Page 12 - Florida Sentinel 9-24-19

Sports
Bucs' Kicking Mistakes Cost Them Win Over The Giants
Shaq Barrett Got Himself
It was a tale of two halves for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday in their 32-31 loss to the New York Giants.
The Bucs came out hot in the first half, putting 28 points on the board before halftime. Wide receiver Mike Evans had a career day in the first half, catching three touchdown passes. He was held without a reception in the second half until a big re- ception at the end of the game helped set up what should’ve been a Matt Gay game-win- ning field goal.
The Bucs are now 1-2 and won’t play at home in Ray- mond James Stadium again until Week 10 against the Ari- zona Cardinals.
Here are some initial thoughts on Tampa Bay’s loss Sunday to the Giants.
Byron Leftwich Play-Calling
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers scored 28 of their 31 points in the first half. Wide receiver Mike Evans, had three touchdowns in the first half but was a virtual non-fac- tor after halftime. The offense looked stagnant at times and too conservative with the play-calling. Jameis Win- ston threw a costly intercep- tion, which has become his M.O., and in the end, the Buc- caneers offense collapsed and looked more like the one we saw in Week 1’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers. At 1-2, it’s
Against The Giants
Buccaneers kicker Matt Gay (right) misses a field goal as time expired in Tampa Bay's 32-31 loss to the New York Gi- ants.
SHAQ BARRETT
Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett is in his first season with the team and already looks des- tined to put up one of the biggest seasons for a Tampa
Bay defensive player. Barrett has four sacks al-
ready in the Buccaneers’ game against the New York Giants. Not only did he tie the franchise single-game record, but he also got him- self paid in a big way.
Barrett spent his first five seasons with the Denver Broncos, winning a Super Bowl ring with their victory in Super Bowl 50 over the Carolina Panthers.
If he keeps playing like this, he could help lead this team to the playoffs for the first time since the 2007 sea- son.
hard to imagine them re- bounding on the road against an opponent like the Los An- geles Rams next week. Left- wich’s play-calling may have cost this team a chance to win the NFC South crown.
Matt Gay’s Mistakes
I said before this game that rookie kicker Matt Gay was going to be the X-Factor in Sunday’s game since the last two contests between the Bucs and Giants heading into Sunday were decided by a total of five points. Gay missed an extra point and had another blocked. Then he missed the potential game- winner. Lo and behold, the Bucs lost by one point. It was a nightmare performance for the rookie, and the Bucs’ kick- ing woes continue.
Shaq Barrett Is A Beast Linebacker Shaq Barrett
continued his dominance with four sacks against the Giants. It was great to see, consider- ing it not only got him paid, but he also got the chance to welcome rookie Daniel Jones to the league. Barrett now has eight sacks on the season through three games. He’s a superstar for this Todd Bowles defense, but they’ll need to go back to the drawing board after the Giants torched the Bucs secondary.
Arians Has Unbelievable
Saquon Barkley
Delay Of Game Penalty
Paid With His Big Game
Logic For Taking
Has High
Before Missed Kick
Ankle Sprain
When kicker Matt Gay missed a 34-yard game-win- ning field goal try as time ex- pired for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, some fans were quick to blame a delay of game penalty taken right be- fore the kick that backed the attempt up five yards. Accord- ing to Bruce Arians, that penalty was by design.
Arians said after the game that the delay of game, which moved Gay back from what would have been a 29- yard attempt, was intentional. In Arians’ mind, Gay was more reliable from the longer distance, so they opted to set things up that way.
Maybe this logic would work in another context, like if the Buccaneers wanted to make things easier or manip- ulate an angle if Gay had to kick from a hashmark. As you can see from the video, how- ever, Gay’s kick couldn’t pos- sibly have been more
SAQUON BARKLEY Saquon Barkley’s injury
is one that could keep him out for weeks.
Barkley left Sunday’s New York Giants-Tampa Bay Bucca- neers game with an ankle in- jury suffered late in the second quarter.
Barkley headed to the locker room and was later ruled out for the rest of the game.
Both ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported later in the day that Barkley had a high ankle sprain and had an MRI on Monday.
BRUCE ARIANS
centered. Plus, given the late hook, the kick may well have been good from 29.
Frankly, Gay should be making that kick regardless of whether it’s from 34 or 29. But considering that Gay had already missed two extra points from around the same distance, Arians’ logic is baf- fling. This may just be an- other sign that the Buccaneers haven’t reliably addressed their long-term kicking issue. Maybe they should try bringing in another medium.
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