Final Grades: Washington Redskins vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs’ season continued on it’s downward spiral against the Redskins on Sunday. Penalites, turnovers, and missed field goals were the catalysts to yet another tough loss.

Tampa Bay could have - and probably should have - won this game. The defense finally showed up for 60 minutes just to watch the offense gift wrap a victory for the Redskins.

As you may expect, this week’s grades are going to be a doozy.

Offense

What a waste of an effort this was. Tampa Bay drove amassed over 500 total yards of offense and drove into Washington’s red zone five times in four quarters.

The end result was a laughable series of penalites, miscues, and poor execution.

First up was the terrible overthrow from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Shaun Wilson.

The Bucs managed to avoid any turnovers in the second and third quarters, but saved the best for last. They turned the ball over on three straight drives in the fourth quarter, beginning with another Fitzpatrick interception.

And here we have this purely debilitating fumble by Jacquizz Rodgers as he entered the red zone.

Of course, we can’t let you go without the best of them all! A Fitzpatrick fumble on Washington’s two yard line!

Don’t forget Ryan Jensen’s - he’s the league’s highest-paid center, by the way - egregiously bad snap on 3rd-and-7 from the Washington 16 that lead to Chandler Catanzaro’s (RIP)second missed kick attempt of the game.

Let’s also not forget Fitzpatrick’s decision to go horizontal instead of either heading up north and south or sliding on a scramble that left the Bucs with a 3rd-and-4 instead of a first down that led to Catanzaro’s (RIP) first miss of the game.

Bad decisions were everywhere on Sunday, including Dirk Koetter’s decision to take the reins on the offensive playcalling duties.

The end result was three points, four turnovers, and four offensive penalties.

I think it’s safe to say this was the worst offensive performance of the season.

Final Grade: 0.5 (F)

Defense

Was this the Tampa Bay defense in Raymond James Stadium on Sunday?

It sure didn’t look like it. The only thing the defense that showed up on Sunday has in common with the one that has shown up all season long is that it still couldn’t create turnovers.

Other than that, it was a very good effort on Sunday. Whether you can chalk it up to a good matchup or if it was a step in the right direction is another conversation, but you have to feel somewhat encouraged, regardless.

The biggest concern here was the lack of a pass rush. I know, I know - that is a huge surprise with this team.

The Bucs managed three sacks, but they weren’t able to get consistent pressure despite squaring off against a hobbled offensive line. Washington had three players that were signed days before the game in Tampa Bay. This defense should have feasted on that.

Carl Nassib continues to impress while the rest of the defensive line - minus Jason Pierre-Paul - continues to disappoint.

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Jordan Whitehead also dropped what would’ve been a sure interception and the Redskins scored ten points in the fourth quarter, but other than that there wasn’t much this defense couldn’t do.

In all, it was a good performance, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. The late touchdown in the fourth quarter knocks some big points off on this one.

Final Grade: 3.0 (B)

Special Teams

Uh, yea. Do I really need to explain?

The Bucs signed a new kicker this week. That’s the only good news to come out of this section of the team.

Final Grade: 0.0 (F)

Coaching

Is it a coincidence that Koetter takes over the offense and this team has one of it’s worst outputs of the season? The same trends that followed this team - turnovers, penalties, no running game - cropped up all over again.

He has declared for weeks now that he doesn’t have the answers for improving this team. If that is truly the case, then why not keep Todd Monken in charge of running the offense?

Mark Duffner, on the other hand, finally put together a complete game plan that held up for the entirety of the game. He still didn’t have enough at the end of the day to prevent a victory though.

The seat is blazing for Koetter. It looks these will be his final weeks in Tampa Bay. It’s unfortunate because he is a great guy.

Final Grade: 1.5 (D)

Overall Grade: 1.25 (D)

At 3-6, there isn’t much to be happy about. This team is officially stuck and it looks like there is no way out.

The turnovers keep piling up and now the offense has question marks everywhere. Maybe the defense can come in and help keep the season afloat but that is highly unlikely at this point.

Overall Grade For The 2018 Season: 1.98 (D)