Despite scoring 32 points in Buffalo, the Bucs had large swaths of embarrassing play in week 11 as they lost 44-32 to the Bills.

Coaching, special teams and the defense were largely to blame. And they are the focus of today’s Most Disappointing list.

CB Benjamin Morrison

Morrison was pressed into extended snaps with a hip injury to Jamel Dean taking him out of the game. In his stead, Morrison was tested early and often. In the second quarter, Allen caught him peeking in the backfield on a quarters look where he got turned into the middle of the field. After Allen danced around in the backfield, receiver Tyrell Shavers found a seam behind Morrison down the left sideline. Allen saw him and laid out a beautiful 43-yard drop into his arms for a touchdown to put the Bills out in front 14-10.

Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison and Bills WR Tyrell Shavers – Photo by: USA Today

The Bills would continue to target Morrison for the rest of the game, securing several catches with Morrison as the closest defender and forcing him into a holding call during the two-minute drive in the first half (that call was declined in favor of a roughing the passer call against Logan Hall).

Later that same drive, Morrison would get locked up on a perimeter block that sprung Ty Johnson for a 52-yard screen pass that went for a touchdown. Morrison finished the game with four tackles, a coverage bust and a run fit bust.

Bucs Kickoff Return Unit

Just promoted from the practice squad, longtime receiver/returner Mecole Hardman wasted no time in ingratiating himself with the Bills Mafia faithful. His first opportunity to return a kick in Buffalo and he made the most of it. Hardman found a seam and got to the left sideline pushing the ball 61 yards forward into Bucs territory setting up their offense with advantageous field position. That kickoff would set up a Bills touchdown that put Buffalo ahead 7-3 in the first quarter.

The kickoff coverage would again hurt the Bucs in the second quarter. After Sean Tucker put Tampa Bay up 17-14 with a 43-yard touchdown run, Ray Davis took the ensuing kickoff 44 yards for to just about midfield. Davis found not one, but two different pockets to exploit on his return setting up the Bills offense in great field position.

Things didn’t get better in the second half. The Bucs’ kickoff coming out of halftime failed to cover the left sideline and Davis got another 41 yards to kick off the third quarter. He followed that up with a 44-yarder after the Bucs took a 26-21 lead midway through the 3rd quarter. In all the Bucs kick coverage team gave up over 234 yards and consistently put their defense in terrible positions throughout the game.

HC Todd Bowles

Bowles has won quite a few matchups this year with creative blitz and pressure calls that bring defensive backs in as pass rushers. He won the first two plays of the game on defense doing just that. But when he brings those defensive backs into the pass rush, he often has to ask pass rushers to drop into coverage. The idea isn’t for the pass rushers to hold up in coverage. The idea is that their jerseys flash in specific zones to hold the pass just a fraction of a second longer for the pressure to hit quickly.

After those first two plays, that stopped happening. And Josh Allen and the Bills made the Bucs pay over and over for it. Allen found Tyrell Shavers for a 43-yard touchdown after Shavers shook Yaya Diaby on the scramble drill. Anthony Nelson got caught in coverage against James Cook for a big gain.

On almost every big gain the Bills found in the pass game, you could find a defensive lineman out in coverage. This isn’t to say that he shouldn’t use this strategy going forward. But at a certain point in this game, Bowles had to change up his strategy as the Bills were making him pay for it. And he didn’t.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

On top of the defensive performance that yielded over 40 points and 400 yards of offense for the Bills, Bowles cowered in two critical fourth down situations that could have been the difference in the game. With 1:17 left in the 2nd quarter, and leading 17-14, the Bucs were driving after Dennis’ interception. On 4th-and-5 at the Buffalo 43, Bowles opted to punt instead of going for it. His offense had been playing well in the game and a conversion there could have led to points.

But instead, he opted to play the field position game. The Bills would score a touchdown on the ensuing drive to take a lead that would hold through the half.

Later in the game, the Bucs faced a 4th-and-2 at their own 39 down 37-32. The offense had been playing largely well, having scored on two of their previous three drives. But Bowles once again opted for the conservative play, punting the ball back to a Buffalo offense that had scored on four of their previous five drives – including three touchdowns. The defense, predictably, gave up a touchdown and almost five minutes of game clock, effectively ending the game.

Bowles has to trust his offense. He has to trust his defense. Punts on each of those plays shows implicitly that he trusted neither today.

Bucs Pass Rush

Take out the two creative pass rushes to open the game and the Bucs generated pressure on Josh Allen just a handful of other times. It’s near impossible to track individual pressures live, but I’d be surprised if any defensive lineman or outside linebacker registered more than two pressures on Allen in this game. And I’d be equally surprised if Allen’s overall pressure rate was more than 25%. More importantly, they failed to bring down Allen for a single sack.

Bills QB Josh Allen – Photo by: USA Today

This team sorely needs Haason Reddick back.

CB Zyon McCollum

McCollum had two poor moments on the Bills’ first touchdown drive of the game. He was in position to make a play on the ball when Buffalo went for it on 4th and 4 at the Bucs 30. Bills quarterback Josh Allen was able to find receiver Gabe Davis late in his progression for a 7-yard gain and a first down. Had McCollum broken up the pass, he could have stopped the Bills offense dead in their tracks and prevented a score.

Down at the goal line, Allen went to Davis again on a quick slant from the Bucs’ 2-yard line. The pass fell incomplete, but only because Davis dropped the pass. McCollum gave up the inside leverage immediately and made the play an easy look for Allen.

McCollum would get punished later in the game on a crucial 3rd down in the 4th quarter. He wasn’t in the same zip code as Curtis Samuel who nearly gifted the Bucs a failed drive by bobbling a pass on the right sideline. With McCollum nowhere near him, he couldn’t impact the second reaction from Samuel who was able to field his own bobble and get two feet in to convert the first down.

McCollum finished the game with six tackles and zero pass breakups.

Inability To Capitalize On Turnovers

The Bucs defense was playing high variance football today. That variance included the highest of highs, securing not one, but two Josh Allen interceptions. One of those interceptions was a Jacob Parrish pick inside the Buffalo 10-yard line. Tampa Bay would fail to punch the ball into the end zone, instead settling for a field goal to open the game’s scoring.

Late in the second quarter, SirVocea Dennis would lock up a Tykee Smith pass deflection on 4th down to force another turnover. The Bucs would gain a first down but no more, stalling at the Bills’ 43-yard line and punting the ball back to Buffalo.

Two turnovers. Three points. That hurts.