Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka and RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It’s time for Scott Reynolds’ 2-Point Conversion post-game column, which features two statements, two questions and two predictions based on the latest Bucs game.

Tampa Bay lost its first game of the season as Philadelphia came to town looking for revenge, jumping out to an early 24-3 lead before winning, 31-25. The Bucs fall to 3-1 and head to Seattle to face the 3-1 Seahawks, while the Eagles remain undefeated as the only 4-0 team in the NFC. Tampa Bay did see the return of left tackle Tristan Wirfs and wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. on Sunday, but lost a slew of players on defense to injury, including cornerbacks Jamel Dean (groin) and Benjamin Morrison (hamstring), defensive tackle Greg Gaines (pectoral) and outside linebacker Haason Reddick (stinger).

2 BIG STATEMENTS


STATEMENT 1. Bucs’ Year Of Living Dangerously Caught Up To Them

From a sheer entertainment value standpoint, the Bucs’ three previous furious fourth-quarter comebacks have really been fun to watch. But this style of play was simply unsustainable, and that proved to be the case in Sunday’s 31-25 loss to the Eagles in Week 4.

The Bucs’ year of living dangerously caught up to them.

I guarantee you that the strategy of both Todd Bowles and Josh Grizzard at the start of the season was not to fall behind in the fourth quarters of games and then rally for wins.

What’s the old saying, play with fire and you’re going to get burnt?

Baker Mayfield, who threw two touchdowns over 70 yards to Emeka Egbuka and Bucky Irving in the second half, but also a costly fourth quarter interception – his first of the year – said it best after the game when discussing a comeback that fell just short.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Our guys are going to fight, and Lavonte [David] hit on it post-game with everybody, and I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Mayfield said. “This group is too damn good to start slow, and until we take accountability to that, it should piss us off. Even though it’s week four, this should piss us off. We’ve talked about starting fast, playing better ball, and we did not do that today.”

The Bucs have gotten off to slow starts, trailing in the first quarter of all but one game (a 3-3 first quarter vs. the Jets) so far. Tampa Bay has been outscored 34-13 combined in the first quarter of the first four games of the season, and that is not the definition of “start fast.”

“The fight, we’re going to have that every week,” Bowles said. “But you can’t fight and get behind the eight ball against good teams and expect to win. We’re always going to have fight; we just have to clean up mistakes now. It’s getting to that point where we have to cut them down.”


STATEMENT 2. An Incredible Tale Of Two Halves

What a crazy game. Philadelphia dominated the first half of the game, taking a 24-6 lead thanks to 201 yards of total offense and a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. Tampa Bay was out-gained 201 yards to 99, and would have only scored a field goal if not for another Chase McLaughlin kick – one from 65 yards out, which was a new franchise record.

But the Bucs flipped the switch in the second half, out-gaining the Eagles 376-200 yards in the game, including 277 yards for Tampa Bay in the second half, while holding Philly to minus-1 yard. The Bucs also put 19 points on the scoreboard in the second half to the Eagles’ 7, which came on a short field after a questionable fumble by Bucky Irving.

This game boiled down to the Bucs losing the turnover margin, 2-0, and also that blocked punt for a touchdown in the first quarter. Otherwise, this game was just about even with Tampa Bay going toe-to-toe with the defending Super Bowl champions on Sunday.

Bucs DTs Logan Hall and Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today

“We stopped making the mistakes that we made in the first drive, and you know those were day one things that we can’t have,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “That’s probably started the last four games for us on defense, and then we start playing after that. So after that we were fine, and they settled down and played ball, but we’ve got to start the game like that. We can’t just pick it up as it goes.”

In my 30 years of covering this team, I can’t recall too many games where there was such a stark contrast with one team dominating each half the way that it occurred on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. The games that quickly come to my mind were also Bucs losses.

The first is the 31-30 Kirk Cousins “You like that!” game when the Redskins came back from a 24-7 halftime deficit to outscore Lovie Smith’s Tampa Bay team, 24-6, in the second half. The other one was a 32-31 loss to the New York Giants in 2019 in which the Bucs blew a 28-10 lead at halftime. The Giants rallied in the second half to outscore Tampa Bay 22-3.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1. Why Did The Bucs Defense Play So Much Better In The Second Half?

The Bucs started attacking more in run defense and dialed back some of their pressure on Jalen Hurts in the second half. Todd Bowles switched up his pass rush, which too often had edge defenders Yaya Diaby and Haason Reddick looping inside on stunts to apply pressure up the middle.

