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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost three of their last four games, losing to the Buffalo Bills, 44-32, on Sunday. In what turned out to be a wild shootout, the Buccaneers’ defense was unable to get Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen off the field.
That prompted many to wonder why Todd Bowles opted to punt in an interesting spot.
The Bills led 37-32 and had scored 17 points on their previous three possessions. The Bucs faced a 4th and 2 at their own 39 midway through the fourth quarter.
“From a schematic standpoint, we talked about 1 (yard) or less was positive, 2 or more figured to punt, we figured we had enough time to get the ball back,” Bowles said Monday, per Fox Sports’ Greg Auman.
Tampa Bay did get the ball back. But not until after Allen went 85 yards and rushed for his third touchdown of the game. At that point, the game was basically over.
Allen accounted for a whopping six touchdowns in the win for the Bills.
Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield struggled on the road. He finished 16-of-28 for 173 yards, with one touchdown pass and one interception. Rookie tailback Sean Tucker kept the Buccaneers in the game. Tucker rushed for a career-high 106 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield.
With the loss, the Bucs sit at 6-4 and suddenly are in a dog fight for the NFC South. The Carolina Panthers came from behind to defeat the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, 30-27. The Panthers are 6-5.
Tampa Bay is in the midst of a brutal stretch on their schedule. They face the 8-2 Los Angeles Rams in Week 12 before their schedule finally lightens up to close the season.
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