Week 11 was rough for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for multiple reasons.
A double-digit loss is never going to be well-received, but that sort of game coming in the middle of a stretch where the team has lost three of its last four games is even worse. It's an alarming trend that's developing, and it's one that threatens to throw the entire season off track.
The good news is that it seems everyone knows what the problem is -- which might not be that great since the mistakes keep happening. Todd Bowles has pointed out as much in back-to-back weeks, which means the road to fixing things might not be as long as it feels after yet another brutal loss.
Biggest issues holding the Buccaneers back can easily be fixed
Defensive struggles
The Bucs have struggled mightily on defense over the last four games, and Week 11 was no different. Tampa Bay has allowed 400+ yards of offense back-to-back weeks, and 414 on Sunday was the third most this season.
During the three losses of this stretch, the Bucs have allowed an average of 32 points per game and 409 YPG, both well above average. But why? For starters, the Bucs have faced high-powered offenses that have rushed well against Tampa Bay.
The 142 average rush yards allowed per game in those three weeks is appalling. For context, the Bucs defense allowed 82 rushing yards per game in the other seven games of the season. Facing Jahmyr Gibbs, James Cook, and TreVeyon Henderson is difficult, but there's no excuse for this poor defensive performance.
Historically, and leading up to Week 7, the Buccaneers were fantastic run stoppers. Vita Vea is relied upon to plug the gaps up the middle, but the aging defensive tackle has just five tackles over the three losses. Whether Vea is playing well or not, you can't pin it all on him. The whole defensive unit, the front eight specifically, needs to step up.
In Week 12, Tampa Bay has a chance to revive the troops against the Rams. Los Angeles possesses an incredibly mediocre rushing attack, led by Kyren Williams. The key to success on Sunday is keying in on the run, and stopping Williams is a fantastic start.
Baker needs to scramble more!
Baker Mayfield has five rushing attempts in the last four games, and all five came in Week 11. While rushing attempts from the Bucs QB doesn't immediately correlate to success, the numbers back it up. Over the last three losses, Mayfield boasts a 59% completion percentage, well below average.
In his first six games, Mayfield held a 68.5% completion percentage and rushed nearly four times a game. Correlation doesn't always equal causation, but scrambling does leave a defense guessing more often than not. Sometimes they'll lurk forward and open a receiver downfield. Other times, there's no one in sight, and it's an easy first-down pickup with his legs.
Whatever the cause is, Mayfield has been rushing significantly less and has been far less efficient in passing the ball. In Week 11, when Mayfield finally dusted off the running shoes, the Bucs scored the second-most points all season. Like I said, it's not an exact correlation, but stats certainly don't lie.