Bucs had a great game plan. So why did they abandon it? Cheer up, all is not lost. Even without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the Bucs have a way forward on offense. Run the ball, throw a swing pass, run it again, throw a screen pass, run it a few more times. The Bucs held the ball for more than 16 of the first 19 minutes, had 29 plays, threw only two passes to wideouts and still led the Falcons by a touchdown. The only problem is, somewhere in the second quarter, they lost their way. And then, they lost their freaking minds. You can guess what happened next. The Bucs lost a huge, season-defining game to the Falcons 31-26. "It just comes down to, once again, not shooting ourselves in the foot in critical situations," Baker Mayfield said. The Bucs and offensive coordinator Liam Coen went from a ball-control game plan that revolved around the running backs and tight end Cade Otton to whipping it downfield to a bunch of receivers no one ever heard of. Three drives into the game, Bucky Irving had seven carries for 41 yards. He got two more carries the rest of the day. Otton was the target of seven of Mayfield's first 14 passes. He was targeted on only three of the next 36. You might hear talk that the Bucs were forced to adjust the game plan because they had to play catchup. That's simply not true. The score was 14-14 midway through the second quarter when the game plan abruptly shifted gears. After running the ball on 15 of the first 29 plays, the Bucs ran it only seven of the next 43. That is, in a word, nuts. Particularly for a team A) missing its two best receivers, B) that needs to control the clock and keep its porous defense off the field and C) is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, which is the best in the franchise's 49-year history. "I don't remember what the score was at that point but, yeah, the run game was working. Working well early," left tackle Tristan Wirfs said. "We just have to give Liam the confidence to keep calling it. That's on us, the O-line. We did our best to tote that thing. With (Evans and Godwin) out, that's what we have to do." Look, this team is flawed. The defense doesn't get enough pass rush without blitzing, the linebackers can't cover anyone, and Mayfield is limited as a downfield passer. Yet, for all those issues, the Bucs are averaging 29.4 points a game as the season approaches the halfway point. In the Super Bowl era, there are only 53 teams that have averaged that many points in a full season. And 52 of those teams finished with a winning record. Yet, here the Bucs sit at 4-4 with the undefeated Chiefs coming up on a Monday night. "I thought (the offense) fought. They did some good things," Todd Bowles said. "They had time of possession, and made some plays. You don't like the false starts but overall those guys fought hard - 26 points should be enough." This is not the same chuck-it-downfield offense the Bucs had in recent seasons. The offensive line has gotten much better at run-blocking, Irving has been a revelation in the backfield, and Coen has brought in a fresh, effective plan for running the ball. Considering opponents have averaged 33.8 points against the Bucs in the past four games, Tampa Bay's most effective strategy is keeping the defense off the field. That means more drives like the 15-play, 70-yard drive in the first quarter and the 12-play, 97-yard drive in the second quarter. Just those two drives ate up more than 15 minutes on the clock and kept the Falcons chilling on the sidelines. And the Bucs did that by running the ball effectively. "Step 1, it's always big to win the (time of possession) battle," said guard Cody Mauch. "We had the minutes on them, so that's huge. We just had a few too many turnovers. We've got a couple of guys out, so the margin of error really is small right now." Here's a thought the Bucs may need to live with for a long time: It's entirely possible they are a better team than Atlanta, and yet they've lost to the Falcons twice in less than a month and could end up losing the NFC South for that reason. "We went through something similar to this last year, losing five of six," Wirfs said. "Now, you can hold up or you can march forward. We've got a lot of football left, we might be halfway right now, so a long way to go. It stings. It sucks. But you've got to move forward." John Romano, Tampa Bay Times, published 28 October 2024