Buccaneers 29, Atlanta 25
December 10th, 2023
“Hey Baker, we got this.“
The Bucs played another stinker and walked out with a deuce — as in back-to-back division victories.
How about them Bucs!!!!
Tampa Bay is now 6-7 with a two-game winning streak and sitting pretty atop the ugly NFC South. Yes, the Bucs own division tiebreakers with Atlanta, the team they squeaked past today. And the Bucs have the edge on the Saints (6-7).
With four games to play, the Bucs control their destiny.
Now the bad news.
Joe cannot believe how much the Bucs offense regressed in the first half. What was that ugliness early and and extending into the third quarter?
In the opening half, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans combined for 2 catches for 8 yards on 5 combined targets. Rachaad White was busy doing what he does — 10 carries for 28 yards. And the Bucs finished the half with 85 yards of offense (minus penalty yardage).
That shouldn’t happen in Week 14 and playcaller Dave Canales and head coach Todd Bowles have no excuses.
Thankfully, the Bucs defense was in big-play mode all day. They smothered a strong Falcons run game and Carlton Davis had a huge intercelption at the Falcons’ 8 yard line — and Antoine Winfield Jr. had a sack-fumble that turned into a safey — to give the Bucs a 12-10 lead at intermission.
To open the third quarter, the Bucs came out firing … to Ko Kieft. The ensuing three-and-out gave the Falcons good field position but the Bucs got big stops from Carlton Davis and Kaevon Merriweather to right the pirate ship.
Then the Bucs started, albeit slowly, to play to their strengths, throwing to Mike Evans and throwing to Rachaad White in space, where he’s good at making plays. The 19-10 lead they took on White’s 31-yard catch-and-run was a huge turning point.
The Bucs’ running game — yes, the run game — wore down Atlanta in the fourth quarter. Just the way head coach Todd Bowles draws it up. The defense got leaky late, but Baker Mayfield saved the day with monster-pressure throws to Godwin and to tight end Cade Otton for the winning touchdown with less then a minute to play.
Much love today for linebacker K.J. Britt stepping up in place of Devin White. And Joe must ask the question, is Zyon McCollum now the Bucs’ best cornerback?
The Bucs aren’t good yet, but today, they were good enough. It’s a beautiful thing.
The jubilant Bucs sideline.
Bring on the playoffs!! pic.twitter.com/Fy6ov2IsOw— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) December 10, 2023
December 10th, 2023 at 4:05 pm
This team is painful
December 10th, 2023 at 4:06 pm
Baker had 2 good passes on the day, both came on the last drive.
So give him credit for that.
Of course if he wasn’t so awful the entire game, the Bucs are up big and don’t need a game winning drive.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:08 pm
The division is ours. Bucs rule! Team positive my a$$ Hot Rod Muncher and all the fait weather fans.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:08 pm
White with another 100 yard day, which is going to really trigger the anti-White mob. He was easily the offensive MVP of the day.
How Evans only gets 1 catch on the day – well, says everything about the awful QB play.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:08 pm
If this was the CFP there would be no way this team would sniff the playoffs.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:09 pm
Big W
Ira can eat his words
December 10th, 2023 at 4:09 pm
I think Canales was more concerned with scheming plays for Godwin than scheming against the ATL defense. The result was pretty ugly. Mayfield keeps this team stuck in mud most of the time. Bowles tries to run clock with a 2-pt lead.
Ugly ugly affair.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:09 pm
With four games to play, the Bucs control their destiny.
_________
Oh yeah, we always kill it when we are in control.
🙄
December 10th, 2023 at 4:10 pm
That was tough to watch. Outside of the final drive, how can anyone be satisfied with the QB play?
December 10th, 2023 at 4:10 pm
It wasn’t pretty but it was effective.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:10 pm
I’m not anti-White
December 10th, 2023 at 4:11 pm
Wish play calling looked like the last 5 minutes the whole game. So many blown opportunities.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:11 pm
50% passing 144 yds here comes the bakery club to tell us how AMAZING midfield is!!!!
December 10th, 2023 at 4:11 pm
Defense 9. Offense 20. Koo -6. Stop opposition at the 2 with time expired. I think the Bucs have found a recipe that will lead to continued success.
