Buccaneers Pick Six: Most heartbreaking loss of the year

On a night where former coach Jon Gruden was inducted into the Ring Of Honor, the Buccaneers miss a last second field goal and fall to the Falcons 24-21.
This one hurt. In a season of constant disappointment and grief, for some reason this one hurt the worst. Jameis Winston played by far the best game of the year – possibly of his career – and it was all for naught. The Atlanta Falcons escaped Raymond James with a 24-21 victory over a Bucs team that saw ten key players go down to injury, but kept their resolve and fight all the way to the bitter end.

I hope you all don’t mind an abbreviated edition of Pick Six today. Let’s dive in.

Six Topics Suitable For Conversation
1.) Jameis Winston was incredible. Winston did everything he possibly could to win this game. Even though he lost O.J. Howard and DeSean Jackson for the game and Cameron Brate for a quarter or so, Winston was pure fire. He finished the game 27/35 for 289 yards, three touchdowns, and zero turnovers. His velocity was unmatched, his accuracy was better than we’ve ever seen, and his decision making seems to have taken twenty leaps forward. Unfortunately, a Peyton Barber fumble inside the five yard line and a Pat Murray missed field goal means this performance still goes into the record book as a loss.

2.) Doug Martin is outta here. After serving a four game suspension that spanned from 2016 into the first three games of 2017, Martin was a healthy scratch Monday night for violating an undisclosed team rule. Barber would have gotten the start anyway, so the writing is pretty much on the wall that Doug Martin has seen the last of his days in a Buccaneers uniform. After a relatively unimpressive season up to this point, I can’t say his production will be missed all that much.

3.) Congratulations, Jon Gruden. Jon Gruden will forever be beloved by Buccaneers faithful for bringing the Lombardi to the Bay in 2002, winning Super Bowl 37 against the Oakland Raiders. Monday night, he was forever enshrined into the Bucs’ Ring Of Honor alongside Malcom Glazer, the owner that traded for him. It’s well deserved and some Bucs fans are now buzzing about the possibility he returns to the sidelines to coach this team and its high powered potential on offense. I’ll say this – he was awfully impressed by Winston during the broadcast. Maybe we will see Chucky return. Maybe we won’t. No matter your feelings on it, his name deserved the honor it received.

4.) Jason Licht isn’t going anywhere. Flying under the radar is the fact that the Glazer family picked up a franchise option for general manager Jason Licht to return in 2018. The story broke via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times shortly before the game. Licht has certainly earned it. For all those that want to point to him missing on Roberto Aguayo in the second round of the 2016 draft, he’s hit on way more than he’s missed. Every GM misses, but Licht has had some big, big hits. Perhaps he gets one more coaching hire to get a true extension or perhaps his fate is tied to the hands of a third year from Dirk Koetter. Only time will tell.

5.) There’s no quit in this team. I don’t care about moral victories. Truly, I don’t. That said, it’s nice to see this team fight to the bitter end. This isn’t a replay of the 2011 Bucs that quit on Raheem Morris. This isn’t the disaster that was Greg Schiano’s final season. This team fights for one another, no matter how many guys are down or hurt, they fight to hold one another up. That’s admirable. These guys genuinely care about one another and they lay it all out for each other each and every week.

6.) Still no pass rush. Eventually I won’t put this as a topic. Granted, Clinton McDonald had a huge sack on third down to give the Bucs the ball back with a minute left to tie or win, but that was the first sack the Bucs had in the game. That’s just not good enough. Not by a long shot. This must be the number one off-season priority for Jason Licht. Securing a solid and consistent pass rush could help him get that extension far sooner than later.
Six Numbers To Consider

103.8 – Passer rating allowed by Buccaneers when blitzing
130.5 – Jameis Winston’s passer rating – second best of his career (131.6 vs Eagles in 2015)
5 – Winston’s rank among Bucs all time quarterbacks for most touchdown passes with 67
2 – Mike Evans‘ rank for touchdown receptions on Bucs’ all-time list with 32
3 – Years since the Bucs last blocked a kick before William Gholston blocked Matt Bryant Monday night. The last block? William Gholston in 2014 against the Ravens
18 – Sacks by the Bucs this season – worst in the NFL

Six Super Bowl Bets
1.) New England Patriots – Home field advantage in the AFC if they win out – against the Bills and Jets. No one is beating them in Gillette.

2.) New Orleans Saints – Sorry, Vikings. With Alvin Kamara healthy, they’re the team to beat in the NFC.

3.) Minnesota Vikings – They’ve played out of their mind this season, but can a backup quarterback take them to the promised land?

4.) Pittsburgh Steelers – They haven’t played as well as their record would indicate for most of the season, but a revenge game against the Pats in the AFC Championship is must see television.

5.) Philadelphia Eagles – They’ll likely continue to drop in my rankings. Nick Foles isn’t getting them far into the postseason. No Wentz, no chance.

27.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – So many things to fix, but the quarterback is 100% not one of them.