It’s time for PewterReport.com’s 2-Point Conversion post-game column, which features two statements, two questions and two predictions based on the latest Bucs game. Tampa Bay blew a second half lead in Tennessee thanks to turnovers and red zone woes – two things that have caused several losses for the team this year – in a 27-23 defeat. The 2-5 Bucs are seeing their playoff hopes diminish as each loss mounts.
2 BIG STATEMENTS
STATEMENT 1: Turnovers, Red Zone Woes Continue To Plague Bucs
Tampa Bay didn’t have seven turnovers in the team’s 27-23 loss at Tennessee on Sunday like it had in its 37-26 loss to Carolina in London before the bye week. The Bucsonlyturned the ball overfourtimes, but still had a minus-3 turnover ratio, and that was enough to give the Titans the edge to improve to 4-4 while Tampa Bay fell to 2-5.
The first turnover came when Jameis Winston, who accounted for six turnovers in London, fumbled the snap from center Ryan Jensen, who snapped the ball prematurely. That gave Tennessee the ball on Tampa Bay’s 10-yard line, two plays later, quarterback Ryan Tannehill hit tight end Jonnu Smith with a 5-yard touchdown to give the Titans a 7-3 lead.
An outstretched hand from a Titans defensive lineman may have altered the trajectory of Winston’s seventh pass of the game, which was intercepted by cornerback Malcolm Butler at the Tampa Bay 29 and returned to the 6-yard line. Wide receiver Chris Godwin read the coverage wrong and stopped his route from going inside, which was where Winston was going with the football. After the game, head coach Bruce Arians said that neither of Winston’s two interceptions were the quarterback’s fault.
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