Chris Godwin Gets Hurt In Garbage Time. Is Todd Bowles To Blame?
Monday night's game vs. Baltimore was almost as bad as it could've been. Early in the game, Buccaneers star Wide Receiver Mike Evans went down with a hamstring injury. It was an existing injury that bothered him last week but he was removed from the injury report on Saturday and was a full go today. It's football, injuries happen.
While the 1st Quarter went pretty well with the hometown Bucs up 10-0, but the rest of the game caved in quickly. The Ravens reeled off 34 straight points to lead 34-10 in the 4th Quarter. Watching the game, it was over in the 3rd Quarter. A red zone interception by Baker Mayfield early, a missed field goal, and a lot of coverage busts led to an avalanche of point differential from Baltimore. It's never over til it's over, but you also know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.
The Bucs got a turnover and scored a touchdown and got a 2-point conversion to cut it to 34-18. But after Baltimore drove it down with Lamar Jackson's 5th TD pass, it shoud've been a wrap. A 23 point deficit with an already injury depleted team that lost it's WR1 and Nickel CB today should've been looking forward to a massive divisional showdown this coming Sunday vs. Atlanta. An Atlanta team the Bucs just lost to in overtime and the biggest threat to the 4-3 Buccaneers to win the NFC South.
But Bucs Head Coach Todd Bowles did not concede. He left Baker Mayfield and the rest of the starters in and they were chucking it. To his credit, it led to a touchdown. But after a missed 2-point conversion it was 41-24. The Bucs got an onside kick and went down to score again! It's 41-31. Only issue is that there is two minutes left.
The Bucs do have all three timeouts and force Baltimore to go three & out, but keep in mind THE GAME IS STILL VERY OVER. They get the ball back with 1:34 left. There are no timeouts. Again, THE GAME IS OVER.
But they keep throwing the ball and Chris Godwin, our best remaining Receiver by a lot, promptly gets injured. A dislocated ankle that will end his season. This begs the question - WHY WERE OUR STARTERS IN?!
To be fair, on the stream, I was calling for the backups after Lamar Jackson's 5th TD. So I'm not playing both sides of the fence. Short weeks are nothing to take lightly in the NFL and Sunday is our biggest game of the season. It's very disappointing that we'll go into that game extremely shorthanded with the likes of Sterling Shephard, Jalen McMillan, and Trey Palmer as our top three receivers.
When asked about it in his post-game press conference, Bowles actually had a great answer. With Mike Evans out, they only had so many Receivers dressed. They needed Godwin for 4 WR sets to go with three guys above. And they were trying to win the game.
I get that and understand it. I just don't agree with it and I would've, based on watching the entirety of the game, known when to fold 'em and packed it up for the biggest game of our season on Sunday vs. Atlanta.
I do not think the team should fire Todd Bowles or do anything drastic. I just do not agree with this decision and hopefully the defense and run game step up where our season is not ruined. But right now, it's pretty bleak.