Buccaneers Get Battered In The Bay And Walk Out Wounded For Final Stretch

Ezra Shaw. Getty Images.

Listen, the 49ers are the class of the NFC. It's them and the Eagles, the Lions, maybe even the Cowboys, and then a bunch of teams that are just ok. The Bucs are in that group and when the schedule came out this was not a game I circled as a win. It's not possible based on our talent and coaching. This team doesn't beat teams they aren't as good as and it was no surprise that they got walloped today. 

But what was suprising, was how beat up they got. Key players - lots of 'em biting the dust at Levi's Stadium.

That's both starting CBs and our Cornerstone on Defense (Lavonte David). It was an ugly game that the Bucs trailed in wire to wire. It started when Christian McCaffrey started a new TD streak.

And got busted open when Brock Purdy dropped this in the bucket to Brandon Aiyuk for a 76 yard TD.

Outside of this one Rachaad White run after catch, there weren't many highlights for the Bucs.

But with New Orleans and Atlanta on bye and Carolina continuing to be the worst team in football, the 4-6 Bucs still have a shot at the NFC South crown for the third straight year. The soft part of our schedule starts now with:

At Indy

vs. Carolina

at Atlanta

at Green Bay

vs. Jacksonville

vs. New Orleans

at Carolina

There are at least four wins in that group, so with the news that Desmond Ridder is starting for the Falcons the rest of the way, I like the Bucs to make it to the playoffs for a fourth year in a row. But yeah, today sucked. Hopefully the injuries aren't lingering, but we're going to finish strong.