The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense tried its hardest, but the Bucs offense could not lead the team to a victory on Sunday Night Football.
The Bucs lost their game against the Chicago Bears 27-24 on Sunday, dropping to 3-6. The Bucs’ defense managed five turnovers, but the offense got just 10 total points off those turnovers and failed to capitalize on the defense’s great game.
Here are our winners and losers for Tampa Bay after this crucial matchup…
Winners
RB Bucky Irving
It was almost another 100-yard performance for Bucky Irving, but he’s a winner tonight for another reason.
Irving ran in a touchdown on Tampa Bay’s opening drive of the second half. It was his sixth rushing touchdown of the year, but it was also a touchdown in his hometown of Chicago — this was Irving’s first time playing back home, and he gave his family something to remember.
He’ll probably never forget scoring a touchdown at Soldier Field, just as he probably dreamed of his whole life growing up. And then after that? He scored again to tie the game with just under three minutes left, cementing this performance as a great one for him.
CB Zyon McCollum
McCollum had a tough start to his game on Sunday night, getting picked on by Rome Odunze. That didn’t last long.
McCollum netted two picks on Caleb Williams across the course of the day. Those turnovers didn’t amount to anything (just three points), but that wasn’t his fault — he recovered and got the turnovers he need to generate to keep the Bucs in the game.
McCollum has been having an All-Pro year this year, and he kept up the good work on Sunday night. It wasn’t enough to win, but that’s largely because of the offense and how they handled the game after his turnovers.
S Tykee Smith
Smith was just about everywhere on Sunday night.
He had six total tackles and three solo tackles, and he also had the first interception on the night that kicked off the party. He was one of Tampa Bay’s best defensive players, and he really stepped up in the absence of Antoine Winfield Jr. after Winfield went out with an ankle injury.
The Bucs’ entire defense balled out, but Smith and McCollum really shined in comparison to the rest.
Losers
HC Todd Bowles
Bowles’ decision-making was costly in this matchup, and it could have cost him the game.
The first questionable decision came on a fourth-and-four at Chicago’s four with 14:07 to go in the second. Bowles elected to kick a field goal, but ESPN’s analytics model gave the team an extra two percent chance of winning had they gone for it instead of settling for three.
Then, at the end of the half, Bowles elected to kick a field goal instead of trying to score from inside the five with three seconds left. That put Tampa Bay down 17-6 at the half, and the Bucs really could have used those extra points in a tight, tight game against the Bears.
Bowles’ defense largely did its job by generating turnovers. But Bowles had to be better with game management, and he wasn’t good enough on Sunday.
OC Zac Robinson
The last two weeks were easy-going for offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. That wasn’t the case on Sunday night, and the offense suffered for it.
Robinson seemed far too comfortable running the ball as a matter of routine as opposed to effectiveness. He put the offense in bad positions early on in the game, and when he had to help facilitate the passing game, he wasn’t able to scheme it well enough to help quarterback Baker Mayfield push the ball downfield.
Additionally, the Bucs’ offensive line suffered from multiple false starts — that’s a problem that the team has been battling all year, and a big part of that is on Robinson, too.
Suddenly, when the Bucs need to throw, Robinson’s offense is back to struggling. That’s an issue the Bucs are really going to have to face.
QB Baker Mayfield
It was Baker Mayfield’s first game since returning from injury where he really had to throw the football, and it didn’t go the way he’d hoped.
Mayfield threw two picks on the night, with one of them going back the other way for a Bears score. The Bucs had four turnovers and, partially due to his efforts, only scored three points off of them.
Mayfield didn’t take care of the football, and it was costly. Mayfield has yet to have a great game this year, and that’s hurting the offense just as much as Robinson’s playcalling has.
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