Rapid Reactions: Week 14: Bucs beat the Bills 33-27 in OT

[Buc2]

I Vita got his tooth replaced.


Defensive lineman Vita Vea celebrates after defeating the Bills.

[Dread]

Our defense is so HOT/COLD it's hard to have a good take other than they are inconsistent, which obviously isn't great.

That goes for the run defense also. The Bills didn't even attempt a run other a few Josh Allen designed runs in the first half but ended up with 19 carries for 173yds for a 9.1 average on the ground. In week 6 we completely shut the Eagles run game down in the first half where we built up a lead, then let them run on us in the 2nd half as they attempted to comeback. Yesterday's game felt similar in some ways.

In the Falcons game we gave up some runs on that first drive of theirs but shut it down the rest of the game. The Indy game was similar except they only attempted or had success on that final drive.

Given the Bucs offensive capability we'd have to assume teams will look to ground game to control TOP and keep Brady off the field.

The Saints will certainly bring that approach this Sunday with Tayson Hill at QB and Kamara back healthy. So this should be a good test for the Bucs run defense.

[King Bootz]

I'm honestly surprised yet thankful that teams aren't trying to run on us more. The last team to commit to running the ball against us beat us by 10, WFT. They only had 94 yards on 34 attempts. But the 34 attempts kept our offense on the sideline and wore our defense out. Wanna know the last team to run it 30+ times against us and win? The Saints 2 weeks prior to that WFT game.

That's the recipe to beat this team. Run it over and over. Our defense is good overall but it's old and it wears down. A lot of our success vs the run comes from the fact that teams simply do not run it against us much. But when they commit, it makes things tougher on our defense.

New Orleans will absolutely run it over and over. Hopefully we are up to the test. I think the best counter to this is running it ourselves on offense but BA has shown he cannot help him and will live or die throwing it.

[Dread]

I haven't seen the replay (other than the quick one during the telecast) of that 3rd & 6 late play in the 4th quarter when Brady completed to Godwin for the 1st down but there were offsetting penalties. I believe they had called D. Smith for holding.

It was a pretty big call in the game since it would've extended the drive for the Bucs and allowed us to kill more clock with a 3pt lead.

Instead we had to replay the down and Brady gets sacked by LB Matt Milano. Bucs punt the next play and the Bills go tie the game.

Did that look like holding to anyone else? I'll look on gamepass at some point, but it looked like a great pancake block from what I saw and the refs just saw violence so they threw the flag.

I get holding happens almost every play, but they refs really haven't called holding that much this season league wide and in that situation of the game it has to be obvious being that it was such a key play in the game.

[Dread]

I'm honestly surprised yet thankful that teams aren't trying to run on us more. The last team to commit to running the ball against us beat us by 10, WFT. They only had 94 yards on 34 attempts. But the 34 attempts kept our offense on the sideline and wore our defense out. Wanna know the last team to run it 30+ times against us and win? The Saints 2 weeks prior to that WFT game.

That's the recipe to beat this team. Run it over and over. Our defense is good overall but it's old and it wears down. A lot of our success vs the run comes from the fact that teams simply do not run it against us much. But when they commit, it makes things tougher on our defense.

New Orleans will absolutely run it over and over. Hopefully we are up to the test. I think the best counter to this is running it ourselves on offense but BA has shown he cannot help him and will live or die throwing it.

Yup, the Saints are going to want to play keep away and try to wear us down. Rely on their defense keep the score down and hope to get a few big plays somehow. Lucky for us Deonte Harris #11 is still suspended.

[Nobody]

I haven't seen the replay (other than the quick one during the telecast) of that 3rd & 6 late play in the 4th quarter when Brady completed to Godwin for the 1st down but there were offsetting penalties. I believe they had called D. Smith for holding.

It was a pretty big call in the game since it would've extended the drive for the Bucs and allowed us to kill more clock with a 3pt lead.

Instead we had to replay the down and Brady gets sacked by LB Matt Milano. Bucs punt the next play and the Bills go tie the game.

Did that look like holding to anyone else? I'll look on gamepass at some point, but it looked like a great pancake block from what I saw and the refs just saw violence so they threw the flag.

I get holding happens almost every play, but they refs really haven't called holding that much this season league wide and in that situation of the game it has to be obvious being that it was such a key play in the game.

I just watched it.

It was a terrible call. Not close to being a hold. Hands inside the frame the entire time. No grab outside the numbers. No reset to outside the numbers if/when he's lost leverage (he didn't). Never lost position downstairs. Feet kept working to retain position.

