TAMPA, Fla. — Everyone loves a perfect ending, whether it’s a game, a film or the storybook career of the NFL’s greatest quarterback.
The pages may be filled with sorrow and sacrifice, but the hero is expected to walk off triumphant. Then again, nothing is going according to script for Tom Brady and the Bucs this season.
For the first time in his career, Brady has begun a season 3-5 as the Bucs lost 27-22 to the Ravens on Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium.
It was the third straight loss and fifth in six games for the Bucs, who couldn’t hold onto a brief 10-3 first-half lead.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw third-quarter touchdown passes to Kenyan Drake and Isaiah Likely.
Brady tried to lead the Bucs back, connecting with Mike Evans on a 51-yard pass to the Ravens’ 13 with 14:20 to play in the fourth quarter. But the drive ended on a Ryan Succop 30-yard field goal.
But the failures in the red zone continued on the ensuing Bucs drive. A late touchdown pass from Brady to Cade Otton was erased by a holding penalty on tackle Donovan Smith and the Bucs were forced to settle for another Succop field goal.
Never count out Brady and the Bucs in the final two minutes, and he did lead them 75 yards down the field on 11 plays, connecting with Julio Jones — playing in only his third game this season — on an 8-yard scoring pass with 49 seconds to play, but the onside kick failed.
Earlier in the half, Brady missed seldom-used tight end Kyle Rudolph in the end zone, threw behind Evans, then was flushed from the pocket, sliding for a 1-yard gain.
The Ravens’ essentially put the game away on a 15-yard TD run by Devin Duvernay with 6:55 to go in the fourth quarter.
The Bucs overcame another slapstick special teams play to start the game Thursday.
After their defense forced a punt on the Ravens’ first series, Bucs defensive back Dee Delany collided with punt returner Jaelon Darden. The ball caromed off Delaney and was recovered by the Ravens’ Kevon Seymour at the Tampa Bay 6-yard line.
Credit the Bucs defense for not buckling. On first down, Shaquil Barrett stopped Jackson for a loss of 3 on a keeper. Two plays later, rookie Zyon McCollum batted a pass down intended for tight end Mark Andrews.
Holding the Ravens to a 22-yard field goal by Justin Tucker and a 3-0 deficit was a win for Tampa Bay’s defense.
The Bucs had been plagued by a lack of big plays in the passing game, short-yardage failures and an inability to score a touchdown in the first quarter this season.
They wiped out all three on their first try on offense.
Chris Godwin took a pass from Brady, made Ravens safety Geno Stone miss and tuned it into a 44-yard gain.
The drive came down to second and goal at the Ravens’ 1-yard line, an area where the Bucs have struggled. But Fournette bulled his way into the end zone to give the Bucs a 7-3 lead. It was the first time the Bucs had scored a touchdown in the first quarter of any game this season.
Unfortunately, the Bucs couldn’t sustain much offense the rest of the first half.
