The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have reached a new low this season after losing in embarrassing fashion to the Carolina Panthers Sunday, 21-3. The Buccaneers entered the day as the biggest favorite to win, laying 13.5 points. The line jumped mid-week after news surfaced that the Panthers had traded their best player, Christian McCaffrey, to the San Francisco 49ers.

There was no belief by most NFL fans that the Buccaneers could lose this game. Yet, here we are after another terrible performance vs. one of the worst teams in football. The offense is in shambles. The defense has shown vulnerability. Tampa Bay is inexplicably 3-4, having lost four of last five games.

So, let's dive into the key Buccaneers takeaways from their Week 7 loss to the Falcons.

4. “Father Time” is finally beating Tom Brady

There is an age old saying in sports, “father time is undefeated.” We might never have seen an athlete, not only in football history, but the history of North American sports, give father time this much of a run for its money as Tom Brady has. But it appears as though Brady is up against the ropes now.

Numerous times now Brady has looked like a shell of himself. On Sunday, he spiked a number of throws into the ground. He also missed wide open crossers, overthrew Mike Evans on a deep-in route. There is no denying it, Brady is playing very poorly.

The Buccaneers drives today ended in seven punts, end of the half, a turnover on downs and a meaningless field goal. This is the worst we have seen this Bucs team look since Brady arrived in 2020.

Through seven games, he has thrown just eight touchdown passes. Brady has done a good job not turning the football over, as he has just one interception. Nevertheless, he looks like a shell of himself this season. Nothing we saw Sunday changed any of that.

3. Buccaneers run game has completely disappeared

I wrote earlier this week how I expected Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette to finally get back on track. So much for that. He struggled mightily once again, rushing for 19 yards on eight carries. He wasn't even able to make an impact receiving, which he normally does. He caught just two passes for seven yards Sunday.

But over the last two seasons, we saw Fournette get stronger and stronger both as games and the season itself went along. That does not seem possible at this point. Tampa Bay simply cannot open any running lanes for the Pro Bowl tailback.

The Panthers defense seemed like the perfect opportunity to get going. They were among the leagues worst at stopping opposing running games. Considering how Brady and the passing game had been struggling, you would have thought the Buccaneers would come out looking to take control of the game on the ground. That did not happen as Fournette received three total carries deep into the first half.

But it's not just volume, Fournette has really struggled in short yardage. That is an area in which the Bucs have typically excelled the last couple seasons.

Injuries to the offensive line clearly have had a major impact on both Brady and Fournette this season.

2. Buccaneers run defense no longer an elite unit

For the last few seasons, the Buccaneers defense has been the best in the league at stopping the run. They opted not to re-sign defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh this offseason. Suh is still a free agent. Maybe he is commanding too much money but the Buccaneers might want to think about ponying up that dough.

This season, the Buccaneers are allowing over 118 rushing yards per game. That ranks 16th in the league. On its face, it doesn't sound bad. But they have been top three for three straight years, finishing number one twice.

On Sunday, the combination of D'Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard combined for 181 yards on the ground. Yeah, Foreman and Hubbard did that to the Bucs run defense. There is clearly an issue here. However, it is very possible it goes back to the offenses inability to stay on the field.

Maybe that defense is simply wearing down.

1. Playoffs are still attainable for Buccaneers 

It's looking like the only path to a playoff berth is by winning the division. But as hard as it is to believe, the Buccaneers are in first place of the NFC South. They are 3-4, tied with the Atlanta Falcons, with whom they beat a couple weeks ago. The New Orleans Saints are 2-5, as are the Panthers.

The Bucs are 2-1 in the division and even though their remaining schedule is difficult, they still have three more games against the pitiful NFC South. But unless this team can figure some things out, it likely won't matter.