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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 15 loss to the New Orleans Saints saw the team fall in more than one way. First, they were shut out 9-0 by their bitter rivals in a game that could have clinched the NFC South Division for themselves. Second, they lost multiple key skill players to injuries that have varying degrees of seriousness and necessary downtime. The biggest loss was receiver Chris Godwin, who will be out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. They also lost starting running back Leonard Fournette for a week or two and lost receiver Mike Evans for most of the Saints game.
The loss makes the Buccaneers to just 22-39 all-time against the Saints, with New Orleans winning seven of the last eight, nine of the last twelve, and sixteen of the last 21 regular-season matchups between the two franchises. The Buccaneers got the last laugh in the 2020 season, however, as they were able to beat the Saints in New Orleans in the playoffs en route to winning the Super Bowl. The Buccaneers brought back their entire starting-22 and are hoping for a repeat, but Sunday's game put a serious damper on their chances.
With three games remaining against non-competitive teams, this game and the injuries (minus Godwin) could end up not hurting the Buccaneers in the long run. Still, Tampa Bay will want to watch the tape from Week 15's Buccaneers-Saints matchup as soon as possible. When they do, they will discover two huge things that they can work on going forward and one silver lining that they might not have expected.
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Buccaneers Week 15 Takeaways
3. The Defense was Amazing (good)
When you hold your opponent to 3.62 yards per play for an entire football game, you usually win. That was not the case for the Buccaneers on Sunday night, and possibly the reason that Tom Brady threw and broke his tablet during the game. The offense just did not hold up its end of the bargain. The offensive line let Brady get sacked four times and the backup receivers (Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller) seemed ill-prepared to step in.
The team will get Antonio Brown back in the fold this weekend and that will likely push the two young guys back to the bench. Brown is a former all-pro who has missed time this year due to a hamstring injury and a suspension for using a fake COVID-19 vaccine card. Both Miller and Johnson will still need to be ready, however, as you never know when you will be needed–Sunday night being the prime example.
2. The Buccaneers need to lean on Ronald Jones for a bit (bad)
Jones was actually a more effective runner during the Saints game than Fournette was, Jones had eight runs for 63 yards and Fournette took nine carries for 34 yards before going down with a hamstring injury. Jones is the backup for a reason, though, as he has always failed to live up to the hype when given starters' work. This was supposed to be the year that is all clicked for Jones and instead, it has been Fournette that has revived his career as an every-down back in Tampa Bay.
Now, for a week at least, Jones will get a chance to prove himself as the lead back. If he is successful and it gives Fournette time to heal, then they could have two healthy and productive backs come playoff time. Or, they could limp into the playoffs with a bad performance by Jones and with Fournette slowly coming back from injury. Those two paths are mightily different and it is up to Jones as to which one the Buccaneers will go down this season.
1. The Buccaneers are in huge trouble without Chris Godwin (ugly)
This one stings a lot for Tampa Bay, as Godwin is the most versatile route runner in the NFL. His route tree is enormous, his inside/outside splits have almost no difference, and he only has three drops on 127 targets in 2021. Since 2019, according to Next Gen Stats,
“Godwin has gained at least 150 yards on nine different types of routes: post, out, screen, hitch, cross, go, slant, in, and corner. He is the only player in the NFL who can make that claim.” -NFL Next Gen Stats
Those numbers will be almost impossible to replace, even though the Buccaneers might have the most capable player in the league to step in for Godwin in Antonio Brown.
Brown can play inside and outside and can run every route in the tree, much like Godwin. If he can keep his head on straight, and that's a big “if,” then Brown can seamlessly step into Godwin's role as an outside receiver, main slot weapon, and even as one of the team's best blockers. If he cannot do that, however, and causes more problems for the team than he solves, this Tampa Bay team could end up being one-and-done once the playoffs roll around.
