Pewter Report president Hugh MacArthur, a life-long Bucs follower and NFL fan, offers up his weekly thoughts on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the rest of the league each Tuesday on PewterReport.com in The Dirty Dozen column.

Bucs Lost Their Get-Well Game

Here is baker’s dozen thoughts that crossed my desk this week…

1. So much for the get-well game. Last week I wrote that somebody was going to get a get-well game – and it had better not be Cleveland. Well, Cleveland is feeling considerably better. The Bucs? Not so much.

2. I’m a Baker Mayfield believer. But I also have eyes. Some of Sunday’s throws looked like the Punt, Pass & Kick competition – and I’m not sure Mayfield would have placed. The interception was forced toward Ted Hurst III, who never looked open to me on the play. And while the box score recorded only one interception, my eyes recorded several invitations. Mayfield needs to get this fixed. In a hurry. Like Sunday.

3. Plays are not a plan. There were some very good individual plays in Zac Robinson’s offense. What I couldn’t find was a coherent plan for attacking Cleveland. At times it looked like somebody had scattered the playbook into the wind and called whichever page landed face-up. Down, distance and situation apparently optional. What exactly were we trying to make Cleveland defend?

Bucs OC Zac Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

4. Three targets? Really? Chris Godwin Jr. caught all three balls thrown to him for 46 yards. Emeka Egbuka got five targets, catching three for 16 yards and the Bucs’ only touchdown. Ted Hurst III got seven targets. Cade Otton got six. Godwin and Egbuka were each on the field for 86% of the offensive snaps. I understand that coverage dictates where the ball goes. But your offense ought to dictate something occasionally, too.

5. Seven completions. Six yards. That’s what Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell produced in the passing game. Seven catches for six yards. Impressive efficiency if the objective is completing passes rather than gaining yards. And yes, Baker appeared to have open outlets at times. Unfortunately, many were behind the line of scrimmage with a Brown waiting for them. Checkdowns aren’t much help if there’s nowhere to check down to.

6. Pick a lane. Bucky Irving was averaging 5.2 yards a carry. Tied 16-16, the Bucs had third-and-2 at the Cleveland 13. Instead of giving Irving a shot at the first down, Baker Mayfield threw toward Ted Hurst III in the end zone – and to my eyes nearly got picked. Then on fourth-and-2 they kicked a field goal. That’s the part I don’t get. If you’re conservative enough to take the three on fourth down, why take the lower-percentage shot on third down? Get the two yards. Get a new set of downs. Then go try to score seven and win the game.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

7. This should be almost impossible to lose. Tampa Bay ran for 137 yards at 5.5 yards a carry. Cleveland ran for 44 yards at 1.9. The Bucs led by 10 in the second half and had a kicker who didn’t miss. Those are usually the ingredients for a comfortable home win. Instead: Browns 23, Bucs 19. That’s not one bad bounce. That’s a lot of little failures finding each other.

8. Tackling remains legal. Denzel Boston’s 55-yard touchdown wasn’t some schematic masterpiece. The Bucs got people to the football. They just didn’t get the guy carrying it to the ground. One missed tackle by inside linebacker Alex Anzalone became another and then two Buccaneers collided. Tampa Bay wasn’t short on defenders. The Bucs were short on tacklers.

9. Third down. Third down. Third down. Third down. Cleveland’s winning drive went 68 yards in 12 plays and ate up more than six minutes. The Browns converted four third downs, the last a third-and-2 touchdown pass to Blake Whiteheart, who appeared to have misplaced the nearest Buccaneer. Four chances to get off the field. The Bucs needed one.

10. Two hours and twelve minutes. That’s how long the Bucs had to think about the final two minutes of a home game they had to win. At the two-minute warning, they faced second-and-4 at Cleveland’s 28 with all three timeouts. Presumably Zac Robinson, Baker Mayfield and the offensive staff had enough time to discuss every possible situation short of a lunar eclipse. And that was the plan we came back with? I wasn’t looking for the holding penalty to beat Tampa Bay. I was looking for four or five plays designed to go win the football game. I never saw them.

Bucs – Browns weather alert – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

11. And yet, they still had it. Twice. Baker Mayfield put a difficult touchdown ball on Ted Hurst III in the rain and the rookie couldn’t finish it. Then Emeka Egbuka got a step on fourth down and Mayfield missed him. One was a tough catch an NFL receiver has to make. The other was a throw an NFL quarterback has to make. Make either one and much of this column probably disappears.

12. Player of the game: Chase McLaughlin. Four-for-four – fom 59, 45, 31 and 31 yards. Thirteen of Tampa Bay’s 19 points. I hope McLaughlin skipped the Monday meeting. And I hope everyone else brought a notebook.

13. The parts were better than the whole. Bucky Irving ran well. Chris Godwin Jr. produced when targeted. Chase McLaughlin was perfect. The run defense was excellent. There was enough good football here to beat Cleveland. Yet the offense had no identity, the defense couldn’t close the game with the lead, and after a 132-minute delay, the final two minutes still looked improvised. Players have to execute. Coaches don’t throw, catch or tackle. But somebody has to make the pieces fit. On Sunday, they never did.