Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today Mayfield had his obstacles to overcome (see below). However, for his part, he was not able to succeed when given the chance. This game forced him to run through his read progressions to find secondary options that were coming open. However, Mayfield struggled to get to find open receivers later in the progression. Case in point: Late in the game, Mayfield was unable to properly diagnose that Mike Evans had opened up on a scramble drill running parallel with the quarterback for what would have been an easy touchdown. Mayfield failed to pull the trigger, despite staring right at Evans for several seconds. By the time he made the decision, his throw led Evans out of bounds for an incompletion. On the Bucs’ go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter, Mayfield missed on several throws that nearly ended the comeback attempt, including leading Evans too far on a corner route, followed by missing Godwin on an option route where quarterback and receiver were not reading the same book let alone being on the same page. Mayfield would redeem himself on the next throw with a beautiful layered, leading pass to Godwin that would put the Bucs inside the 10, but one good pass does not change a game full of poor play. Bucs Receivers Speaking of an inept passing attack, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Cade Otton and Trey Palmer all failed to gain any semblance of separation on most snaps. The Falcons two-man scheme allowed their defensive backs to play the Bucs receivers physically at the line of scrimmage and contest nearly every pass. The results were underwhelming for the Bucs. Mike Evans got bullied on multiple reps, including a third down in the second quarter that caused him to run into Chris Godwin and muddy the route combo, leading to an incompletion and a punt. Godwin, for his part, got open on a deep nine route on the next drive, but just didn’t have the wheels to track the deep throw from Mayfield. He also failed to reel in a short crossing route on 3rd & 6 in the 3rd quarter that would have kept the drive alive. Bucs Pass Rush 
Falcons RB Bijan Robinson and Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett – Photo by: USA Today Without nose tackle Vita Vea, the Bucs’ pass rush was non-existent for most of the game and almost the entire first half. Calijah Kancey and Greg Gaines each recorded a sack in the first half on Desmond Ridder scrambles. But as the first half turned to the second, Ridder found himself with more and more time to try and find his weapons. Logan Hall, coming off of perhaps the best game of his career, was nearly non-existent. Gaines and Kancey were shut out after halftime. The Bucs edge group of Shaq Barrett, Yaya Diaby, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and Anthony Nelson were helpful in holding a dangerous Atlanta running attack to 96 yards on 26 carries, but could not create havoc for the Falcons signal-caller, putting all sorts of stress on the back end of the defense. Bucs Punt Coverage Atlanta punt returner Dee Alford had over 100 yards on just four returns as the Bucs punt coverage was abysmal. Punter Jake Camarda had several good punts, but layered in his usual random clunker in the form of a 39-yarder. But even on that short boot, the coverage unit failed to contain Alford as he returned the punt 22 yards to the Atlanta 47. They added an illegal man out of bounds penalty for good measure. This left the Bucs defense having to defend shorter fields throughout the game. Keith Armstrong, man. Never change. The post Bucs at Falcons: Most Disappointing In Week 14 appeared first on Pewter Report. Source: https://www.pewterreport.com/bucs-at-fa ... n-week-14/
