Damage was added to insult when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers misplaced large receiver Chris Godwin to a grotesque dislocated left ankle with roughly one minute to play in Monday night time’s 41-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Following the defeat, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles defended protecting Godwin and different starters on the sphere although logic advised the hosts had no reasonable probability of finishing what would have been a comeback for the ages.
“I do shield my gamers on a regular basis,” Bowles insisted, as shared by Jenna Laine of ESPN. “That has nothing to do with why we left him on this ballgame. We nonetheless had a shot to attain some factors and win this ballgame. It occurs. It occurs in soccer.”
Whereas one can perceive Bowles not elevating a white flag, it’s value noting that Tampa Bay star receiver Mike Evans was sidelined earlier within the night when he seemingly reaggravated a hamstring pressure. Thus, one cannot blame followers for pondering Bowles ought to have run the clock out and lived to battle one other day to maintain Godwin and different key contributors wholesome for a winnable recreation.
With that mentioned, Peter Schrager of Fox Sports activities and NFL Community debunked a rumor that had unfold on social media when he confirmed that there is no such thing as a restrict to the variety of onside kicks a trailing crew can try within the fourth quarter of a contest. That actuality is probably going one cause quarterback Baker Mayfield backed Bowles’ name to maintain taking part in for the win although the Buccaneers have been trailing by two scores with no timeouts and little time remaining in regulation.
“We talked about it on the sideline, pondering, ‘If we get a fast landing — clearly already bought an onside kick throughout the recreation — get a fast landing, an onside kick, have a risk for a Hail Mary,” Mayfield mentioned after the loss that dropped Tampa Bay to 4-3 on the season. “We’ve got a bunch of fighters. All of us needed an opportunity to attempt to win that factor any approach, a way, in some way.”
What’s accomplished is completed, and Mayfield must do all the pieces attainable to rally the wholesome troops for Sunday’s residence recreation in opposition to the 4-3 Atlanta Falcons. As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Buccaneers as 2.5-point underdogs for that matchup.
