Following a thrilling yet heartbreaking 40-34 loss to the Seahawks on the road, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers studs and duds from the Week 9 performance.
Well, this is gonna be a tough loss to stomach for sure. Despite building up a 21-7 lead at one point in the first half, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were yet another team that fell to the brilliance of Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson.
Wilson continued his MVP-like campaign by throwing for five touchdowns, including the game-winner, en route to the overtime victory over visiting Tampa Bay.
However, despite the high scoring nature of the game, there were more studs than duds for Bruce Arians’ squad. Let’s take a look at who shined and who faltered for the Buccaneers during the Week 9 loss.
Stud: Jameis Winston (29 of 44, 335 yards, 2 TDs, 1 fumble lost)
Let’s get the one negative out of the way. Did it sting that Winston coughed up that critical fumble during the fourth quarter? Of course it did. Was it entirely his fault though? Absolutely not.
Once again, left tackle Donovan Smith continues to make Bucs fans and NFL writers alike wonder why general manager Jason Licht gave him a long-term contract this offseason. His inconsistency hurt the Bucs on many occasions during the game, most notably during the Winston fumble.
Other than that, Winston was excellent. His first touchdown to Breshad Perriman was crazy, yet it somehow worked out exactly as planned. His second touchdown to Mike Evans (more on him in a minute) was classic Winston: a scramble drill to find his top receiver in the back of the end zone to give the Bucs that aforementioned 21-7 lead.
Was he perfect? No. But did he continue to make strides and improve in arguably his more critical year yet? Most definitely.
Dud: Jamel Dean (5 tackles, 4 passes defensed)
Now, you would think with a stat line like that, Jamel Dean had a good game. In all honesty, there were definitely some moments where the rookie cornerback shined. However, he had far more instances where he struggled.
It was undoubtedly tough that Dean was thrust into the starting lineup when cornerback Carlton Davis was hurt and left the game. However, it was clear that he was not ready for this opportunity. Far from it.
Wilson continuously targeted him, no matter who he was covering. Seattle receivers Tyler Lockett, D.K Metcalf and David Moore routinely burned the second-rounder from Auburn. Could Dean have a bright future in this league? Sure he could. However, he needs a lot more experience after being roasted on Sunday.