The Bucs managed to score 17 points in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Falcons, only to see the game turn on its head in the second half once the backups entered. Tampa Bay ultimately lost 30-17, closing the regular season with an 8-9 record. Here are the most disappointing players from the Bucs’ Week 18 matchup against the Falcons.

Bucs Run Defense

Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier – Photo by: USA Today

The Falcons were successful in establishing their run game. led by rookie Tyler Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson. On the second drive, they were able to rattle off five runs for 48 yards, including back-to-back explosive runs of 17 and 16 yards. The rushing attack allowed the Falcons to get deep into the Bucs territory for an eventual touchdown on rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder’s first passing touchdown of his career.

Falcons running backs were able to take advantage of large holes their offensive line was able to create against the Bucs defensive line to the tune of 35 carries for 174 yards and a 5.0 yards per carry average.

Chris Godwin

Despite acting as the engine that drove the Bucs offense early in the game, Godwin had a fumble on the offense’s third drive of the game that the Falcons recovered in Tampa Bay territory. Godwin finished the game with six catches on seven targets for 55 yards, coming three catches short of setting a franchise record. The fumble, though, was his second in the last two weeks.

Luke Goedeke

Goedeke had a critical penalty on the Bucs’ fourth drive of the game. Trailing 10-7 on the Falcons 14 yard-line, head coach Todd Bowles decided to let the offense try to convert the first down. Running back Gio Bernard was able to cut upfield on a toss right and easily get the yard to gain, but Goedeke was called for a holding penalty that negated the play and backed the Bucs up to 4th & 11. They would opt for a field goal at that point to tie the game rather than the possibility of going ahead with a touchdown if Goedeke had not committed the penalty.

Bucs Backup Defense

The Bucs’ backups were almost all in by the second half due to injury or injury prevention. The results weren’t pretty. The Falcons scored 20 points in the second half as the pass rush had trouble getting pressure on Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder and the secondary allowed rookie wide receiver Drake London and company to torch them. Ridder’s final line on the game was 19-of-30 for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Those two touchdowns were his first two of his career, despite this being his fourth game. London had six catches on eight targets for 120 yards.