disappointing day for the Bucs’ WR2 within the context of those drops.

LT Tristan Wirfs

Wirfs has rarely found himself on this list over the course of his now 3.5 years in the NFL (has he ever been on the “Most Disappointing” list? – If I had an intern, I’d make them check). But here he is. Wirfs allowed two sacks on the day. They were his second and third sacks allowed on the season following the first late in Week 11 against the 49ers after he pulled up lame with an ankle injury.

One has to wonder if that injury is more impactful than we have previously considered. The second sack was the back breaker for the Bucs, with Wirfs allowing Samson Ebukam to get the corner and get a strip-sack of Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield that was recovered by Dayo Odeyingbo. That sack-fumble effectively ended the game.

Bucs Decision Makers

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

Head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Dave Canales must not own clocks. I say this because both seem to forget how a game clock impacts an NFL game, especially for the team that is trailing.

Down 27-20 with 3:17 left in the game, the Colts ran Jonathan Taylor for 12 yards on 3rd & 23. The Bucs could have called timeout and stopped the clock with over three minutes remaining in the game. Perhaps if they had, they wouldn’t have felt the need to rush a play on 2nd & 3 following the ensuing punt and pass from Mayfield to Palmer in order to get one off before the two-minute warning.

Of course, they did rush that play and were hit with an illegal motion penalty, taking 2nd & 3 to 2nd & 8 coming out of the break.

Now here’s the kicker. If the Bucs were so concerned about getting more plays in on the drive, WHY IN THE WORLD DO THEY THEN CALL A RUN ON 2ND & EIGHT RIGHT AFTER THAT TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!???? It makes no sense and left them in the 3rd & 4 situation where they would ultimately cough up the turnover to basically end the game. Time management has lost this Bucs team at least two games this year and probably more. I just can’t.