Green Bay better be worried.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:11 pm
Bee Says:
December 10th, 2023 at 4:10 pm
That was tough to watch. Outside of the final drive, how can anyone be satisfied with the QB play?
——-
Haven’t you seen Baker’s commercials? They’re so funny, and he shows so much heart, how can you not be 100% in on Mayfield!?!
December 10th, 2023 at 4:12 pm
Nothing has changed, the o-line is still terrible, the secondary is still terrible, the playcalling is still terrible. But a win is a win, and we march on. LFG!
December 10th, 2023 at 4:12 pm
Pelvic thrusts all around baby! Time to sneak in and pound the puss.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:13 pm
THAT WAS AWESOME….LETS KEEP IT GOING….
AND BAKER, SLOW DOWN THE VELOCITY ON THAT BALL SOMETIMES DUDE…YOURE MESSING UP THERE….
December 10th, 2023 at 4:14 pm
The secondary is WAY worse than our OL.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:15 pm
I think my health is dwindling due to this football team no joke I don’t feel good right now lol
December 10th, 2023 at 4:16 pm
We almost had a rehash of the Houston game
December 10th, 2023 at 4:16 pm
Sitting pretty?
Lol
Good one
December 10th, 2023 at 4:17 pm
So, now rather than Atlanta, the Bucs are the most likely team to be curb stomped in round 1 of the playoffs. Perfect.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:17 pm
I do not understand the joy.
Sure, they won and may win the worst division in the NFL, but…
– do you really want Bowles in ’24?
– do you really want Mayfield in ’24?
– do you really want 7 rounds of mid-picks?
This team is poorly coached.
Mayfield is extremely limited.
Top 10 picks in each round are gold.
For the competitive future of the Bucs, this is nothing to celebrate.
For me, its Super Bowl contention or nothing. For others, i guess crushing mediocrity is acceptable.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:20 pm
Wish you guys would stop criticizing White. Yes he gets stuffed a ttimes but man he had some clutch runs and a huge touchdown catch.
Look back since week 7: Averaging 91 yards from scrimmage inlcuding a game of only 58 against stout 49ers. He has 2 100 yard rushing games and 6 touchdowns.
745 yards rushing 1164 total yards. This is through 13 games.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:21 pm
When it is all on the line….Our Desprsdos won the game….
December 10th, 2023 at 4:22 pm
beautiful pass when it was all on the line.
Way to go Baker.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:23 pm
CD played like a #1 corner most of the day, but Zyon is making Dean’s salary look really expendable this offseason.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:28 pm
Aside from the 49ers most teams are playing ugly football. A win in the nfl is big no matter what it looks like
December 10th, 2023 at 4:31 pm
JTS abused by a QB lol
December 10th, 2023 at 4:37 pm
A very un-creative and ineffective offense….. no screen passes, few passes to the tight end….no end arounds…to many rushes…etc. Booooring.
Baker has happy feet and poor long pass accuracy.
We will not win the South given our upcoming opponents, sorry to say. I look forward to energetic changes in 2024!
December 10th, 2023 at 4:38 pm
What will they do to score points vs Green Bay? Mayfield was horrid. You can’t count the White touchdown as a passing TD that was a dump off that White got on his own with a great move and that block by Godwin.
Winfield is still all world and JTS is still a scrub. He had the angle on Ridder and gave him the sideline. He is a total waste of a high draft pick.
Neither Atlanta or the Bucs are playoff calibre
December 10th, 2023 at 4:44 pm
McCollum balled his a$$ off! That man should be a permanent fixture from here on out.
December 10th, 2023 at 4:54 pm
Other than injury or a clenched playoff spot Trask will never start a non preseason game in the NFL. He will be a backup somewhere (at best ) or out of the NFL by 2025, he doesn’t have a NFL caliber arm and he’s about as inspiring as watching cars rust.
On the bright side, it’s supposed to get cold so you occult of Trask people can bust out your gator footie pajamas this weekend!!!!
December 10th, 2023 at 4:54 pm
I was not not impressed with Canales play calling. Every fist and second down seemed to be a run for much of the game. Baker struggled most of the game.
