Bucs Squander Hot Start In 34-23 Loss To Bengals
Coming off of a 35-7 beatdown at the hands of the 49ers out west last week, the Bucs returned home for another major test against Joe Burrow and the high-flying Bengals on Sunday. They looked to be well on their way to bouncing back, taking a 17-3 lead into halftime. Instead, they turned the ball over four times and got outscored 31-6 in the second half on their way to a 34-23 loss.
Tampa Bay got out to as good of a start as it could’ve asked for, with Keanu Neal tipping a Burrow pass into the hands of Carlton Davis to end the first Cincinnati drive. Tom Brady and the offense took advantage of the turnover, converting a couple of third downs before getting down to the Bengals’ 4-yard line. But they couldn’t take full advantage of the Davis interception, settling for a 21-yard field goal by Ryan Succop after a 13-play, 67-yard drive that took 6:20 off the clock.
The Buccaneer defense continued to put pressure on Burrow on the next Bengals possession, with Anthony Nelson and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka splitting a third-down sack to force a punt. And the complementary football continued, as Brady and the Bucs offense went 59 yards in 11 plays to extend their lead. The 45-year-old quarterback connected with Russell Gage for a 1-yard touchdown on 4th & Goal — the second fourth-down conversion of the drive — to go up 10-0 less than a minute into the second quarter.
The Tampa Bay defense was really the story of the first half, with a Lavonte David sack ending another Cincinnati drive before it began before Davis came up with another pass breakup on third down to force another punt halfway through the second quarter. That gave the Bucs a chance to build on their lead before getting the ball to open the second half.
Brady engineered yet another methodical drive, hitting Godwin for double-digit gains three times in addition to finding Leonard Fournette for 12 yards. Then, to finish off a 10-play, 85-yard drive, Brady found Godwin for a five-yard touchdown to put the Bucs up 17-0 with 1:39 left in the half.
The Bengals had time to work with before the break, though, and they made good use of it. After a 28-yard return on the kickoff, Burrow completed four straight passes to move the ball down the field. That set up a 41-yard field goal by Evan McPherson to cut the deficit to 17-3.
Through the first 30 minutes, it was all Bucs. They led the Bengals in first downs (16-6), total yards (261-83), turnovers (1-0) and time of possession (20:27-9:33). Plus, the defense held Cincinnati to an 0-for-3 mark on third downs.
Whatever momentum the Bucs had after the first half stayed in the locker room the rest of the way. After a three-and-out, what looked to be a snap to Giovani Bernard out of punt formation was botched. That gave the ball over to the Bengals in the red zone at the 16-yard line.
To its credit, the Buccaneer defense stepped up. Logan Ryan and Carlton Davis broke up passes on back-to-back plays to force a 21-yard field goal by McPherson. Given the situation, holding the Bengals to three was a big win for the Bucs, who held on to a 17-6 lead.
The Tampa Bay offense continued to put the defense in bad situations from there, though, with Brady throwing an interception to Tre Flowers at the 31-yard line on the next drive. The Bucs looked to get another big stop with a team sack of Burrow on 4th & 3 that would’ve been a loss of 26, only Lavonte David was called for holding. That gave Cincinnati a fresh set of downs, then another stop was negated by a facemask call on Davis.
With the help of two critical penalties, the Bengals cashed in. Burrow hit Higgins for a five-yard touchdown, getting them within 17-12. But Dee Delaney made a great play on the ball to break up the two-point conversion try, keeping it a five-point game with 5:42 left in the third quarter.
The implosion continued for the Bucs on their next drive, with a Gage drop on second down leading to a sack-fumble on Brady one play later. That gave the ball over to Cincinnati at the 13 and five plays later, the Bengals took the lead on a three-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to Tyler Boyd. With a successful two-point conversion, their lead was 20-17 with 2:40 left in the third quarter.
A couple of solid runs by Fournette got the next drive going for Tampa Bay’s offense, only for a bad handoff exchange to turn into another turnover — and another short field for Cincinnati’s offense. An eight-play, 39-yard drive then ended with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to Chase, extending the visitors’ lead to 27-17 thanks to 27 unanswered points.
There was no miraculous comeback this time around, either. Brady threw another interception on the Bucs’ next drive, making it four turnovers for him in the second half. The Bengals cruised the rest of the way, with Burrow adding a fourth touchdown pass to make it a 34-17 before a consolation touchdown from Brady to Gage made it a 34-23 final.
Brady’s stat line ended up being disastrous, as he finished the night 30-of-44 for 312 yards and three touchdowns to four turnovers. Evans was a big part of the team’s first-half success, catching four passes for 71 yards in the first two quarters. He ended the game with five catches for 83 yards. It was Gage (twice) and Godwin finding the end zone for Tampa Bay.
Defensively, there was little that Tampa Bay could do. Cincinnati had just 36 yards before its final drive of the first half and though the Burrow-led offense took over in the second half, the Bengals were constantly being gifted favorable field position by the Bucs. In the end, the Bucs even outgained the Bengals by more than 150 yards.
With the loss, the Bucs fall to 6-8 but maintain their NFC South lead. They’ll look to get back on track next Sunday in a Christmas night matchup against the Cardinals (4-10) in Arizona. Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m.
