Despite beating the Rams 16-13 in a tight contest on Sunday afternoon, there were still areas where the Bucs fell short. Here are the most disappointing players – and aspects – from Tampa Bay’s Week 9 win:

First-Down Play Calling

Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich apparently got run game coordinator Harold Goodwin’s message. Leftwich began the Bucs’ opening drive by calling a run on every first down. The results? There was a 3rd & 7, 2nd & 14, 3rd & 6 and 2nd & 9. Yes, the Bucs offense did move the ball down inside the five-yard line before finally stalling. But it was in spite of the first-down runs – not because of them.

Leftwich continued the process despite poor results. The Bucs’ first six first-down play calls were all runs. And not a single one netted more than five yards.

Mental Errors

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs committed consistent and untimely penalties throughout the first half, compounding their offensive and defensive woes. When a team is struggling as much as the Bucs have been, handing out yards like candy is not the recipe for turning things around.

Robert Hainsey and Donovan Smith both negated solid runs by Leonard Fournette with holding penalties.

On defense, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka negated his own sack of Matthew Stafford by jumping offsides. Outside linebacker Genard Avery contributed an offsides penalty of his own. A holding call in the third quarter on a Jake Camarda punt negated a good play that would have put the Rams at their own 23-yard line. On the subsequent play, a pre-snap penalty set the Bucs back at 4th & 20.

Then, late in the fourth quarter on 3rd & 10, Brady completed a pass to Cade Otton that set the Bucs up with 4th & 1 deep in Rams territory. Except they didn’t. This is because Smith committed his second holding call of the night, pushing the Bucs back to 3rd & 20. In a surprise to absolutely no one, they did not convert it and settled for a field goal to keep them down 13-9.

Bucs Running Game

Much of what was heard coming from the Bucs brass this week was a need to establish the run game. And boy, did they. With an early focus on running the ball on first and second down, the Bucs ran the ball a total of 20 times in the game. That yielded 51 yards and an abysmal 2.6 yards per carry average. Call it a lack of creativity in play design, lack of execution by the offensive line or a lack of skill by the running backs – the Bucs could not sustain a drive on the ground.

The offensive line failed to produce consistent holes. Fournette continued his twinkle toes ways. And the run game just didn’t work. Tampa Bay ultimately abandoned it when forced to do so, and the offense worked its way down the field to win the game late. There’s a reason that Tom Brady finished the game with 58 passing attempts.

Mike Evans

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

For the third straight week, Evans had critical drops that a player of his caliber can’t have. It started on the first drive of the game when he dropped an easy short pass on 2nd & 7. Then, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, down by seven, Evans dropped a deep shot down the right sideline on a perfectly placed ball by Brady in single coverage on 2nd & 12. This led to a third-down pass that was batted down at the line of scrimmage and then a punt.

Late in the fourth quarter, Evans again dropped an admittedly difficult catch that he has made in the past.

Brady and Evans have not been on the same page for the majority of the season, and it has hampered the Bucs offense to a large degree.

Bucs Depth Receivers

Both Julio Jones and Breshad Perriman had plays where pre-snap, they obviously did not know what they were supposed to do. Jones’ play resulted in a mucked throw by Brady. Perriman’s resulted in a timeout called by Brady in a crucial spot late in the fourth quarter.

Jones did have two catches for 28 yards in the first half before getting injured trying to cut on a route. Perriman dropped one of his two targets and only generated one yard on his only catch. Scotty Miller seemed to be stepping up on the Bucs’ penultimate drive of the game where had had four catches for 26 yards, but he then allowed an easy pass for a would-be touchdown to bounce off his facemask. The Bucs would fail to score. Miller did make a big catch on the ensuing possession that ultimately ended up being the game-winning drive, but that drop was still a huge play at the time.

Complain all you want about him, but Russell Gage cannot come back fast enough.