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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the New York Giants despite shuffling their lineup once again. Here are the key observations from Sunday's snap counts.
Secondary turnover again
Remember when it seemed like the Bucs had finally gotten a handle on who they wanted to start at cornerback last week, with Mike Jenkins and Johnthan Banks getting almost all of the snaps on the outside? Good fun that was, they combined for four snaps today, with Tim Jennings and Banks playing special teams only.
Instead, Jude Adjei-Barimah, Sterling Moore and Alterraun Verner got almost all of the team's snaps at cornerback. And they did well, comparatively. The secondary was far from great and the Bucs had issues covering Odell Beckham Jr., but they also got two turnovers and made more plays on the ball than they have all season.
George Johnson's back
The Bucs have been struggling to get anything out of their defensive ends this year, and yesterday was no exception. With Jacquies Smith out for the game, Howard Jones officially got the start, but he ended up playing just under half of all defensive plays. George Johnson, on the other hand, played 80%, while Will Gholston managed 69%. With very little pressure on Eli Manning, we're likely to see further rotations and changes among the edge rushers.
Evan Smith takes Ali Marpet's place
Ali Marpet played just ten snaps before being forced to leave the game with an ankle injury, and Evan Smith took over for the rest of the game at right guard. Having lost his spot at center to Joe Hawley, he actually played well. In fact, the entire offensive line held up well -- at least in the passing game.
The receiving corps is a mess
Mike Evans played almost every snap, but he also dropped more balls than anyone in the past ten years. Donteea Dye was the number two receiver, with just one play less than Evans, and Adam Humphries managed to et on the field for 62% of the offensive plays. Humphries did reasonably well, though his size limits his usefulness, while Dye caught just one pass for four yards. The Bucs desperately need to get some of their skill talent back. Hopefully Austin Seferian-Jenkins can help out next week.