Bucs try a few tricks, but magic is missing vs. Falcons Having lost their two best receivers on offense to injury, the Bucs spent the entire week convincing themselves they still had enough playmakers to beat the Falcons. Chris Godwin is out for the season with a dislocated ankle and Mike Evans will miss at least three games with a hamstring injury. No one could wave a wand and make them reappear. But you could tell the Bucs felt they needed a little extra magic with the trickery they pulled from their playbook in Sunday's 31-26 loss to the Falcons. Trailing by a touchdown in the third quarter, the Bucs faked a punt and personal protector Tavierre Thomas took a direct snap but was tackled for a 2-yard loss by Falcons receiver KhaDarel Hodge. The turnover on downs led to Kirk Cousins' 6-yard touchdown pass to Bijan Robinson - Cousins' fourth of the game - and their only score in the second half. Thomas said the play was doomed from the start because the Falcons had more defenders on the left side than they could block. "It was the look we wanted and then they shifted out of it at the last, last second," Thomas said. "So they shifted out of it at the last second and we couldn't get out of it. We were just trying to make a play. Trying to give the offense a little juice." That's also what the Bucs had in mind when Baker Mayfield tried a flea-flicker pass to receiver Ryan Miller earlier in the third quarter that was intercepted by Falcons safety Jessie Bates III. "The flea-flicker, I think honestly Bates made a hell of a play," said Mayfield, who passed for 330 yards and three touchdowns but was intercepted twice, giving him seven in the last three games. "It looked like Ryan Miller almost had it in his hands. It looked like Bates kind of stole it. That's the type of player he is, though." After starting the season 3-1 a year ago, the Bucs lost six of their next seven games but still won the NFC South and a playoff game. This year they started 3-1, have lost three of their last four and face tough games Nov. 4 (a Monday night) at Kansas City against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs and home Nov. 10 against the 49ers. So are the Bucs a real contender or, like that aborted punt in the third quarter, just a failed fake? One thing is for certain, the Falcons took control of the NFC South with their second win in four weeks over the Bucs, owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with the series sweep. Perhaps more concerning is the Bucs' leaky defense, which allowed Cousins to pass for 276 yards and four scores while his offense gained 394 total yards. Cousins has thrown eight touchdown passes in the two games against the Bucs and six total in the other six games. "It's frustrating because we're making mistakes and beating ourselves," Todd Bowles said. "That's the part we've got to clean up. We can't play ourselves and our opponent. Whether it's tough ones, easy ones, no matter who we play the next two weeks, we've got to play better in order for us to win. We've got to fix our problems. The problems are in the locker room but the answers are in the locker room. The coaches, the players, we've got to stay together. We've got to fix us and we've got to get moving." For all the hand-wringing about what the Bucs could do on offense without Evans and Godwin, the problem was stopping the Falcons' offense. The Falcons also rushed for 129 yards. Even Cousins, coming off a torn Achilles, scrambled 13 yards to set up an easy fourth-down conversion. Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen devised an effective game plan, utilizing his three running backs wisely. Bucky Irving was dynamic rushing for 44 yards and catching seven passes for 40 yards. Tight end Cade Otton was Mayfield's favorite target again with nine catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns. The Bucs actually led 14-7 in the second quarter on Mayfield's 18-yard TD pass to Rachaad White. But former Gators star Kyle Pitts caught a pair of touchdown passes, including one that appeared to be stripped by safety Antoine Winfield Jr. at the goal line and rolled through the end zone for a touchback. But the officials said they didn't have a good goal-line view on the instant replay review and the play stood. Even Cousins was stumped as to why he has had so much success against the Bucs defense this year. "I don't (know), to be honest," Cousins said. "But as much as there was production, the next snap always feels very tension-filled because of the pressures that Coach Bowles can bring and what Winfield can do, and what (Calijah) Kancey can do and what Lavonte David can do. You never felt safe." Cousins was right. The Bucs rallied when a Cousins handoff to Robinson was dislodged by Christian Izien and rolled out of the end zone for a safety. Mayfield's 4-yard TD to Otton cut the lead to 31-26 with 5:12 to play. When Younghoe Koo missed a 39-yard field goal, it came down to Mayfield's Hail Mary attempt that was caught out of the back of the end zone by Rakim Jarrett. If anything, if proved the Bucs will need more than magic to save this season. Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times, published 28 October 2024