Still got Jags and Saints if we get by panthers. Good defensive effort to keep us in the game. I will probably be in no confidence poll if Canales and Bowles don’t take chances on offense
December 10th, 2023 at 5:03 pm
Davenport, I agree 100%. This team is awful and I certainly do not want Bowels back in ’24.
December 10th, 2023 at 5:12 pm
Davenport…. I totally agree! Good way to stay mediocre for the future.
December 10th, 2023 at 5:28 pm
Fire both head POS coach and the OC run up the middle Einstein. Hire a OC that knows the talent on the team. Need more QB roll outs because Mayfield is short. Each week passes are blocked. Use the tight end more. The other teams get films of the last game and they know up the middle probably 20 times. No imagination. The one today because their kicker blew to attempts. There is plenty of defensive issues as well. Play a zone and stick too the zone. Man to man is not working….. Need new coaches who know talent
December 10th, 2023 at 5:36 pm
It is just amazing how bad u so called fans r, no baker did not put up 29 points had nothing to do with him had no drops had 3 interceptions 3 fumbles no tds .he really sucks he gave atl the tds they needed to almost win.u people suck all year he can’t get over 20 pts per game he can’t throw he bad he sucks yes every bad play is cause of baker he needs to retire all week bucs lose to atl bucs r going to b a 3 game win team.well they b 6&7 shid ofx won the 1st game with atl sud wo. Texans shud won won buffalo game this league has had 53 diff.qb this year yet baker still there this guy deserves some.credit all season it’s really not baker that sucks it’s u so called fans I say get off this site.i listen to commentators during our games none of they say the same garbage as u post rookies on this site
December 10th, 2023 at 5:45 pm
baker didn’t have anything to do with TD to white or u can’t count that let’s pretend then trask threw that half screen pass to white it must of been Trask on game winning TD also hay Evans was not open all day Godwin pretty was sick mode it’s always baker sucks I so sick of hearing the same thing over & over u guys r the worst baker cud have a 400 yd game & still not win so go f*** u r selfs
December 10th, 2023 at 5:48 pm
Davenport,
As Alvin eludes to… You are certainly NOT alone.
Winning is Special. I Want To Win. But at what cost…? The possibility of a BRIGHT FUTURE! As good as it feels, For what seems more than “Obvious”, I feel Dirty.
I NEVER a though I’d meet the day that I could feel sick after a win. It’s weird. It’s like when we won about 5 years or so ago against the Saints (and I think because of the opponent) our last game of the season. It felt SO GOOD but it Cost us DEARLY in our draft order. That win COST US SOME SERIOUS TALENT but at least it was SATISFYING!……!
This IS NOT the same experience. This time I feel ugly inside. It feels DIRTY!
Funny how I see this as the last game of the season. I suppose I don’t really “expect” us to win another game this season. After the Sweet Satisfaction of the push at the end wore off, the potential reality of WASTING another year with Bowles Which IS actually MORE LIKE 2 to 3 More years of Consequence and Sadness with Bowles around SMEARING Gross, nasty, Dark Brown SH… ooze all over the culture and all of us fans. Seems like a forgotten dream as I wake back up to this SMELLY nightmare.
In the end, IT DOES FEEL GOOD TO WIN THOUGH, DESPITE THE REMARKABLY BAD COACHING….+
I’m in Bizzaro World! O well, GO BUCS!
December 10th, 2023 at 6:39 pm
FakerBucs why don’t you go back to your Faker fansite you try hard??? You’re more of a Baker fan than a Bucs fan and never posted before he came here. Go back to where you belong
December 10th, 2023 at 6:51 pm
FOOL’S GOLD, we win when we should lose and we lose when we should win! I want Caleb Williams and a rebuild. And yes I believe in EXECUTION.
December 10th, 2023 at 6:52 pm
@Davenport Nailed it 🎯🎯💯. These fans are okay with a mediocre Baker and he further proves today he shouldn’t be here for the future he was absolutely crappy all game until he made that last TD throw. Heck even the announcers errr saying how he couldn’t throw anything over 10 yards hardly and his accuracy is trash.
