Bucs Backups Falter In 30-17 Loss To Falcons
With the NFC South crown wrapped up, the Bucs finished off their regular season on Sunday afternoon with a 30-17 loss to the Falcons in Atlanta. Tampa Bay played the majority of its starters in the first half before rolling with the backups the rest of the way. The result was a 10-10 game turning into a 13-point loss, dropping Todd Bowles’ team to 8-9 ahead of the playoffs.
Tampa Bay got out to a hot start, with the offense methodically working its way down the field. Three Chris Godwin catches and a 17-yard run by rookie Deven Thompkins highlighted the opening drive before Tom Brady connected with Kyle Rudolph for an eight-yard touchdown. After a 10-play, 70-yard drive that took 5:13 off the clock, the Bucs led 7-0.
The Buccaneer defense kept the strong start going, with Anthony Nelson picking up a tackle for loss on first down and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka pressuring rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder into an incompletion on second down. Then, on third down, Akiem Hicks got to Ridder for his first sack as a Buc to end the drive. And after a 12-yard return on the punt by Thompkins, Brady and the offense took over again at their own 45. This time, though, Tampa Bay went three-and-out and had to punt the ball away.
Rookie punter Jake Camarda, one of the heroes of last week’s game, pinned Ridder and the Falcons offense at their own 9 to start drive No. 2. The poor field position didn’t matter, though, as the Bucs defense got pushed around. A 26-yard gain by Drake London on an early 3rd & 5 and a low block call on Sean Murphy-Bunting set up runs of 17 and 16 yards by rookie Tyler Allgeier to get inside the Bucs’ 10. Three plays later, Ridder found MyCole Pruitt for a two-yard touchdown.
The Bucs’ great start felt like a distant memory in the waning moments of the first quarter. After allowing that 91-yard scoring drive, they gave the ball right back to the Falcons, with Godwin losing a fumble for the second straight week. The Tampa Bay defense did well to limit the damage, but a Younghoe Koo gave Atlanta a 10-7 lead in the final minute of the first quarter.
Brady and the Bucs answered back after the 10-0 run by the Falcons, putting together a 14-play drive that took 7:39 off the clock. Only instead of finishing the drive with six, they had to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Ryan Succop after a Luke Goedeke holding penalty on 4th & 1. Nonetheless, the game was knotted at 10 halfway through the second quarter.
After the teams traded three-and-outs, the Bucs got a gift from Ridder, who lost the ball before unloading a pass. Devin White recovered the fumble and set the offense up at Atlanta’s 22-yard line. And when the unit took the field, it was veteran backup Blaine Gabbert replacing Brady, who finished the afternoon 13-of-17 for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Gabbert and Thompkins linked up for a gain of 13 yards to the 9 before a penalty set Tampa Bay back ahead of the two-minute warning. But after the break, Gabbert and Russell Gage linked up to set up 3rd & Goal from the 3. On the next play, the two connected again, this time for a touchdown. With Succop’s PAT, the Bucs had a 17-10 lead late in the first half. That’s where the score remained as the two teams headed to the locker room, with Atlanta set to get the ball back to open the third quarter.
The third quarter was all Falcons, as they put together a nine-play, 69-yard field goal drive to open things up before forcing a three-and-out by the Bucs. And after the Tampa Bay punt, Ridder led a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock. With just under a minute left in the third quarter, Atlanta led once again, 20-17.
Getting the ball back again after another Gabbert-led three-and-out, Atlanta once again marched down the field on Tampa Bay’s second-teamers, putting together a nine-play, 83-yard drive that lasted 6:04. The possession ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Cordarrelle Patterson, which extended the Falcons’ lead to 27-17 halfway through the fourth quarter.
On the Bucs’ ensuing possession, 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask got his first taste of NFL regular season action. He threw incomplete on his first two passes, though, leading to Tampa Bay’s third three-and-out of the half.
The Falcons added another field goal on their next drive to extend the lead to 13. Trask and the Tampa Bay offense went hurry-up on the next possession, which netted them their first first down of the second half. But that’s all the second-/third-team unit could muster, with the Falcons ultimately killing the clock from there to win close out their 30-17.
Tampa Bay will now look to get healthy ahead of Wild Card Weekend. As the No. 4 seed, the Bucs will host the No. 5 seed next weekend with the opponent, date and kickoff time to be determined.
