Jameis Winston was turnover free. Doug Martin was loose in the secondary. Mike Evans was a beast.
And the Bucs lost.
The defense scored a touchdown. It smothered the opponent’s running game. It played from ahead.
And the Bucs lost.
The Bucs gave up just one sack. It lost just one fumble on its final play.Winston threw for almost 300 yards.
And the Bucs lost.
Say it again: The Bucs lost. They blew a 24-point lead along the way, and it made a star out of a pedestrian quarterback named Kirk Cousins. But they lost, 31-30 to Washington, in one of the absolute gut-punches in the history of Tampa Bay losses – and there have been a lot of them.
How did this one get away? How did a day when the Bucs threw the ball, and ran the ball, and stopped the run turn into one of the most painful defeats of the Lovie Smith era?
Well, start with the Bucs giving a football field and a half away in penalties: 16 of them for 142 yards. Follow with the complete inability of the Bucs to compete with Cousins, who hit 33 of 40 passes for 317 yards and three scores? Then list an onside kick – the first one recovered this season by the kicking team. Throw in a touchdown that was nullified on an offensive pass penalty. Remember a field goal at the end that should have been a touchdown.
All of it was rocks tumbling down the hill until it turned in an avalanche.
And a defeat.
“Some losses leave a deeper scar,” coach Lovie Smith said. “This was one of those. This one hurts, but we have a lot of football in front of us.”
Yes, but will there be another opportunity like this one, when the Bucs gained 200 yards in the first period, when they took a 24-0 lead, when they seemed on their way to evening their record at 3-3. The Bucs couldn’t stop the penalty flags from falling, or the Redskins from celebrating touchdowns.
For the day, the Bucs had so many positive numbers. Winston threw for 297 yards without a turnover and two scores. Martin rushed for 136 yards. Evans caught eight balls for 164 yards.
But the team could not keep from committing penalties, and it could now slow down Cousins. In their past two games, the Bucs have allowed 620 yards and a 127.7 quarterback rating to Cousins and Blake Bortles. It makes you wonder exactly how this team ranked fourth in the NFL against the pass.
Tampa Bay travels to Atlanta next Sunday.
