The Buccaneers couldn’t find enough of a running game to help their undrafted rookie quarterback win today, and that led to a highly predictable result.
Welcome to rock bottom.
Three consecutive home losses and an 0-4 start. _Turrible._
Rookie QB Jalon Daniels showed a live arm, fresh legs and plenty of confidence, and the Bucs have a healthy and allegedly good offensive line, but it sure seemed like offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was completely stymied in the first half. That improved slighly in the second half but nowhere near enough.
The Bucs made more bumbling mistakes (presnap penalties, bad snaps, etc.) on offense on a day they had to be much better around a newbie QB.
A huge turning point in the game was late in the first half. The Bucs had 2nd-and-10 near at the Green Bay 41 yard line and three timeouts in their pocket (a Todd Bowles trademark) with :41 seconds on the clock. That’s only a few yards from field goal range.
Daniels had just taken a big hit on first down. Joe thought a handoff was a given; you know, maul into field goal range and let Daniels clear the cobwebs from his head. Instead, a short pass was called and Daniels threw a pick. The Packers went three plays for four yards and kicked a field goal to go up 10-7. That’s a six-point turnaround. Ballgame.
The Packers and their sad offensive line rushed for 17 yards last week. Today, it was 98 yards.
The Bucs needed to force turnovers. They did get one on a truly brilliant interception by Jacob Parrish late in the fourth quarter, but the offensive coudln’t turn it into a winning score or a game-tying field goal. Joe can’t blame the defense on a day they allowed 17 points.
Did the Bucs look like a violent, locked in, season-on-the line football team today? Joe’s not sure anyone left the stadium feeling that way, including 25,000-plus Packers fans and Team Glazer.
The Bucs are a bad, bad team. And Joe takes no pleasure typing that.