The pass rusher tried to work inside, tried to jump up to bat down the pass, Smith buried him when he jumped (pass rusher got buried because he lost his feet...that is what you want your OL to do).

I don't see anything about the play that looks bad.

I don't know about the defensive call on the other side (maybe that was a bad call as well) because I can't see the defensive backfield play yet. But Smith's Holding call? From the sideline angle, nothing looks bad outside of the violence that you pointed out above.

Guess what pass rushers? Leave your feet and the OL is in good position with hands inside the frame? You should expect to be buried (and then think about that the next time).

[Nano]

We did get lucky though on the late calls. The late no-call on the PI with Diggs(on their final drive in reg) could've set up a nice game-winning TD for them, and that Evans forced PI in OT has everyone foaming at the mouth lol

[King Bootz]

We did get lucky though on the late calls. The late no-call on the PI with Diggs could've set up a nice game-winning TD for them, and that Evans forced PI in OT has everyone foaming at the mouth lol

Shhhh. We're not allowed to talk about the penalties we committed that didn't get called. Just the ones we feel went against us or didn't go in our favor.

[Dread]

Thanks, the quick replay looked clean based on hand placement so my reaction was the ref threw the flag b/c it looked violent.

Just hate to see flags on pivotal plays late in a game unless they are clear penalties and consistent with what had been called all game.

[BLT]

We did get lucky though on the late calls. The late no-call on the PI with Diggs(on their final drive in reg) could've set up a nice game-winning TD for them, and that Evans forced PI in OT has everyone foaming at the mouth lol

Those weren’t lucky calls they were the right calls.

[acmillis]

Just me, or on Brady's "long" runs, doesn't he always go spikes up? Seems a bit...dirty.

[Nobody]

Just me, or on Brady's "long" runs, doesn't he always go spikes up? Seems a bit...dirty.

Not dirty. Instinctive.

Its a natural instinct for someone who isn't practiced sliding (contrast with a baseball player going into 2nd). It protects you from getting your cleats caught in the turf and suffering a mangling lower leg injury and protects your head from someone who is coming late and doesn't feel particularly responsible for your heatlh (happens plenty in football...we've seen QBs get crushed because of it; eg Teddy Bridgewater).

Watching a baseball player slide into 2nd vs a novice, generic athlete who is just transitioning to baseball sliding into 2nd recreates this neatly.

[nybf]

We did get lucky though on the late calls. The late no-call on the PI with Diggs(on their final drive in reg) could've set up a nice game-winning TD for them, and that Evans forced PI in OT has everyone foaming at the mouth lol

The one where Diggs was holding, too?

[Nobody]

We did get lucky though on the late calls. The late no-call on the PI with Diggs(on their final drive in reg) could've set up a nice game-winning TD for them, and that Evans forced PI in OT has everyone foaming at the mouth lol

The 1:44 call w/ the Post > Corner?

I've watched it several times now. The only contact that you can see on the broadcast view is a spec in the corner. Are people complaining about this that were there?

Even if there was DPI there (the Sideline will reveal that), it doesn't change the complexion of the game much (they convert after that play turns it into 2nd and 10 and move down regardless).

However, even if inconsequential, that may very well have been DPI (I could easily see how the DB would have reached out and obstructed the route at the move back to the corner given their relative position when we last see them in frame).

Or is this the .28 seconds Fade? That isn't DPI. Davis plays it perfectly. Just because both a receiver and a CB have their hands on each other on a Fade (will literally happen on every_GL_Fade_ever...so every one of them needs a Flag then). Its about (a) leverage, (b) head around/or not, (c) playing the catch window vs intentionally obstructing the receiver's path to the ball IF you've lost position (if you're IN position, you have every right to that space).

That is not DPI. That is how you defend a Goal-line Fade. Just because Diggs throws up his hands (like every receiver ever) and cries about it, doesn't mean a flag is warranted.

And that DPI against Evans in OT? I mean...I don't love how 9 route/20-20 Fades are officiated anymore, but this is modern NFL quintessential DPI on a deep ball; the CB doesn't get his head around...and he's running into Evan's chest as Evans tries to get to the catch window to make a play for the ball. The number of times that isn't called DPI in 2021 NFL is vanishingly low.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm sure the officials missed tons of calls both ways in this game (called and uncalled) for both teams. But that 1:44 one is impossible to tell via broadcast and the other two were absolutely called correctly.