Those twists left slower-footed defensive tackles like Vita Vea on the perimeter to contain Hurts, which simply didn’t work. The Eagles’ mobile QB ran for 42 yards in the first half as he easily broke containment. Bowles stopped deploying those twists by halftime and also dropped more Bucs defenders into zone coverage to confuse Hurts in the second half.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today

“I saw a smaller, faster guy (Hurts) outrun a bigger, slower guy (Vea) and we need to have more guys rallying to the football, seriously,” Bowles said. “But you know it’s an athletic thing. He’s a good athlete and he’s a good quarterback. You’re not going to catch him with the interior guy if he gets out.”

It worked. Hurts completed 15-of-16 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, but did not complete a single pass in the second half, going 0-for-8 and getting sacked twice by Vea. Philadelphia had 201 total yards at halftime and finished with just 200 yards in the game.

Tampa Bay’s defense racked up 11 tackles for loss on Sunday, including nine in the second half. Newly acquired defensive tackle Elijah Simmons had one of those tackles for loss and played really well in limited snaps. With Greg Gaines suffering a pectoral injury, the Bucs will likely use Simmons more moving forward. At 6-foot-1, 334 pounds, Simmons is a load inside.

QUESTION 2. Will Tampa Bay Make Any Changes On Special Teams?

If you are wondering if the Bucs will cut punter Riley Dixon, cut long snapper Evan Deckers or fire special teams coach Thomas McGaughey, those aren’t the kind of changes Tampa Bay is contemplating making at this time. But head coach Todd Bowles did say that Dixon needs to speed up his kicking process, and that the problem involves the players who are blocking up front as well as the coaching (McGaughey).

“It wasn’t really a stunt,” Bowles said on Monday after looking at the blocked punt in the first quarter. “We didn’t help out like we should have. It shouldn’t have happened it. It was a very routine play.

Bucs P Riley Dixon – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“They are all bad – whether they block it from the outside or the inside, it can’t happen and those are the things that cannot happen.”

Outside of Dixon and the punting game, the rest of Tampa Bay’s special teams had a great day. Kameron Johnson averaged 16.7 yards per return with a long of 46 versus the Eagles. And kicker Chase McLaughlin was perfect with his three field goal attempts and his two extra points. McLaughlin made field goals of 48, 58 and 65 yards, which was a franchise record and the longest kick in NFL history outdoors.

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1. Bucs Move Jacob Parrish Outside To Play Cornerback

The Bucs could be heading up to Seattle without two of the team’s top four cornerbacks. Starter Jamel Dean went down with a groin injury in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, and his replacement, Benjamin Morrison, also left the game with a hamstring injury. Morrison missed the final day of mandatory mini-camp with a hamstring injury and also missed the entire preseason with a hamstring injury.

“I’m a little concerned,” Bowles said. “I mean they both went down and didn’t come back, so those are two also getting MRIs.”

Bucs LB Lavonte David and CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: USA Today

Expect the Bucs to look into moving nickelback Jacob Parrish outside to play cornerback opposite Zyon McCollum if Christian Izien can return from a quad injury in time for Sunday’s game at Seattle. The Bucs could also move Tykee Smith back to nickelback and have Kaevon Merriweather play strong safety if Izien remains out.

“That’s an option,” Bowles said about playing Parrish outside where he played at Kansas State. “It’s still early in the process so we’re going wait until everything comes back and then we’ll start moving pieces around.”

Tampa Bay also has Kindle Vildor on the roster and Breece Hall on the practice squad, in addition to special teams gunner Josh Hayes, who can also play cornerback.

PREDICTION 2. Tampa Bay Loses In Seattle

So far, I’m a perfect 4-0 in my Bucs predictions, correctly forecasting three straight wins to start the season, followed by a loss to the Eagles. I’m sticking to my original preseason predictions in my SR’s FAB 5 column from August 29, so I’ll predict another loss for Tampa Bay. Given how banged up the Bucs are with injuries, would it surprise you if they lost on the road in a hostile environment against a 3-1 Seahawks team?

Former Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett and Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: Getty Images

This is what I wrote about the game in my SR’s FAB 5.

“I’m not sure what the Seahawks are or will be this year. Good team? Bad team? Mediocre team? Tampa Bay has lost in overtime the last two times its played in Seattle in 2019 and 2013. That’s ancient history, but Seattle does have a robust home field advantage with the 12th Man. This feels like a loss for some reason, even though the Bucs are the better team.”

Before you beat me up about this prediction, keep in mind I do have the Bucs winning 11 games this year and winning the NFC South championship again.