Losing brings out Bucs' player complaints

Oct 24, 2017 - 12:22 AM TAMPA -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agents T.J. Ward and Chris Baker are complaining about their lack of playing time amid the team's three-game losing streak.

After Sunday's 30-27 loss at Buffalo, Ward said he was "at wit's end," about playing only about a third of the snaps against the Bills. "I did not come here to rotate," Ward said after the game. "I did not come here to be a part-time player. I came here to make this defense better."

Baker, who had four tackles Sunday, chimed in by retweeting a story about Ward's complaints Sunday night and added, "FACTS. I feel the same way bro."

Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter had made a point to warn players after the game that at 2-4, it was easy for the team to "shatter from the inside out."

"I talked to the players today about anybody who's frustrated and has an issue, the best way to take care of an issue on the team is to go to someone who can do something about it," Koetter said. "Then I outlined who those people were."

A look at the Bucs' snap counts provided evidence of Ward's frustration. Although he signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Bucs after being released by the Broncos, he didn't expect this. The Bucs had 68 defensive snaps vs. the Bills and Ward played only 24. Rookie Justin Evans played all 68, Chris Conte 39 and Keith Tandy five.

"The second thing in T.J.'s case, ironically enough I did have a sitdown with T.J. in my office last Thursday and I laid out exactly what he could do better," Koetter said.

Ward was not on the field after quarterback Jameis Winston had given the Bucs a 27-20 lead with 3:14 remaining in the game. That means he wasn't responsible for the 44-yard bomb to Deonte Thompson that set up the game-tying touchdown.

After the game, Koetter thought a linebacker had blown coverage on that play. Turns out the Bucs were playing two deep safeties in Chris Conte and Justin Evans. Koetter said they lined up wrong.

"So, they were in a three-wide receiver set to one side, tight end on the backside. We checked the coverage and both of our safeties were out of position on that play," Koetter said. "I tried to put that play in multiple times over the years and the reason you don't see that play very often is it's just a very slow developing play, it takes a long time. (Tyrod) Taylor stepped up in the pocket so he had a lot of time to throw. He found the right guy and we didn't handle the positioning of our safeties."

Isn't that a result of poor communication? "We were in the right coverage, we just weren't in the right position," Koetter said.

The Bucs are now 29th in scoring defense, 30th in total defense, 30th in pass defense, 31st in third-down conversion percentage and 32nd in sack percentage. In fact, the Jacksonville Jaguars have 33 sacks. Defensive tackle Calais Campbell has 10. The Bucs have a total of seven.

The Bucs couldn't stop the Bills on third down, allowing them to convert 10-of-16. Eight plays accounted for 200 yards of the 434 total yards yielded by the defense Sunday.

--Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter was pleased with the performance of quarterback Jameis Winston one week after he was forced to leave the game at Arizona with a shoulder sprain and missed much of practice last week. Winston passed for 384 yards and three touchdowns against the NFL's No. 2 pass defense.

"Jameis really played pretty well," Koetter said. "The fact that Jameis wasn't able to throw on Wednesday and Thursday and come out and play like he did (with) the number of explosive (and) his numbers in the second half (is impressive)."

--The Bucs will try to snap a three-game losing streak when they host Carolina Sunday. Tampa Bay swept the Panthers last season, winning two games by a combined total of four points.

--Bucs cornerback Brent Grimes said he's confident the defense can bounce back from yet another collapse Sunday.

"Everybody just has to do their job,'' Grimes said. "We have to communicate well, execute the plan and perform on Sunday."

NOTES: TE O.J. Howard had a breakout game with six catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns, including a 33-yarder. Howard entered the game having caught five passes all season. ... CB Robert McClain is in concussion protocol after a hit in the fourth quarter. ... QB Jameis Winston had the third-best passing yardage game of his career with 384 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. He also lost a fumble. ... RB Doug Martin found it tough to run the football Sunday, rushing 20 times for 49 yards with a long of 11. ... LB Lavonte David had a monster game against the Bills with 14 tackles and a forced fumble he also recovered.



REPORT CARD VS. BILLS

--PASSING OFFENSE: B - Jameis Winston gets off to some slow starts in that the Bucs bog down in the red zone early in the game. But he comes alive in the second half. Winston passed for 384 yards and three touchdowns. But he had two turnovers, a sack fumble and interception. TE O.J. Howard caught six for 98 yards and two scores.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: F - The Bucs had no success trying to run the football Sunday. RB Doug Martin got 49 yards the hard way on 20 carries with a long of 11. The Bucs rushed for 69 yards total, but tried to stay balanced in their play-calling.

--PASS DEFENSE: C - Tyrod Taylor bought himself a lot of extra time when he scrambled from the pocket Sunday. The Bucs sacked him only once and he passed for 268 yards and a touchdown.

--RUSH DEFENSE: C - The Bucs got a heavy dose of Bills RB LeSean McCoy, who rushed 23 times for 91 yards and two touchdowns. The Bills averaged 5.2 yards per carry, thanks to 53 yards on the ground by Tyrod Taylor.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: C - Bucs K Patrick Murray made two field goals, including a 50-yarder, and two extra points, his first points as a Tampa Bay player this season. P Bryan Anger failed to pin the Bills deep.

--COACHING: D - The Bucs didn't play the big moments of the game well. They can't pressure the quarterback. They don't stop the run. They don't create turnovers. The offense starts each game too slow. It's a mess.