Tampa Bay Buccaneers Beat the Seattle Seahawks 38-35 In a Tight Game

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played a thriller as the Seattle Seahawks tried to stage a comeback in front of the “12th man.” The bruised and battered Buccaneers drove down the field to set up the game-winning field goal to get to 4-1.

Sam Darnold Does His Best, But Seahawks Defense Struggles

Darnold threw for 341 yards. It was his first 300+ yard passing game with the Hawks, along with 4 passing touchdowns. Two of his passing touchdowns went to young Tight End AJ Barner, who has caught four touchdowns this year. While an interception late did set up the field goal that clinched a Bucs W, really, Darnold should have never been in that spot to begin with. The defense let him down.

After two straight games of not allowing over 300 total yards, Seattle gave up 426 yards on the day. Giving up a season-high 25 total first downs, they were especially bad on third down. They were good enough to force 11 third downs, but the Bucs converted 7 of them. And Baker Mayfield, fighting through two different injuries, only had four incompletions.

The Seahawks came in missing several key starters. Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love, and DeMarcus Lawrence were all injured. With them all being such key players to the Seahawks’ defense, the Hawks can be forgiven for not being able to stop Mayfield. But on the other hand, it does expose the Seahawks for lacking depth on their defense. They will not be playoff-bound this year if they lose any of their key players again for much longer.

Rookie safety Nick Emmanwori returned to the field yesterday following an injury in Week 1. He came back facing weapons like Chris Goodwin, Sterling Shepard, and Mayfield. It’s far from a shock that he made a few mistakes, but he showed potential and should improve as the season goes along. But Darnold’s interception shouldn’t go unnoticed, though.

How he plays in big games was a major concern after the playoff loss last year, after the Vikings proved to be one of the best teams in the regular season. To be fair, against tough opposition in what was an important game for the Hawks, he did have one of his best performances. But as the late interception suggestions, he’s still seeing ghosts in crunch time. It will be an issue for the team if he cannot deliver in crunch time.

The Buccaneers Overcome Injury Problems To Go 4-1

The Buccaneers coming into Seattle had 16 players injured. Mayfield played through two different injuries, and Wide Receiver Mike Evans was out. The Seahawks, while walking in with key players injured, only had six reported injuries coming into Sunday’s tilt. The Buccaneers overcoming key players missing, or not being close to 100%, while in a hostile environment, was nothing short of impressive.