Bucs Nation
Questions were answered, yet one question remains: Why?
The Buccaneers dropped to 4-3 on the season after their 41-31 loss tot he Baltimore Ravens Monday night. The score shouldn’t have been that close. Quarterback Baker Mayfield did not play well, wide receiver Mike Evans left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury, and the defense never showed up. If we’re being honest with ourselves, the game was out of reach halfway through the third quarter because of how Tampa Bay was playing and not because of what the scoreboard had on it.
So why? Why was Mayfield, Chris Godwin, Rachaad White, Tristan Wirfs, and many others still in the game in what is commonly known as garbage time?
“We were trying to win a ballgame,” head coach Todd Bowles said after the game.
Unfortunately, trying to win a ballgame also cost the season for one of Tampa Bay’s top receivers.
Godwin went down after a catch-and-run in the fourth quarter and never got back up with no timeouts remaining down by 10 points and just :58 left on the game clock when the play ended.
FIFTY. EIGHT. SECONDS.
The live broadcast showed the veteran receiver’s foot pointed awkwardly and immediately the human mind knows what had just occurred. Mayfield was squatting in disbelief. Rookie receiver Jalen McMillan was pacing around. And the training staff was immediately calling for the cart to take Godwin off the field.
Godwin’s season — and perhaps his time in pewter and red (hopefully not) — may have ended with :58 left in a game he had no business playing in anymore, along with most of the other starters.
So again, why? Why were Tampa Bay’s top players still out on the field? Even former Buccaneer Gerald McCoy was emphatically asking on X why was Godwin still in the game.
It’s admirable that a coaching staff ensures they have every possible chance at winning a game until the clock strikes zero. But even Joe Buck posed the question on the broadcast asking at what point do you just take the loss and live to play another week, ironically just a play or two before Godwin’s injury.
No, it’s not Bowles’ fault. Injuries are a part of the game of football. After all, Mayfield said during his postgame press conference players wanted to remain in the game. So the finger pointing at anyone is unwarranted, sure. But ultimately, reality has to hit players and coaches at some point and understand it’s ok to regroup and play next week with 10 games still left to play on the schedule.
Tampa Bay will already be without Evans for at least this upcoming game against the Atlanta Falcons next Sunday, meaning that the Bucs have already hit the crucial stretch of their schedule and will be doing so down their top two receivers.
The Bucs will have the loss to the Ravens but with it will be a footnote noting the loss of Godwin with the question...
