This was the most ¡°Tampa Bay game¡± I have ever witnessed. The
Cleveland Browns had every single opportunity to beat the
Buccaneers
Deone
Bucannon Jersey , but Tampa Bay had every opportunity to beat the
Browns.At the end of the day, it was a 59-yard field goal that was squeezed in
by the slimmest of margins that decided the game. The Bucs won.But did Tampa Bay
really win this game?Sure, they ended up with more points than the other team.
On the other side, they also guided that team along like a puppy dog en route to
a near-loss. Protection issues, turnovers, bad decisions by Jameis Winston,
missed kicks - all of it is the same story that we¡¯ve seen over and over with
this regime. Only this time, they somehow won the game. Four turnovers. Two
missed kicks. Four sacks allowed. The Browns out-produced the Bucs 170-77 and
outscored them 14-0 in the fourth quarter. Winston was the team¡¯s leading rusher
with 55 yards. Those numbers usually lose games.On the flip side, Tampa Bay was
a perfect 3/3 in the red zone, including a 2/2 mark in goal-to-go situations.
They also converted their only fourth down attempt and had 34 first downs. And
don¡¯t forget the major goal line stop in the third quarter. All of that goes
away, however, when the same mistake are continuously made as in past games. In
the Bucs three losses, they made the same exact mistakes they made today. The
only difference this time was that they were playing the Browns.Winston was
erratic with his throws and decision-making. The biggest defense of his
questionable career - the fact that he is usually forced to play from behind -
was shattered today as he aided in the Browns¡¯ comeback.What brings this all
full circle was how Tampa Bay was out-coached in the second half. Their
two-touchdown lead quickly dissipated while Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, and
Nick Chubb marched up and down the field, outscoring the Bucs 21-7 to force
overtime. The highlight of it all was when the Bucs had the ball at the
Cleveland 25 with :45 seconds left and two timeouts. Instead of going for the
end
zone
http://www.buccaneerslockerroom.com/authentic-william-gholst on-jersey ,
Dirk Koetter decided to settle for a 40-yard field goal attempt with a kicker
that routinely misses extra points instead of at least trying to score a
touchdown. Of course, he missed. What¡¯s the definition of insanity, again?It
doesn¡¯t matter if Chandler Catanzaro made the game-winning kick. That was a move
of desperation on Tampa Bay¡¯s part. They had to win this game and that was the
only shot they had left. So again, I ask the question - did the Bucs really win
today?It¡¯ll be a ¡°W¡± in the record book, but it feels more like a loss. Now,
it¡¯s on to Cincinnati, but the Bucs don¡¯t have Bill Belichick. The Tampa Bay
Buccaneers certainly have had plenty of time to get used to the idea that Jameis
Winston will miss the first three games of the season because of a
suspension.Watching the quarterback light up a defense in just a quarter doesn't
make it any easier.Winston threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns after coming
off the bench in the second quarter, and the Buccaneers beat the Tennessee
Titans 30-14 Saturday night in the teams' second exhibition game.Ryan
Fitzpatrick started for a second straight week as the Buccaneers (2-0) prepare
the veteran to run the offense while Winston sits out for violating the league's
personal conduct policy after the NFL investigated an allegation Winston groped
a female Uber driver in Arizona in March 2016."It is what it is," Tampa Bay
coach Dirk Koetter said of Winston's looming suspension. "I mean, we're over
that. We've got to move forward. We've got three good quarterbacks."Fitzpatrick
helped the Bucs hold the ball for 9 minutes of the first quarter, but they
settled for a field goal as the quarterback was 5 of 13 for 46 yards
passing.Then Winston completed eight of his first nine passes and left with a
151.4 passer rating. He threw for big chunks, hitting Mike Evans for 38 yards
and then DeSean Jackson on a 54-yarder . Winston found Chris Godwin in a pack of
Titans in the end zone for an 8-yard TD and connected with Justin Watson for a
21-yard TD that gave the Bucs a 20-7 halftime lead."That second quarter, to have
Jameis throw for 200-whatever yards in one quarter with a couple touchdowns, was
pretty fun to watch," Fitzpatrick said.Winston was just happy to get some work
with the first-team offense, even if his first TD pass went into a crowd of
defenders. He credited Godwin with getting
open
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so he threw it up and gave the receiver a chance."In film, I'm probably going to
get yelled at," Winston said.Marcus Mariota left before Winston entered the game
featuring the top two draft picks of 2015. Mariota played two series in the
first quarter, and he was 4 of 7 for 80 yards with a 47-yard TD to Taywan Taylor
off a screen pass.First-year coach Mike Vrabel continues looking for his first
preseason victory with the Titans (0-2).TAYLOR'S NIGHTTaylor, a third-round pick
out of Western Kentucky a year ago, got a shout-out from LeBron James on the
NFL's Instagram account for his first TD. James wrote: "SPEED KILLS! Sheesh."
Taylor finished with four catches for 95 yards and two TDs. He caught a 3-yarder
from Blaine Gabbert in the third quarter."My heart kind of jumped a little bit
because you know that's my favorite player, but that's crazy though," Taylor
said. "I didn't expect that. So I'm definitely, a little bit more motivation to
do more of that more often."THE MISSINGTampa Bay didn't dress 12 players, with
cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III the only starter out. Titans starting
cornerback Malcolm Butler did not play, and three-time Pro Bowl tight end
Delanie Walker left Thursday's practice early with an undisclosed injury.
Tennessee had two other starters on the physically-unable-to-perform list in
right tackle Jack Conklin and wide receiver Rishard Matthews.INJURIESBuccaneers
running back Charles Sims was declared out with an injured knee in the opening
minutes. Cornerback Jordan Whitehead hurt a shoulder and cornerback M.J. Stewart
hurt a foot. Neither returned.Titans safety Kendrick Lewis hurt his foot in the
third quarter.ANTHEM UPDATEThe Buccaneers lined up on the sideline with no
visible protests. The Titans did the same, and three-time Pro Bowl defensive
lineman Jurrell Casey changed his approach. The lineman said in London in July
and confirmed on the opening day of training camp that he would keep raising his
first at the end of the anthem to bring attention to how the justice system
treats minorities. Once the anthem ended, Casey raised his right hand to his
forehead and saluted instead of raising a fist.Casey noted he did the salute
before he started raising his fist."I'm trying to make sure I use my platform
the right way and find different ways we can use this platform in a better way,"
Casey said. "Not necessarily just as a protest but also helping the community
out and trying to find solutions that we can get involved with using the
platform."UP NEXTBuccaneers: Host Detroit on Friday.Titans: Visit Pittsburgh on
Aug. 25.Follow Teresa M. Walker at s://teresamwalker