Not long ago, the Tampa Bay Bucs seemed headed for the playoffs in one of those magical turn-around seasons.
Now, they’ve turned back around, and it will take the right combination of results for them even to get into the post-season.
The Bucs dropped a 31-24 game to the New Orleans Saints that left them on the verge on missing the playoffs. Tampa Bay, which lost the NFC South division race with the loss, still have a ghost of a chance, but nothing more, next week against Carolina.
Tampa Bay did not play running back Doug Martin, who was second in the NFL in rushing, choosing instead to go with backup Jacquizz Rodgers.
Drew Brees, who threw three interceptions against Tampa Bay two weeks ago, threw none. He had 299 yards passing to lead the Saints to their victory.
“We played hard,” said Koetter. “We played hard enough, we just didn’t play good enough today. The turnovers [were critical], as it is in many games, those two turnovers led to two touchdowns and we didn’t get any the other way. When you have two turnovers like that lead to 14 quick points against a quarterback like they have, it’s just going to be tough sledding if you don’t take it away on the other end.”
Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston threw for 277 yards, but he had two costly interceptions.
“We couldn’t get as much pressure on him as we did in the first game,” said Koetter. “They ran the ball better than they did in the first game. I think we missed Will Gholston today in the run game. Even though we had two sacks, we pressured them consistently in the last game. I thought a combination of us running by him and him doing a really good job of stepping up – he stepped up through our rush and made plays after stepping up in the pocket that hurt us today.”
