The Bucs emerged victorious in Week 13, shutting out the Falcons in the second half for a 30-17 victory. Tampa Bay improved to 9-3 with a stranglehold on the NFC South. But the margin of error should have been even greater, if not for Tampa Bay’s mismanagement of the first half’s final moments.

With 44 seconds left in the half, the Bucs took over at their own 7-yard line with two timeouts, leading 20-10. On first down, Tom Brady threw a quick screen to Chris Godwin for a half-yard gain. The Bucs then let 17 seconds run off the clock, snapping the ball on second-and-9 with 27 seconds until halftime. Under the shadow of their own goalposts at the 8-yard line, it seemed like a no-brainer to run out the clock after that.

Instead, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich went back to the air. With the Bucs trying to hit a designed screen to running back Leonard Fournette, defensive tackle Marlon Davidson peeled off of his pass rush to pick-six Brady.

No question about it, this is an unbelievable play by Davidson. The mental processing to recognize this play and undercut the route, from a defensive tackle, is incredible. But while the result of the play may have been unlikely, the process was still bad by Leftwich. Even if the play hits for a decent gain, there would be almost no time on the clock to make anything else happen. And if the Bucs were going to be aggressive, why not use a timeout after the first down play?

“Poor call,” Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said after the game. “Poor call, poor execution.”

The mistake put the Bucs in a precarious spot, up just 20-17 at halftime. Thankfully, Tampa Bay rose up in the second half to shut out Atlanta. But against a better team, the play-calling error could have been costly.

In Week 14, the Bucs are back home against the visiting Buffalo Bills.