Extra Point: Top Takeaways From The Buccaneers 27-20 Loss To The Colts

JC Allen delivers his biggest takeaways from the Buccaneers' loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers losing trend continued with a 27-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. In a matchup the Bucs should've won, a stalled drive in the red zone on their first possession and a collapse on defense saw the game slip away early leaving them to play catch up all game.

At 4-7 the Bucs are still in the mix for the NFC South division title, but will need to win a majority of their games to land a spot in the playoffs. Four of their final six games come against division opponents and it will be imperative to win those games to say afloat.

Here are my top three takeaways from the Bucs Week 12 loss.

No More Excuses, Time To Put Up Or Shut Up

The Bucs have dropped several games they, on paper, should’ve won. Down to the final six games of the season there is no more room for error. The Bucs are firmly still in the mix, just one game out of the NFC South lead and one game out of a wild card spot. Cleaning up the mental errors, executing when called upon and coaching needs to improve. Twelve games into the season there are no more excuses.

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Bowles Firmly On The Hot Seat

With two coaches fired already for lack of production, head coach Todd Bowles’ seat gets hotter by the week. While the Glazers don’t usually fire coaches in-season, and I don’t expect them to with Bowles. The most baffling part of the Bucs losing stretch is the offense for the most part has done enough to win, instead it’s been the defense that has collapsed. 

Bowles’ specialty is defense as a former defensive coordinator so the fact that he hasn’t gotten his defense to play up to par is troubling. If they don’t go on a run to end the season he’ll likely be looking for a new job come January.

Offense Progressing, Defense Regressing

It’s been a slow and steady wave but the offense has noticeably gotten better as the season has gone on. There’s been a better rhythm and flow to the offense, the play calling has improved and the run game has looked much better in recent weeks. On the season the Buccaneers 15th in offensive EPA/play this season, 13th in dropback EPA/play. 

On the flip side the defense has really struggled after getting off to a hot start. They are 27th in yards allowed per game and jumped from the sixth best team in points allowed to 13th with their loss to the Colts. Third down has been a nightmare and their defense is 27th in EPA/play this season, and 32nd in dropback EPA/play.

Three Up, Three Down

Up

WR Mike Evans

Evans was, well, Evans. The veteran wide receiver showed up big time, recording two touchdowns on the day. He caught six receptions on nine targets for 70 yards and was a large part of why the Bucs were able to hang around all day.

RB Rachaad White

White finally saw the fruit of his labor pay off with his first 100 yard rushing performance of the season. He broke a season long run of 38-yards and added two receptions for 10 yards.

DL Calijah Kancey

Kancey continues to be a freak of nature along the defensive line. The rookie recorded his third sack of the season. While tacking on two tackles for loss to bring his season total to eight.

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Down

DB Christian Izien

With Neal’s snaps limited due to ineffectiveness and injury, Izien saw more snaps as a result. While he’s made his share of plays this season he was picked on against the Colts. Including a blown coverage on fourth and one that resulted in a 24 yard completion.

LB Devin White

While White is dealing with an injury his play this year hasn’t been consistent all season and we saw more of that on Sunday. He got beat badly by Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew on touchdown run and was often out of place in coverage.

LT Tristan Wirfs

Wirfs is already one of the best left tackles in the league and he’s not even through his first NFL season at the position. However, Sunday was not his best as he let up his first sacks of the season in the Bucs loss to the Colts. Samson Ebukam beat Wirfs for two sack on the day including the strip sack that sealed the win for the Colts. 

You can follow JC Allen on Twitter @JCAllenNFL.

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