Bucs vs. Texans – Syndication Server

The worst offensive players in Tampa Bay’s loss to Houston, per PFF

Despite an overall dominant offensive performance, there were still a few players PFF didn’t think very highly of.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Houston Texans in Week 9, but that certainly wasn’t on the offense.

The team put up 37 points behind quarterback Baker Mayfield, with two rushing touchdowns from running back Rachaad White and two passing touchdowns to tight end Cade Otton. The defense wasn’t able to keep up, however, surrendering 39 points to the Texans and losing the game in the last 10 seconds. Despite a strong offensive performance, however, a few players didn’t come out with good grades when Pro Football Focus took to analyzing the matchup.

Here are the five worst-graded offensive players for the Bucs in Week 9, according to PFF:

The worst defensive players in Tampa Bay’s loss to Houston, per PFF

Secondary seems to be a recurring theme on this list.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense had its definitively worst game of the season in Week 9.

The Bucs gave up 496 total yards and five touchdowns to the Houston Texans, with most of those coming from quarterback C.J. Stroud. As such, the secondary shouldered a large part of the blame for the terrible performance, and Pro Football Focus seemed to focus on their play. Of the five lowest graded defensive players in PFF’s grades for the Bucs’ Week 9 matchup, four of them were defensive backs.

Here are the five worst-graded players on the Bucs defense in their game against the Houston Texans:

The top offensive players in Tampa Bay’s loss to Houston, per PFF

Despite the heartbreaking loss, the Bucs put up the most points they have all year on offense in Week 9 against the Texans.

The offense wasn’t the problem in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 39-37 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.

The Bucs offense put up the most points it had all year behind a four-touchdown performance, with two passing TDs and two rushing TDs. Naturally, this meant that there were quite a few notable contributors on offense for the Bucs, and Pro Football Focus noted them when grading every Bucs player for their performance against the Texans. It was unfortunately not enough to overcome the shortcomings of the defense, which gave up a staggering 496 total yards.

These are the 10 highest-graded players by PFF on offense for the Bucs in Week 9:

Where the Bucs rank statistically after Week 9

The Bucs have had the statistical worst passing defense in the NFL since coming off the bye week.

So, uh, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ statistics in comparison to the rest of the league may have taken a big hit after Week 9’s game against the Houston Texans.

The Bucs’ offense got bumped up a tad in most areas due to a very strong performance behind quarterback Baker Mayfield, but defensive rankings absolutely plummeted after giving up 496 total yards to the Texans offense behind quarterback C.J. Stroud. In fact, since the team returned from its bye week in Week 6, its been the worst passing offense in the National Football League. Head coach Todd Bowles has to do something, but as it stands, it doesn’t look like vast improvement is on the table going forward.

Here is how the Bucs compare statistically to the rest of the league:

GALLERY: Shots from the Bucs’ Week 9 loss to the Texans

Here are some of our favorite pictures from Tampa Bay’s Week 9 game against the Houston Texans:

It wasn’t a pretty loss, but there were still some great shots from Tampa Bay’s showdown against the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Check out some of our favorite photos from the action down below:

Bucs Report Card: How we graded Tampa Bay’s loss to Houston in Week 9

Tampa Bay’s defense and coaching might have to retake the class.

We’ve called a few games this season Tampa Bay’s most disappointing loss. And while the Atlanta Falcons game in Week 7 was probably an overall worse performance than Week 9’s game against the Texans, the lows of this game were almost certainly much lower.

The team lost 39-37 to the Texans off a Houston drive led by C.J. Stroud that took less than a minute and gave up approximately a bajillion yards on defense. The offense played well, but the team was weighed down by a coaching performance and defensive ineptitude that the team hasn’t experienced all year and the game served as another example of a team that is actively getting worse as the weeks go by.

Here is how we graded Tampa Bay’s defeat at the hands of the Texans:

Bucs HC Todd Bowles won’t give up play-calling duties after Texans loss

Bowles spoke on Monday about what happened in Week 9’s disastrous loss to the Texans.

I asked Bowles again today if he would consider turning defensive play-calling over to Larry Foote and/or Kacy Rodgers, and he said he always considers it, but doesn't think it's the answer to fixing their defense right now. https://t.co/dyGMRVafri

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 6, 2023

Naturally, Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans aren’t happy about what happened in Week 9 against the Houston Texans. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles has been under fire for a number of reasons after the loss, and some have questioned if he’d consider giving up play-calling duties on the defensive side of the ball after a disastrous performance by the defense.

Bowles told reporters Monday that won’t be the case, though. According to Greg Auman of FOX Sports, Bowles said that he’s considered doing so in the past but believes that doing so now wouldn’t fix the issues that the defense has had so far after the bye week.

So what are those issues? Bowles said Monday that he takes a lot of blame for what has happened and that coaching needs to be improved across the board. But while he’s said that communication on the defense has been an issue in the past, he assured Monday that wasn’t a factor in how poor the defense played and that some players are simply not doing their jobs on the field.

“It’s really not all communication, some people are just busting. It’s as simple as that. We’re saying communication and we’re putting a bow on it, but certain people got to play better,” Bowles said. “We just got to play better. We can say it’s communication all we want, some things don’t even require communication, it requires playing better. And things they’ve done a million times, they just got to do it.”

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to play the Tennessee Titans at home in Week 10. If the Bucs lose that game against rookie quarterback Will Levis, Bowles’ already-hot seat might just catch on fire when the season ends.

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Bucs WR Mike Evans eclipses 11,000 receiving yards

The Bucs may have lost to the Texans, but a Bucs legend furthered his legacy Sunday.

1⃣1⃣K ‼️@MikeEvans13_ reaches 11,000 career receiving yards 👏 pic.twitter.com/FYGxSJMMiQ

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) November 5, 2023

It was a rough loss for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday against the Houston Texans, but Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans hit a huge milestone during the game. He eclipsed 11,000 receiving yards in his career, becoming the first Buccaneers player to do so and putting him 39th on the all-time receiving list — past former Bucs wideout Joey Galloway — with 11,019 yards.

As it stands, Evans is on pace for 78 catches, 1,262 yards and 11 touchdowns, which would be one of his best seasons in Tampa Bay. Evans has reached 1,000 yards receiving in every season of his career, and with quarterback Baker Mayfield ensuring he has gotten the ball so far this season, he looks primed to continue that streak while having another productive year with the Bucs.

Evans was notably embroiled in a contract dispute to start the season. He will be a free agent in 2024, and Tampa Bay will have to make a big decision on whether it wants to spend a lot of money on him. The team will also be faced with paying Mayfield, linebacker Devin White, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and potentially left tackle Tristan Wirfs.

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Studs and duds from Tampa Bay’s 39-37 loss to the Texans

A great offensive performance on Sunday was ruined by coaching ineptitude and an awful defensive unit.

If there was ever a time to sound the alarm in Tampa Bay, it’s now.

The Bucs are 3-5 on a four-game losing streak after the bye, and the team suffered perhaps its worst loss of the year on Sunday against the Houston Texans 39-37. The Bucs are now third in the NFC South with seemingly no hope in sight after giving up a game-winning touchdown to C.J. Stroud and the Texans with six seconds left on the clock.

The offense did its job by scoring more points than it had all year to this point, but there were plenty of duds to be found on the other side of the ball. Here are Bucs Wire’s studs and duds for Week 9: