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Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — With the screen game sputtering, the deep-ball connection almost non-existent and the ground game once again stuck in neutral, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield said bluntly after the Bucs’ 20-6 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, “We need to pick our s— up.”
“We sucked today,” said Mayfield, who completed 19-of-37 passes for 206 yards and an interception for a total QBR of 22.9. “I sucked today, we sucked today — it was awful. … If we play like that, we’re gonna lose every time. Defense and special teams did an amazing job yet again, and offense — we just need to pick our s— up.”
The Bucs (3-2) entered Week 6 in first place in the NFC South after a convincing 26-9 win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 4 before their bye week. But both Mayfield and coach Todd Bowles said they felt they didn’t handle it correctly. Bowles said he thought they looked “sluggish” even though they added in an extra practice Monday to account for any rust. Not to mention, they were at nearly full strength with Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans back after suffering a hamstring injury in week 4.
But Mayfield was just 4-of-10 targeting Evans and 2-of-7 targeting rookie Trey Palmer. The only consistent connection Sunday was Chris Godwin, whom Mayfield managed to hit on 6-of-7 tries for 77 yards.
Mayfield’s first pass attempt to Evans, which happened on the second series, was tipped by defensive end Isaiah Buggs at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by cornerback Will Harris. It was just Mayfield’s third interception of the season.
Kicker Chase McLaughlin (who finished 2 for 2) was the only Buc to score points, and Sunday marked the first game all season that Tampa failed to score a touchdown.
“They did a good job of passing some things off in the red zone,” Mayfield said. “One of the plays, on second down in the red zone early in the game, on second-and-3, they wound up bringing pressure. Both Mike and Chris would have had a one-on-one, but they did a good job of bringing that pressure to get us out of it. There were definitely plays there that we just didn’t have today.”
By the numbers, Mayfield had a completion percentage of 48.1 against zone defense — his second lowest-mark of the season — and his throws were 22% off target on these attempts — also his second-worst of the season, with his worst coming in their other loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3.
The screen game, which has helped the Bucs overcome their run-game deficiencies (fourth worst at 78.8 yards per game), was not effective either, and Mayfield completed just 53.8% of passes of 5 yards or fewer.
Godwin said players on the offensive side of the ball need to “increase their intensity” and “understand the gravity of the situation” in order to become a dominant team and to help their defense.
“It’s not going to be done by just saying it,” Godwin said. “Talk is cheap. We have to go out there, and we really have to put the work in. I believe that we will do it.”
While the Bucs struggled on virtually every down, it was most glaring deficiency was third down, where they have excelled at this season, particularly with Mayfield’s knack for improvisation. Heading into Sunday, the Bucs had converted 47% of their third downs — the sixth-best mark in the NFL. But against the Lions (5-1), they converted just 2-of-12 (17%).
“At a certain point, we’ve gotta get pissed off as an offense,” Mayfield said. “We should be putting up a lot of points on the board. We talk about the standard of winning around here, but offensively, we need to look at it in a smaller picture. We should be putting up a lot more points than we have been. And so we need to be accountable with that, and it starts with me, and we’ll get that going.”
Source: www.espn.com