Bucs Report Card: How we graded Tampa Bay’s win over Green Bay in Week 15
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on a winning streak, and it came at just the right time.
The Bucs have won three games in a row, with the latest being a dominant showing against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. The Bucs moved to 7-7 in one of their best games all year, controlling the pace of the matchup and finding the end zone often in the statement victory. The team faces some upcoming trials that will determine if it makes the playoffs or not, and if it plays like this more often than not, that will certainly come.
Here are Bucs Wire’s grades for the offense, defense, special team and coaching from Sunday’s win:
Offense: A+
Hard to complain here.
The Bucs offense looked perhaps the best it has all year on Sunday. The run game averaged 3.7 yards per carry and helped to set up the passing game, in which quarterback Baker Mayfield was indomitable — he put up a perfect 158.3 passer rating on a 78.6% completion percentage with 381 yards and four touchdowns. He spread the ball around, too, throwing touchdowns to Mike Evans, Rachaad White, Ko Kieft and David Moore. The offensive player of the day outside Mayfield was almost certainly Chris Godwin, who caught 10 passes for 155 yards and converted on numerous third-down opportunities.
Speaking of Rachaad White, he continues to be used deftly in space. White averaged 4.2 yards per carry and also caught for 50 yards and a touchdown, excelling in the Alvin Kamara-like role he’s been given so far these last few games.
This was probably Tampa Bay’s best offensive outing alongside the Saints game in Week 4 and the Texans game in Week 9. Whether or not the Bucs can keep this going remains to be seen, but if they can, the road to a playoff spot will become much easier.
Defense: C-
Holding the Packers to 20 points is all well and good. The Bucs still manage to hold teams out of the red zone, which goes a long way in giving the offense a chance to win games (and they did, this time). However, that doesn’t mask a huge defensive problem that will come back to haunt this team in the playoffs.
Simply put, Tampa Bay’s pass defense is awful. QB Jordan Love threw for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns for a 74% completion percentage. A big reason for that is how poor the Bucs defense is — zone coverage busts aren’t just common, they’re routine, and quarterbacks have a tendency to shred the Bucs’ secondary every week they play them. This was no different, and though the team is dealing with injuries, it’ll be a first-round exit if this doesn’t change.
The team did fine in limiting the run, holding the Packers to 3.5 yards per carry. The team has managed to limit points well so far, but the playoffs will not treat this defense very kindly.
Special Teams: A-
The offense was so good, in fact, that special teams didn’t have to do much of anything. Chase McLaughlin hit every kick he was asked to, and Jake Camarda’s one and only punt was a brilliant one that pinned the Packers way back. Deven Thompkins could have been a lot better about taking back kicks instead of fair catching them, but overall, a good day here.
Coaching: A-
Bowles still gets a little fault for the team’s continued coverage busts, but as far as situational coaching goes, this was one of his very best games.
Bowles was aggressive when he needed to be, and this was particularly notable when the Bucs had the ball in Green Bay’s red zone at the end of the half. Bowles made sure to properly use his timeouts and get down the field to get points on the board before the half, something he has simply opted not to do in games past. Additionally, he made the call to go for it on 4th and 2 at the end of the game, sealing the victory for Tampa Bay. Big props to him here for a well-coached game.
Additionally, offensive coordinator Dave Canales was phenomenal. His gameplan was varied and his was able to spread the ball to a lot of targets, creating a lethal offense that put up over 30 points for just the second time this season. Canales has improved as a play-caller every game, and if he can cook like this for the rest of the year, the Bucs offense could come online at exactly the right time.
