Lack Of Physicality At The Center Of Tampa’s Missed Opportunity
Dec 31, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo (29) intercepted the ball for the 2-point conversion over Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked off the field after their disappointing 23-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, one thing was clear to starting quarterback Baker Mayfield.
“We needed to be the more physical team today and we weren’t,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns while completing 22 of his 33 pass attempts, two of which were intercepted, but the Buccaneers only rushed for 57 yards as a team with Rachaad White running for a team-high 42 yards on 11 carries.
Tampa Bay isn’t necessarily a running team, as they only averaged 89.2 yards per game on the ground heading into the matchup, but, along with a lack of physicality, Mayfield noted there was a lack of execution in Tampa Bay’s approach on Sunday. Small things mounted up and snowballed into a poor performance offensively.
“Starting with the physicality, like I just mentioned, but we just have to execute better,” Mayfield said. “I think when we look back at the tape, the little things and the things we were doing well, we didn’t today. It starts some timing stuff in the passing game, and upfront in the run game. Like I said they were more physical today and it threw us off our tempo.”
The Buccaneers also fumbled the ball twice, turning the ball over a total of four times, and allowed two sacks, five TFLs and three quarterback hits, in a loss that could’ve locked up the NFC South.
But their physicalness was lacking on both sides of the field as well.
The Saints rushed for 108 yards on 35 carries, including a team-high 58 yards from Jamaal Williams. New Orleans also averaged 3.1 yards per carry and found ways to extend drives throughout the contest, keeping Tampa Bay’s defense on the field. They recorded 20 more plays, had 13 more minutes of possession and converted eight of their 18 third-down attempts.
While Head Coach Todd Bowles thought the effort was there, the lack of pressure on the quarterback was evident.
“They ran the ball 30-plus times and the ball was coming out pretty quick,” he said after the loss Sunday. “They [had] some good rushes. Sometimes the ball was out, other times we could have more plays. It goes hand in hand.”
There aren’t many teams that are more physical than the Buccaneers, which makes Sunday’s loss, which snapped a four-game winning streak, even more of an outlier.
In their 16 games, the Buccaneers have only allowed seven teams to rush for more than 100 yards and held four teams to below 50 rushing yards. Tampa Bay even limited the Saints to 70 yards rushing and 197 total yards of offense in their Week 4 matchup. The Saints tallied 310 total yards this past week.
The Buccaneers were at their peak during their win streak. A week before their loss to the Saints, they limited the Jaguars, a team that rushes for just under 100 yards per game, to 37 rushing yards and four turnovers.
So, while Tampa Bay may have lacked physicality in an unforeseen loss to New Orleans, it had all the signs of the type of game that all NFL teams fear. In an 18-week regular season, teams often have games where they don’t play up to their full potential.
“We didn’t play well,” Bowles said. “You get five penalties and you have four turnovers, that’s not going to be a recipe for success. That’s the bottom line.”
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