When an opponent sets a new precedent for not being able to follow the rules, you should probably win the game.
That didn’t happen Sunday. The first part did, with Oakland committing an NFL-record 23 penalties for 200 yards – no typo. The second part didn’t, though. The Buccaneers lost 30-24 in overtime despite being provided multiple opportunities to take advantage of the Raiders’ sloppy play.
Missed throws, missed catches, missed tackles. They all added up to a disappointing missed opportunity at Ray Jay.
CB JUDE ADJEI-BARIMAH
The Bucs won the game. And then they didn’t.
Oakland faced fourth-and-3 from the Tampa Bay 5 while trailing 24-17 with less than 2 minutes remaining. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr dropped back to pass and went to wide-open wideout Michael Crabtree in the right corner of the end zone but badly overthrew him.
Then came the flag on the opposite side of the field: defensive holding against Adjei-Barimah. Granted new life, Carr hit tight end Mychal Rivera for a 7-yard touchdown that ended up sending the game to overtime.
The second-year corner finished with six tackles and a sack of Carr. Included, however, is the penalty and the image of him colliding with safety Bradley McDougald as Raiders receiver Seth Roberts dashed away for the game-winning touchdown.
CB VERNON HARGREAVES III
Hargreaves has a couple rookie moments every week, but right when he slips up he reminds you why Tampa Bay made him its first-round draft pick this year.
Sunday was a little different because a couple groaner moments overshadowed the positives, like his eight tackles.
The play that sticks out came in overtime. Oakland’s opening drive shot into Bucs territory with a short pass to Crabtree that turned into a 45-yard gain. Hargreaves missed bringing Crabtree down after the catch and then nearly missed again when he was more concerned with punching at the ball again rather than making sure the wideout went down.
Hargreaves lost track of Raiders receiver Amari Cooper on Oakland’s next overtime drive, allowing him to slide into the middle of the field from left to right and go 20 yards to the Bucs 46.
QB JAMEIS WINSTON
These were Winston’s numbers after opening the second quarter with a perfectly delivered, 19-yard touchdown pass into the hands of receiver Russell Shepard: 8 of 9 for 91 yards and a touchdown.
That was the high-water mark of the day. From that point forward, Winston completed only eight of his next 23 pass attempts and finished with 180 yards.
Making those 180 passing yards and 270 total net yards look even worse is knowing that they came against one of the NFL’s worst statistical defenses. Oakland entered the game last in total average yards allowed (430.4), last in average passing yards allowed (302.1) and 28th in average rushing yards allowed (128.3).
Winston’s working with a depleted group of weapons that seems to be getting more and more banged up by the day. Too many passes fell harmlessly to the turf with no chance of being caught, though. Winston may be playing extra safe to shake his early season interception woes, but trading that off with a 50 percent completion percentage due to erring on the side of caution too often results in days like these.
DT GERALD MCCOY
After making his presence felt against the 49ers, McCoy couldn’t do much against Oakland’s higher-quality offensive line.
Neutralizing McCoy appeared to be a focus on many plays Sunday and there wasn’t much the Bucs defensive tackle could do about it.
Tampa Bay’s nonexistent pass rush allowed Carr to throw for a career-best 513 yards and four touchdowns.
On top of getting shredded against the pass, Tampa Bay also surrendered 128 yards rushing on 24 attempts (5.3 yards per carry).
WR CECIL SHORTS III
Shorts again couldn’t affect the offense despite being on the field for a decent amount of snaps.
Last week he was involved in 31 of 75 offensive snaps and didn’t receive a target. This week Winston went his way four times and the passes hit the turf every time. A couple of those throws were uncatchable balls, but Shorts doesn’t appear to be getting much separation from defenders, either.
K ROBERTO AGUAYO
The rookie just can’t give himself a couple clean games in a row.
Once again, an Aguayo kick missed its mark Sunday. This time it was an extra point. And it was terrible. Wide left and didn’t even hit the net – sailed into the stands.
That’s extra point miss number two on the year (12 of 14) to go along with a 7 of 12 success rate on field goals.
Aguayo’s day started just fine when he drilled a 41-yard attempt that put Tampa Bay up 3-0. He followed that up by converting his first extra point before trouble struck.
RB ANTONE SMITH
Smith wasn’t on the field much but his dropped pass in overtime represented Tampa Bay’s final offensive play of the game. It was third-and-3 from the Bucs’ own 18 and Winston’s dump-off in the middle went through Smith’s hands.
Bryan Anger punted and the Raiders scored the game-winner five plays later.
Smith caught one other pass for nine yards and picked up 16 yards on four carries, but the drop was critical. Smith also fumbled two plays prior to his dropped pass but managed to recover the loose ball.
KR RYAN SMITH
In the grand scheme of things, Smith’s kick returning didn’t have much of anything to do with the Bucs losing Sunday.
This is added because the rookie either isn’t ready or isn’t suited to be an NFL-quality return man. He had two attempts and averaged 18 yards per return. One went for 24 yards and the other went for 12. The 12-yarder was the latest example of Smith’s indecisiveness, but it was compounded by muffing the catch.
Touchbacks on kickoffs get the ball to the 25 now. Starting drives behind that yard line cannot happen often anymore.