[Defense5599]

Did I hear thousands of bay area fans cheering Buffalo's comeback? The noise sure sounded like it. Also had to laugh when the announcer started talking about how crowds were going to affect games the closer we get to the playoffs (and it was really quiet when he was talking).

Like nearly any other game in South Florida there were fans from the other side there.... Too damn many of them live here

The ones that were around me were fine, just one dude overreacting to stuff and getting way too emotionally invested in things

Also, seeing that every game was sold out, I'm willing to bet that there are season ticket holders that sold their tickets to Bills fans for 10 times their face value. Hard to pass up a month's rent for tickets to one game.

[nybf]

And that DPI against Evans in OT? I mean...I don't love how 9 route/20-20 Fades are officiated anymore, but this is modern NFL quintessential DPI on a deep ball; the CB doesn't get his head around...and he's running into Evan's chest as Evans tries to get to the catch window to make a play for the ball. The number of times that isn't called DPI in 2021 NFL is vanishingly low.

The NFL absolutely needs to stop this shit. Learn a lesson from the NBA with their change to foul calls. If the offensive player goes into a play looking to do nothing more than draw a foul, you cannot call it. All these passes where the ball is thrown short and the WR just turns around to get run into, there's no way they're reversing field and getting back to that ball, even if the defender wasn't there. Tons of these across the NFL every week and it makes games drag.

But, much like the onslaught of stupid "taunting" calls, it's the rule. It's been called all year.

[uscbucsfan]

And that DPI against Evans in OT? I mean...I don't love how 9 route/20-20 Fades are officiated anymore, but this is modern NFL quintessential DPI on a deep ball; the CB doesn't get his head around...and he's running into Evan's chest as Evans tries to get to the catch window to make a play for the ball. The number of times that isn't called DPI in 2021 NFL is vanishingly low.

The NFL absolutely needs to stop this shit. Learn a lesson from the NBA with their change to foul calls. If the offensive player goes into a play looking to do nothing more than draw a foul, you cannot call it. All these passes where the ball is thrown short and the WR just turns around to get run into, there's no way they're reversing field and getting back to that ball, even if the defender wasn't there. Tons of these across the NFL every week and it makes games drag.

But, much like the onslaught of stupid "taunting" calls, it's the rule. It's been called all year.

100% agree. This has almost become a designed play.

edit: In regards to the NBA, viewership is way up from last year (not saying that's the entire reason) and people seem to be really happy that players like Harden can't just cheat the system and win on the foul line.

[King Bootz]

The NFL absolutely needs to stop this shit. Learn a lesson from the NBA with their change to foul calls. If the offensive player goes into a play looking to do nothing more than draw a foul, you cannot call it. All these passes where the ball is thrown short and the WR just turns around to get run into, there's no way they're reversing field and getting back to that ball, even if the defender wasn't there. Tons of these across the NFL every week and it makes games drag.

But, much like the onslaught of stupid "taunting" calls, it's the rule. It's been called all year.

100% agree. This has almost become a designed play.

edit: In regards to the NBA, viewership is way up from last year (not saying that's the entire reason) and people seem to be really happy that players like Harden can't just cheat the system and win on the foul line.

Imagine if they'd learn this during Paul Pierce's days. He might've been JAG

[13F11B]

Bills fans are whining about penalties, etc... I thought the game had bad calls on both sides.

I saw a missed call on the 4th and 2 play from the Bills 34. The one that the Bills were called for roughing the passer on but the penalty was enforced after the Buccaneers turned the ball over on downs. I thought there was holding against the Bills before the pass.

The first play of the fourth quarter was bad too. That was where Buffalo committed holding, Tampa was called for holding (questionable I thought he just pancaked the dude) and Brady was clubbed in the head. One, I thought the holding against Tampa was a bad call. Two, if they called the personal foul for hitting the QB in the head that would not have been off-settings penalties.

Glad the Buccaneers came out on the winning side of bad calls for once.

[Dread]

Just me, or on Brady's "long" runs, doesn't he always go spikes up? Seems a bit...dirty.

It's not baseball where you're often sliding into a defenseless opponent

[nybf]

Just me, or on Brady's "long" runs, doesn't he always go spikes up? Seems a bit...dirty.

I've said the same thing

5.) Defense can’t hit a sliding quarterback, but said sliding quarterback can karate kick the defense in the ankle.

The slide had me dying. If this was the other football, Brady would have had a red card pulled before he came to a stop.