RECAP: Buccaneers melt down in 27-22 loss to Ravens

A promising first quarter went out of the window quickly as Tampa Bay dropped its third straight game.

A promising first half for the Buccaneers quickly faded away as deja vu set in and the team reverted back to their 2022 mean, allowing the Baltimore Ravens to do as they pleased on offense. It didn't help that Tampa Bay could establish zero consistency on offense over the final three quarters. The Buccaneers drop to 3-5, after their 5th loss in 6 games, losing 27-22 to the Baltimore Ravens at home. 

READ MORE: Buccaneers among NFL teams expected to make a quarterback move in 2023

The Buccaneers looked like a completely different team to start their week 8 matchup against the Ravens. The offense looked to have a rhythm and the defense was playing sound, fit football.

The Ravens received the opening kickoff after the Bucs won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Bucs' defense forced the Ravens to punt, but unfortunately for the home team, two of their own players collided and the ball bounced off of them resulting in the Ravens taking over at the Buccaneers' six-yard line. However, the Buccaneers' defense came to play and limited Baltimore to just a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead - the only points they scored in the 1st half.

The Ravens and Lamar Jackson tested rookie cornerback, Zyon McCollum, all night but in his first start, he held his own in the first half. The Buccaneers' defense played up to their 'grave digger' mentality in the first. A collective effort to get after Lamar Jackson was in full effect as Shaquil Barrett and Vita Vea each came away with a sack and the secondary stuck stride for stride on the Baltimore receivers. The Ravens were held to just 2/8 on third down with an average of 4.0 yards per play in the first half.

The Buccaneers' offense in turn fed off the defense as the play calling was well-balanced and looked to capitalize on good field position thanks to somewhat of a breakout performance by return man Jaelon Darden early on the game. Toward the end of the second quarter, the offense appeared to stutter just a bit with two straight 3-and-outs. The Ravens were able to get the ball back with just under a minute as they drove the field to put Justin Tucker in position to kick a 61-yard field goal. The Bucs' special teams showed up this game as they were able to block the kick right before halftime and enter the locker room with a 10-3 lead. 

The running game still had yet to produce how many would have wanted, only churning out 26-yards and 1 TD in the first half between Rachaad White and Leonard Fournette. The passing game was once again the strength of the Bucs' offense with Brady spreading the ball around to multiple different receivers for 142 yards, but there were few overthrown balls and 0 touchdowns through the air. The passing game was a lot of quick action and screens with Brady getting the ball quickly out and into the hands of his playmakers. Chris Godwin led the receivers with 3 catches for 61 yards, followed by Mike Evans with 2 catches and 51 yards.

Baltimore went early and often to tight end Mark Andrews, but the star tight end exited in the 2nd quarter with a shoulder injury and was questionable to return. Ravens' cornerback Marlon Humphrey went out in the second quarter with a hamstring injury and was questionable to return as well.

The start of the third quarter saw the game become one filled with injuries. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was ruled out for the rest of the game with a shoulder injury along with fellow teammate wide receiver, Rashod Bateman, who suffered a foot injury. The Buccaneers' suffered a huge loss due to injury as well in the third quarter as starting linebacker, Shaquil Barrett (who had one heck of first half), was carted off to the locker room and ruled out for the remainder of the game with an ankle injury.

It was much of the same early season Bucs to start the second half. The offense once again began to struggle, going three-and-out on their opening possession without obtaining a first down. Similarly, the Buccaneers' defense could not get a stop to save their life once Shaquil Barrett went down with an injury. Lamar Jackson was able to tie the game up at 10 with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kenyon Drake. Following their game-tying possession, the Ravens once again got the ball back and led a commanding drive down the field in which they were able to get whatever they wanted en route to a Jackson to Likely 10-yard touchdown pass to take a 17-10 lead.

The Bucs' offense, even with all their faults in sustaining drives, was finally able to get the ball to Mike Evans on a 51-yard pass. The drive ultimately stalled and ended in Ryan Succop's second field goal of the night as Tampa Bay now trailed 17-13 with 12:30 remaining. The Ravens led a drive down the field to take a 24-13 lead with just under half of the 4th quarter remaining on a Devin Duvernay 15-yard rushing touchdown.

The Buccaneers' offense in a comeback attempt once again was held up by self-inflicted wounds as Donovan Smith was called for a holding penalty (which wasn't necessary) and then going for it on fourth down from the two, Leonard Fournette committed a false start - limiting the Bucs to another field goal. The Ravens wasted no time, pushing the ball back down the field and getting a Justin Tucker field goal to pretty much seal the game.

In a game that saw optimism to start, that quickly faded in the second half. The same old, same old struck with the Buccaneers as they allowed the Ravens a total of 222 passing yards, 233 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. The Ravens ground attack was lethal and well-balanced across all of their backs while Lamar Jackson was able to create passing lanes with his legs and shred the Bucs' secondary.

The Bucs' offense was only highlighted in the passing game. Mike Evans finished with 6 catches for 123 yards, Chris Godwin had 6 catches for 75 yards, Leonard Fournette had 3 catches for 34 yards and the lone touchdown came from Julio Jones in garbage time with an 8-yard pass from Brady. Brady finished with 325 yards passing and 1 TD.

The Buccaneers were a little too late trying to get things going on the offensive side of the ball as once again, the running game failed to be a factor with just 44 yards total on the ground. Even with the passing game remaining intact, you have to have a balanced attack to be able to play consistent ball. This did not happen. 

The Bucs couldn't take advantage of lucky breaks or the injuries to Baltimore's star players. With a 3-5 record, the Buccaneers will host the Los Angeles Rams next weekend hoping, once again, to get everything back on track.

Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the season.

Follow BucsGameday on Twitter and Facebook