Yarcho’s Pick Six: Buccaneers can’t deliver at FedEx

Embarrassing. Pathetic. Inexcusable. Infuriating.

Whatever term you want to use to describe the Buccaneers’ 29-19 loss to the Washington Football team, there’s probably a few dozen more that would be fitting. From getting a false start penalty on the first play of the game to Brady’s two first quarter interceptions to Vita Vea being carted off the field with under thirty seconds left - there is no shortage of things Buccaneers fans can be upset about this morning.

Let’s Pick Six.

Six Topics Suitable For Conversation

1.) Contenders or Pretenders? Right now, it’s looking a whole lot like the latter. The Buccaneers have lost two straight, falling to 6-3, and they did so against a third string quarterback followed up by being dominated by the worst pass defense in the NFL. Not only that but the Washington Football Team came into the game without their best pass rusher then lost Chase Young in the first half to what many believe to be an ACL tear. For a defense that was allowing nearly 300 passing yards a game, over 100 rushing yards a game, and nearly 30 points per game they looked more like the top five defense of last year than the cellar dwellers of this one. Tom Brady finished with 220 yards and a pair of touchdowns to go with his pair of interceptions, having thrown three interceptions in his last seven passes dating back to week eight at one point. This was an uninspired performance by the offense while being a cringeworthy performance by the defense. The Washington Football Team was worst in the NFL in third down conversions but managed to go 11-of-19 on Sunday, including 4-of-5 on their final drive that spanned 19 plays and chewed up 10:26 of the final 10:55 following Mike Evans’ touchdown.

2.) Vita Vea. Vea has been one of the bright spots on a very bad Bucs defense this season. On a play where Washington went for it on 4th-and-Goal from the one, Vea suffered a knee injury and was carted off the field. If this team has any chance to get back on track they can not afford to lose Vea. They’re still without Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting, Richard Sherman suffered a calf injury in pregame warmups and is expected to miss multiple weeks again, and now Vea has an injury where we currently have no idea how severe or what the timetable might be. This team is being whittled down to Ray Jay vendors and rent-a-player services more and more every week.

3.) Penalties. Not fixed. Not getting better. No end in sight.

4.) Looking ahead. This team gets the New York Giants on Monday Night Football next week. Then, over a four game stretch, they face the Colts, the Saints again, and the Buffalo Bills. If the team that played on Sunday is any indication of the team that will play those teams then the Bucs could be in a fight for a wild card spot rather than winning the division and ensuring a home playoff game. Heck, at the rate they’re going they need to stop thinking about the games in December and January and start focusing on not taking themselves out of the running by Thanksgiving. This isn’t the time to be calling for coaches to be fired, but the lack of adjusting and correction is concerning. It’s not all on the coaches. The players need to be held accountable amongst themselves. The injuries have decimated them but they still trot out as much, if not more, talent as any team in the NFL. Figure. It. Out.

5.) Recording records. A couple of bright spots on Sunday came from Mike Evans and Lavonte David. Evans, with his 40-yard touchdown, tied Buccaneers legend number 40 Mike Alstott for the most touchdowns in franchise history with 71. One would believe that the record is broken next week against New York. As for David, he surpassed a Bucs legend of his own as well as a Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks for most forced fumbles in franchise history. His fourth quarter strip, and subsequent recovery by Antoine Winfield Jr., set up the touchdown by Mike Evans.

6.) Down, but not out. Things look bleak, no doubt about it. But the Buccaneers went through a similar lull last season and weren’t dealing with all the injuries they have now. The main difference is that they came out on fire after the bye where as this lull seems to have carried over through the bye. As frustrating as things are right now, there is plenty to still be optimistic about. There is still tons of talent and more on the way. No need to jump over the side of the ship quite yet - but this team needs to get things back on track immediately or this tailspin may get out of control.

Six Numbers To Consider

71 - Total touchdowns by Mike Evans, tying the franchise record (Mike Alstott)

2016 - The last time, before Sunday, that Washington scored on their first four drives of a game

2012 - The last time Tom Brady threw two interceptions in the first quarter

33 - Passing touchdowns by Brady, most in NFL history through nine games

4 - Multi-sack games by Devin White in his career

3 - Sacks by Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, second most by a rookie linebacker in team history

Six Best (Or Worst) Tweets

Six Good Things That Happened

1.) New Orleans Saints lost to the Titans, maintaining the Bucs’ first place lead

2.) Carolina Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals meaning the Bucs didn’t lose any ground in the race for the one seed

3.) Three of the Bucs’ next six opponents are currently below .500.

4.) Sean Murphy-Bunting and Scotty Miller are one step closer to returning after practicing last week

5.) Devin White returned to playing good football without getting flagged for any penalties

6.) (Hopefully) The Bucs got their worst game of the year out of the way before they play their final eight games.

Six Super Bowl Bets

This was completed prior to the Sunday Night Football game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs was complete

1.) Tennessee Titans - No Derrick Henry, no Julio Jones. They still get the job done

2.) Green Bay Packers - It wasn’t pretty, and they lost Aaron Jones, but the Packers are on fire as long as Aaron Rodgers is playing

3.) Buffalo Bills - Not as dominant as they were in the beginning of the year, but still racking up wins

4.) Arizona Cardinals - Tough loss to the Panthers, but it happened without Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins

5.) Dallas Cowboys - Talk about a beat down at Jerry’s World...

6.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Get healthy, get better. Start putting together some wins. Still one of the most talented teams in football if they get their heads straight.

Six Final Words

Figure It The Heck Out. Soon.

The Locked On Bucs Podcast is now on YouTube. Check out James Yarcho and David Harrison’s reactions to the game in the player below or by checking out the YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe!