Buccaneers vs. Cardinals: Highlights, recap and more

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Oct. 15 in Week 6 of the 2017 NFL season. Here are the highlights from the game.

When the Arizona Cardinals lost David Johnson to start the season, they seemed to be up the creek with no paddle. He was the heart of their offense and Carson Palmer looked like he was an issue. However, Palmer had come on as of late coming into Week 6 and they also traded for Adrian Peterson. All of that spelled bad news for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, their opponents on Sunday, early on.

The Cardinals offense came out rolling, putting together a big drive right out of the gate that Peterson capped off with a vintage 27-yard touchdown run. He amassed 54 rushing yards on that drive alone, and it was just the beginning of an early offensive explosion for Arizona.

After forcing a punt, the Red Birds got the ball again and drove 86 yards as Palmer found tight end Troy Niklas for the score. The defense then came up with another stop, which the offense again took advantage of. This time going 95 yards, Palmer finished this one off with an 11-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald. They then added a field goal and a forced turnover on downs after Jameis Winston exited the game due to injury just before the end of the half. The home team led 24-0 at halftime and seemed to be rolling.

Fitzpatrick threw a pick to open the second half, which Arizona parlayed into yet another touchdown, this one to John Brown, and a 31-0 lead. However, the Buccaneers then started showing life. The Harvard graduate drove and found DeSean Jackson to avoid the shutout. Tampa’s defense then forced an interception, but then the offense went three-and-out. After forcing another stop, though, The Bucs drove and scored again with the Harvard-Harvard connection from Fitzmagic to Cameron Brate.

On the ensuing Arizona drive, Fitzgerald fumbled on a big play and Lavonte David scooped it up and took it to the house. After missing their first two two-point attempts, they converted this one to make it 31-20.

Arizona led a fruitless drive, but their defense came up with a play as they picked off Fitzpatrick again. From one yard out, Peterson scored for the second time on the day. However, the Bucs weren’t done as they drove and found the end zone off of a one-yard Doug Martin rushing touchdown. They tried an onside kick, but to no avail. However, they caught a break when the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs. That allowed for a quick 32-second touchdown drive with a pass to Mike Evans.

Unfortunately, another onside kick was no good for Tampa Bay, thus icing the game and the comeback attempt.

Highlights

https://twitter.com/AZCardinals/status/919665717888167937

Next: 2018 NFL Draft: 5 Players who upped their stock, Week 7

The biggest issue for the Cardinals all year has been their consistency. This game was even a microcosm of that as the Buccaneers almost came back. However, they picked up the win and are still in a nice position in the division. It may not be pretty, but wins and losses are the bottom line in this league.