Buccaneers slammed for ‘unbearable’ end-of-game strategy

Trailing 24-10 to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took possession with 10:05 left in the game. A false start penalty on the first play moved Tampa back to its own four. The Buccaneers quickly got away from their own goal line on a 20-yard completion from Baker Mayfield to Rachaad White. Tampa ultimately scored on a 24-yard pass from Mayfield to Evans.

Given the score and time remaining when the possession began, along with the fact that the drive was bookended by big plays, one might think that the Buccaneers moved down the field rather briskly. That, however, would be an incorrect assumption.

Tampa showed little urgency on the possession. Not only did the plays generally not go down the field, but the Buccaneers also frequently let most of the play clock expire between snaps. Calling the game for Amazon, both play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and color commentator Kirk Herbstreit noted the slow pace, pointing out that it played into Buffalo’s hands.

Tampa faced three fourth downs on the final drive. The first two seemed to bring it to an end, as the Bills appeared to stop the play. But both times, Buffalo was penalized, giving the Buccaneers a first down.

On the third (and final) fourth down of the drive, Tampa finally got what it needed when Mayfield found Evans for a touchdown. Things got even better on the ensuing two-point conversion, when a friendly bounce brought the Buccaneers to within six points.

Ultimately, though, the time taken off of the clock was critical. The drive took more than seven minutes to complete.

That left Tampa’s defense essentially needing to force a three-and-out. It didn’t happen. The Buccaneers did get the ball back but with only 21 seconds left. Tampa got to within Mayfield’s throwing range. A final Hail Mary attempt not only got into the end zone, but had a decent chance of being caught.

But seeing that, it was fair to wonder what the Buccaneers might have been able to get done with more time on the clock. It was also fair to ask why they took so long on what ended up being their penultimate possession.

The time-consuming drive earned Todd Bowles and the Buccaneers a lot of criticism on Thursday.

Do the #Buccaneers realize they’re the ones *trailing* by 14? This is dreadful clock management

— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL) October 27, 2023