The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost another matchup, this time in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers. There was a lot of good and bad in this one, with certain groups doing much better than others.
Let's go over the grades for the Bucs' Week 6 loss:
Quarterbacks: C-
It was a very rough game for Jalon Daniels. The Steelers knew how to rattle the rookie, and Daniels finished 22 of 43 passing for 164 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Daniels also had 39 rushing yards on the day and was sacked five times. One thing that won't show up on the stat sheets is the bad missed passes late in the game to open players like Emeka Egbuka and Bucky Irving.
Running Backs: C
After a great game against the Dallas Cowboys, Bucky Irving came back to earth in this game. Irving finished with 21 touches for 49 yards and zero touchdowns.
Kenny Gainwell didn't do much better with three touches for 24 yards, and we saw no opportunities for second-year back Josh Williams.
Wide Receivers: C+
Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin combined for 24 targets today for 11 receptions, 85 yards and a single touchdown from Egbuka.
Ted Hurst also finished with three receptions for 40 yards as well. However, there were a couple of drops in this game with Egbuka, Godwin and Tez Johnson all having at least a single drop in this game.
Offensive Line: C-
The Bucs offensive line continues to struggle to protect the quarterback. That's not fully their fault, as the Steelers blitzed a ton that day. However, the team was not able to run block either in this matchup.
Defensive Line: B+
David Walker was an absolute star in this matchup and finished with seven total tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits.
We also saw A'Shawn Robinson get his second interception this season, which is absolutely insane. Rueben Bain Jr. got his first sack of the season and had the deflection on the pass that Robinson intercepted. Finally, you had other big contributions from guys like Yaya Diaby and Al-Quadin Muhammad.
Linebackers: C+
Josiah Trotter looked good in this game, leading the defense with 12 total tackles and one pass deflection that should've been a pick-six for him.
Christian Rozeboom also had a great pass deflection in this game as well and has earned more playing time. Alex Anzalone, however, still missed multiple tackles in this game and was a bit of a liability towards the end of the game.
Defensive Backs: B+
Zyon McCollum led the way for this group with 11 total tackles and one pass deflection. However, the star of the group was Keionte Scott, who had eight tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.
Jacob Parrish was yet again solid with six tackles, one tackle for loss and two passes deflected.
Special Teams: B
The positive is that kicker Chase McLaughlin was awesome, making all of his kicks and keeping the Bucs alive going into overtime. The negative was that Riley Dixon was really bad in this game, and the team still needs to look at a new punter going forward. Yes, the game was windy, but it was not an issue for McLaughlin in this game, so I see it as no excuse for Dixon.
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