Each week following every Bucs game, Pewter Report will take a close look at the snap count distribution for Tampa Bay on offense and defense. We’ll assess what we can learn from who played the most and least in the game.

Let’s get a closer look at the Bucs players who received the highest and lowest number of snaps in the team’s choke job of a 29-28, last-second loss to the Falcons, as Tampa Bay squandered a great performance by Mike Evans and the Bucs lost their grip at the top of the NFC South division with three games remaining.

Bucs Offense

Considering that the Bucs were playing on a short week on Thursday night, there was likely going to be a rearranging of the snap counts, especially with some other players out. Of course the main event that we all wanted to know is what amount of snaps would Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan have in their returns.

There were talks of a pitch count with Evans, and it was there to a degree. Evans wound up playing 55% of the snaps and absolutely balled out with six catches for 132 in the game. McMillan clocked in at 46% in his first game of the season, contributing with two impactful catches for 38 yards. Each of these reps were more than when Chris Godwin Jr. came back for the second time in Week 12, playing just 36% but they ramped it up with him more the following week.

Bucs WRs Jalen McMillan and Chris Godwin Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Godwin actually had the most snaps out of any receiver or skill position player at 96%. It’s without question the most he’s played this season as he scored his first touchdown of the year and converted a two-point conversion for an octopus. Emeka Egbuka, who usually leads the receivers, played 64%.

Keep in mind that the Bucs will have 1o days off before their next game on Sunday in a must-win game, so each of these receivers will have plenty of time to rest and recover before going at it again.

Tight end Payne Durham was the starter at the position with Cade Otton out. While Otton typically plays around 97%, Tampa Bay decided that they weren’t just going to replicate that with Durham, keeping him at 65% of the snaps and mostly just blocking. Devin Culp moved to second-string and became the first Bucs tight end to score a touchdown, which was his first catch of the year – and his first career touchdown. Culp played 29% of the snaps. Tampa Bay also added extra blockers with Charlie Heck, Ben Chukwuma and Luke Haggard getting in the game for a bit.

The Bucs rode Bucky Irving a lot once again, as he had 16 rushing attempts compared to just one for Rachaad White and four for Sean Tucker. It was White, though, who had the longest run at 20 yards, and Tucker was the player who punched in a rushing touchdown. The overall playing time wasn’t all that different as Irving played 54% to White’s 42% to just 12% for Tucker.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today

Tampa Bay has talked about riding the hot hand and yet Irving hasn’t dominated on the ground like he previously has. White and Tucker have been more impactful in the last two games, so it will be interesting to see how that goes with three games remaining.

Shout out to defensive tackle Vita Vea for getting a rep in the backfield at fullback at the goal line. Hopefully they give him the ball to score his second career touchdown at some point.

Bucs Defense

There were a couple of instances where injuries made the Bucs juggle around their lineup. Cornerback Jamel Dean was injured on the first defensive drive of the game, but was able to come back not long after and played 94%. The big injury was Zyon McCollum, who exited with a hip injury in the first half.

Coming in for McCollum was Kindle Vildor – on his birthday – no less. It wasn’t a present for him, though, as he didn’t sink enough in zone late in the game, allowing the Falcons to get a crucial first down on a fourth-and-14 on Atlanta’s game-winning drive. Vildor, who also surrendered a touchdown to tight end Kyle Pitts, played 63% of the snaps and slot cornerback Jacob Parrish played 86% as they moved to more nickel formations.

Falcons TE Kyle Pitts and Bucs CB Kindle Vildor – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Christian Izien got the start at safety with Tykee Smith out and played 100% of the snaps along with safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and inside linebacker Lavonte David. He missed some tackles that led to big plays for Bijan Robinson. But that was the story for Tampa Bay’s defense the whole night.

The Bucs played Anthony Nelson even less at 24% and Chris Braswell at 23%. Yaya Diaby played 77% of the snaps, but didn’t generate much pressure as a pass rusher. Haason Reddick played 72% and had a big moment at the end with a strip-sack, but the Bucs didn’t recover the fumble.

Bucs DT Logan Hall and OLB Yaya Diaby – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay had a bit of a rotation at the other inside linebacker position next to David. Veteran Deion Jones played 63% of the snaps while rookie inside linebacker Nick Jackson was in for 25%. It’s hard to find many positives anywhere on the defense as they blew a 14-point lead with 10 minutes left and didn’t get the job done when the game was on the line.