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10/27/22

5 min read

Ravens Beat Buccaneers, 27-22, as Struggles Continue for Brady

By The 33rd Team

Heading into Week 8, the Baltimore Ravens trailed for fewer than two minutes the entire 2022 season. On Thursday night, the Buccaneers brought that figure closer to the rest of the league, but in the end, a temporary Tampa lead quickly gave way to a significant deficit as the Ravens used a near-perfect second half to beat the Bucs, 27-22, in Tampa.

Give it Up for Baltimore's Backups

The Buccaneers had a much more decorated inactives list before kickoff, but key injuries to the Ravens quickly evened the score, and seemingly left the team's offense in a tough position to contend.

Tight end Mark Andrews was the first to leave. Andrews' status for the game was in question but started and brought in three early catches before being knocked out of the game in the first half with a shoulder injury. Not long after, Baltimore lost its other top pass-catcher when receiver Rashod Bateman left with a foot injury. Running back Gus Edwards also exited with a hamstring injury. None of the three returned.

In the absence of Andrews and Bateman, Baltimore's depth stepped up to fill the considerable void. Tight end Isaiah Likely made the biggest play, bringing in a touchdown pass in the back of the end zone, and he filled Andrews' spot as Lamar Jackson's top target with 77 yards receiving on six catches. And with Bateman out, Demarcus Robinson nearly doubled his season totals in just one game, catching six balls for 64 yards.

Behind that duo, Devin Duvernay and James Proche brought in seven passes, and Kenyan Drake caught four, with one of them going for a touchdown. Before losing Andrews and Bateman, the Ravens had struggled, with only a field goal to show. Baltimore began the second half with three consecutive touchdown drives, scoring every time it touched the ball after the break.

And holding that offense together through the injuries was Jackson, who went 27-for-38 for 238 yards and the pair of touchdowns. He even got to celebrate in front of the Tampa crowd at the end, finding a sign urging Baltimore to pay him a substantial amount on his next contract. He signed it and returned it to the fan.

Broken Brady?

One year after leading the NFL in passing and finishing as the runner-up for MVP, Tom Brady does not look like that quarterback. Were it not for a touchdown pass with 49 seconds left, Brady would have gone consecutive games without throwing a touchdown pass for the first time in nearly two decades, and the three-game losing streak his Bucs are on is only the second time he has lost as many games in a row (New England lost four straight in 2002, his second season as the team's starter).

Throughout Thursday's game, Brady struggled, missing throws, giving Baltimore several opportunities to bring in an interception, and displaying visible frustration through his body language throughout the contest. That comes one week after Brady was caught yelling at his offensive line in a Week 7 loss to Carolina, and his season highlight reel also includes a thrown Microsoft tablet.

"I think we struggle pretty much at everything," Brady said. "Struggle in the red area, struggle on third down, struggle in the run game, two-point plays, short yardage, backed up, start of the first quarter, start of the third quarter."

"I think what's happening with Tom Brady though is he knows his clock is just about on that 12th hour, more than likely his last season and he wants to go out right, and he wants this to be a great year," said The 33rd Team's Mike Martz. "His frustration, you can see it, because at times he just sags and looks old. It's just his standard, what he works toward and lives by is just different than some of those guys. And he's trying to raise their level of play and have the same kind of commitment he does."

Brady's struggles were clearest in the red zone, where Tampa scored touchdowns only twice on five trips. Brady was 5-for-12 inside the Baltimore 20, for 25 yards, over half of which came on one completion to Julio Jones.

Broken Buccaneers?

Those preseason Super Bowl predictions for the Buccaneers aren't dead in the water quite yet thanks to an underperforming division in which they play. Tampa Bay entered the game in the bottom third of the league in scoring and yardage, on an offense led by Brady (who led the league in passing in 2021), with perennial Pro Bowler Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Leonard Fournette at the skill positions.

Tampa's lone touchdown came in the first quarter, the only touchdown the team has scored in that quarter the entire season. The rest of the game consisted of punts and a trio of Ryan Succop field goals, up until a late touchdown with less than a minute to play.

The offensive struggles were coupled with a lesser game from the Bucs' stout defense, which played at an elite level in holding Baltimore to just a field goal in the first half, but saw the bottom fall out in the second half in allowing 24 points on only four drives. The 453 yards allowed by the Bucs are the most they have surrendered in a game this season, and the 27 points are the second-most.

Tampa is now sitting at 3-5. They're still tied with Atlanta for the most wins in the NFC South this season, but Thursday's loss continues a rough stretch that also included losses to two of the worst teams in the league this season, Pittsburgh and Carolina.

 

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The 33rd Team

The 33rd Team is a Football Think Tank created by Mike Tannenbaum and Joe Banner.

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