He isn’t the long term
Solution and neither is Bowles at head coach we got lucky again today. Not much to look forward to when we continue to have the slow starts and a Qb that plays inconsistent with no touch on the longer throws and poor coaching. The offensive coordinator is too predictable and for the love of god stop the run run pass cycle and switch it up 🗑️🗑️🗑️
December 10th, 2023 at 6:59 pm
Man, I hope someone takes a baseball bat to Canales’ head. Bucs were beat up on D, but Falcons lost 3 vet OLinemen. ME13 and CG14 were hardly targeted. Are you kidding? I kept waiting for Canales to call a QB bootleg, Why not? I’m glad my team won, but Canales better get his act together.
December 10th, 2023 at 7:34 pm
It’s a valid position to want to take a QB in the draft, but without protecting him, you’re dooming the team (and the QB) to failure.
December 10th, 2023 at 8:04 pm
Too bad for Gator fans (errr, I mean Kyle Trask fans). On the plus side (NOT), we get to hear them whine about Trask never getting a chance to play for at least one more week.
December 10th, 2023 at 8:18 pm
Deuche – we know you like White, I think we also know you are and never will be a fan of Ahmed Black!
December 10th, 2023 at 8:19 pm
UKBuccaneer Says:
December 10th, 2023 at 7:34 pm
It’s a valid position to want to take a QB in the draft, but without protecting him, you’re dooming the team (and the QB) to failure.
_________
Baker wasn’t pressured that much today. He just held the ball a lot and missed throwing to guys that were open…again. Par for the course.
December 10th, 2023 at 8:46 pm
JTS had some good karma on the safety play where he read the RB coming out of the backfield and covered him, not letting Ridder have an outlet to pass to. He lost all that karma on the Ridder touchdown when that weak stiff arm stopped him.
December 10th, 2023 at 9:12 pm
If we make the playoffs We get bounced in the first round. All we did these last 2 weeks is f up our draft picks. I am sick of this. Sadly we will never know what Trask can do I mean Brock Purdy made the most of his chance I feel bad for Trask
December 10th, 2023 at 10:24 pm
What an embarrassing win. Pathetic. So tired of white running to nowhere.
December 10th, 2023 at 11:18 pm
Thanks for the win!!!
If we want to continue winning, the play calling has got to improve. Six 3and outs is just pathetic. These games plans have to become less predictable.
And this ridiculous head coach calling for “clock eating” and prevent defense when we have a 2 point lead is mind boggling. That plan almost lost us another one with less than a minute left.
Unfortunately, Bowels and Canales will be so proud of this win that they won’t change a thing.
December 11th, 2023 at 2:25 am
This team is 2-11 with Trask or anybody else…..flat out, period
December 11th, 2023 at 8:59 am
Looking at the Box score…We won on time of posession and the scoreboard. Surprised that our RBs ran for 142 yards and a 4.3 YPC average. Everywhere else we lost big time. Amazing that we won this game to me.
Go Bucs!
December 11th, 2023 at 7:19 pm
The Baker’s Strap Club is the occult around here so stop your nonsense. Continuously heralding a 6th year non winning vet who barely edged out a 3rd year “rookie” who was drafted to replace Brady but because of our losing mindset hc who coaches not to win is trying to keep his job went with Fakerboi because tie goes to the vet. Faker did not out play Trask in training camp the way or preseason the way he should’ve if he was so good as the Baker’s Strap Club tries to lie about. Look at the different teams starting back ups and rookies and are succeeding. Faker is Ryan Fitzpatrick 1.5 and his fans are in love with a mediocre qb who barely gives us something to cheer about from time to time. He makes more bad or as many bad throws as he makes good and his fans refuse to see his sub par for what it is. He is as good as he’s ever going to be and he has a very short ceiling. At least Ryan had “Fitzmagic” and was exciting to watch at times . What’s Faker got??? Moxie and pluckiness. Bucs will rarely win much with him as our qb so I’d rather see what Trask given a chance to see what he has to offer than more of the same of what Faker has to shown.
December 11th, 2023 at 7:24 pm
FakernonBucsFan you’re the biggest whiner on this site always crying about other fans Fandom. Bet you’re a blast at a tailgate party.