TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) try to regroup on a short week after a shocking loss against the Carolina Panthers (2-5) on Sunday.
The Bucs host the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night.
Tampa Bay’s offense is going downhill. For the last four weeks, the Bucs have scored fewer and fewer points. They scored 31 points against Kansas City, 21 against Atlanta, 18 at Pittsburgh, and only three points at Carolina.
Something is clearly not working. Bucs’ offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich is hoping to see an improvement against Baltimore.
“I don’t know what fans will see. Hopefully, they see more points,” Leftwich said. “That’s all they care about, right? People want to see points on the board, people want to see what they’re used to, what we’ve done since we’ve been here.”
Quarterback Tom Brady has an 8:1 touchdown-interception ratio this season, but he hasn’t been his usual self either. Brady was asked to critique his performance.
“I think scoring points is the obvious thing we’re trying to do, so we just haven’t done a great job of scoring points,” Brady said. “So we have to do a better job of that.”
In fact, the Bucs haven’t scored a first-quarter touchdown all season.
“You’re right. It’s been a tough start to the games,” Brady said. “That’s why we are playing from behind. Sometimes we make it easy on the opponent than we want. They get to do what they want, and we don’t.”
Wide receiver Mike Evans almost snapped that first-quarter touchdown draught but dropped a 64-yard touchdown on the third play of the game at Carolina. Evans believes the team is close to putting it all together.
“Very close. We got big chunks last week, but we didn’t convert on third down,” Evans said. “We have to be better in those situations. I feel like we are close.”
“I trust the coaches; I trust the players; we’ve been in tough situations,” Leftwich added. “I believe in what we are and what we can become.”
The Bucs could become the first Tom Brady-led team to lose three straight games in two decades.
