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Greg Auman, The St.Petersburg Times, published 3 October 2016
DELAY OF GAME
For the second week in a row, the NFL scheduled a 4 p.m. game in Florida and, yes, dealt with a fourth-quarter delay due to lightning. Last week it was a 70-minute delay with two minutes left in a loss to the Rams. Sunday it was an 86-minute delay with 6:52 left and the Broncos leading 27-7. Play resumed at 8:20 p.m. with heavy rain still falling. The Bucs still have one more 4:05 p.m. home kickoff, Nov. 27 against the Seahawks.
STRUGGLING
RB Charles Sims, making his second start in place of Martin, could not consistently move the ball, gaining 28 yards on 15 carries for an average of just 1.9 yards per carry. And though Sims had 50-plus receiving yards last week, he had two catches for just 7 yards against the Broncos. Backup Jacquizz Rodgers fared slightly better, with 25 yards on six carries with a long of 12.
MAKING A CHANGE
The Bucs benched veteran CB Alterraun Verner, who had been part of the nickel defense, replacing him with second-year CB Jude Adjei-Barimah, who didn't play a snap on defense against the Rams. "They wanted to shake things up, to see if they can get this defense going," Verner said. Adjei-Barimah had one tackle and one pass defensed as the nickel corner, with rookie Vernon Hargreaves staying outside the entire game.
WAIT, WHAT?
Down 27-7 with 7:22 to play, the Bucs faced fourth and 6 from the Broncos' 46-yard line … and opted to punt. The punt was downed at the Denver 11 for a field-position gain, but with the Bucs needing three scores in seven minutes, they essentially threw in the towel.
YOUNG QBs
The Bucs have lost seven straight games against quarterbacks playing in their first five NFL games. The Broncos had two of them, with Trevor Siemian starting his fifth NFL game and rookie Paxton Lynch, who made his NFL debut when Siemian was hurt in the first half and played the entire second half.
The common thread in the seven losses? The Bucs can't make even inexperienced quarterbacks throw interceptions. In those losses, opposing quarterbacks had more than 240 passes and just one interception — not by Siemian or Lynch — against 10 touchdown passes.
THIS AND THAT
Rookie S Ryan Smith took over on kickoff returns with limited success. He totaled 27 yards on two returns, with the rest going as touchbacks. … WR Adam Humphries, who had career highs with nine catches for 100 yards last week, couldn't repeat that success, getting four targets Sunday but managing just one catch for 4 yards. … Bucs P Bryan Anger continues to play well and get plenty of work. He averaged 46.6 yards on seven punts, including three dropped inside the 20.
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