Bucs' playoff hopes almost cooked in win over Raiders

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Dec 8, 2024

Published in Football

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TAMPA, Fla.— The world will never know how difficult that was.

Football-watching fans will see the Buccaneers beat the Las Vegas Raiders 28-13 on Sunday and assume the game was as bland as the score.

You’ll know better.

And the Bucs will have the bruises to prove it.

After a blistering start that had Tampa Bay up 14-0 barely 11 minutes into the afternoon, the Bucs survived more injuries, a series of turnovers and generally lackadaisical play before standing up in the fourth quarter to put the Raiders away.

And, oh by the way, Tampa Bay is back on top of the division.

For the first time in months, the Bucs can truly say they control their own destiny. While they would lose any tiebreaker with the Falcons, the Bucs could make that moot by winning their final four games.

Play of the day

This needs further clarification. It should be lucky play of the day.

Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell was being chased by Calijah Kancey and Lavonte David when he threw a third-down completion to Jakobi Meyers.

After O’Connell released the ball, Kancey shoved the quarterback to the ground. Remarkably, there was no unnecessary roughness or roughing the quarterback penalty. Had officials called the penalty, the Raiders would have had first down at the Tampa Bay 29 with the Bucs clinging to a 14-10 lead. No telling how the game would have turned out if Vegas scored on that drive.

Game ball

Let’s hear it for Rachaad White. He’s taken some heat for remaining ahead of Bucky Irving on the depth chart, but White has quietly become a solid running threat. With 90 yards against the Raiders, White is averaging 4.2 yards per carry, after coming into the season with a 3.7 career average.

Keep an eye on

Forget the numbers, the focus is now X-rays and MRIs.

With Antoine Winfield Jr. leaving the game with a knee injury, the Bucs defense is flirting with disaster.

Safeties Jordan Whitehead (torn pectoral muscle) and Mike Edwards (hamstring pull) were lost in the past two weeks. Now, Winfield’s status is up in the air. Along with injuries to linebackers K.J. Britt and J.J. Russell, the Bucs are dipping deep into the practice squad to field 11 players on defense.

NFC South update

So, the Bucs are all alone in first place. For now. While there were some anxious moments Sunday, the final results were as expected. The Falcons lost in Minnesota to the Vikings while the Bucs were sweating it out at Raymond James Stadium. The pendulum could swing, however, next week. The Falcons go to Las Vegas to face the Raiders while Tampa Bay has its toughest remaining game on the schedule.

Up next

The JV portion of the schedule takes a pause. After facing the 2-8 Giants, the 3-8 Panthers and the 2-10 Raiders, the Bucs go to Los Angeles to face the playoff-bound Chargers. The Bucs are 3-3 against teams with winning records this season.

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