It’s another bitter pill to swallow as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their fourth straight game of the season and second straight game, falling to the San Francisco 49ers 23-20. The Bucs’ season is in jeopardy and with the bye week approaching, it’s time to rest, recover and take a good look at what this team needs to do to turn things around. They are two games and a tiebreaker behind the Falcons and the NFC South title and quickly falling out of the playoffs. An easier path awaits them in terms of schedule, but the Bucs will need to play mistake-free football, something they have failed to do recently, to gain ground.

There is still hope that the Bucs can revive their season to make a run, and with key players such as Mike Evans and Jamel Dean returning from injury, that should relieve some of the pressure on both sides of the ball. Despite all the difficulties the Bucs have faced. the glimmer of hope remains. This team was not blown out of the water and held its own against the perennial powers of the NFC and AFC and almost beat them. Moral victories have their limits, but the Bucs are a resilient team and if they can turn things around and make the dance, they will be tough.

The Bucs absolutely need Mike Evans back. For the second week in a row, Bucs receivers were nowhere to be found. The final stat line for the wideout in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers was a paltry four receptions on 11 targets for a paltry 28 yards. The previous week, in their overtime loss to the Chiefs, Bucs receivers had eight receptions on 13 targets for 91 yards and a score. However, most of that production came on the Bucs’ final drive with six catches, 69 yards and the score. Back to the Falcons game and the production was slightly better with 159 yards on 15 receptions, but that was between five different receivers for an average of 31.8 yards.

Cade Otton, Rachaad White and Bucky Irving have been the saving grace of this Bucs passing attack in the absence of Evans and Chris Godwin. Luckily, Evans will be back after the bye week and that should help the offense, but Baker Mayfield isn’t flawless in that area either. He missed several throws, either too short, too deep, with not enough contact or too wide. Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen has done his best to get these guys open and coach them, but he’s working with fringe number three receivers and practice squad guys and Mayfield is having trouble hitting them. Mayfield has only 316 passing yards on 60 attempts between the last two games and it’s clear he desperately needs Evans back in the lineup to try and turn things around this season.

READ MORE: Buccaneers receive good news on Tristan Wirfs injury

The Bucs defense has no answers late in games this season after suffering its third loss of the season. Their previous two losses came in overtime, one in Week 5 against the Falcons and the other last week on Monday Night Football against the Chiefs. This one is even tougher, as it drops the Bucs two games under .500 in a game where they really felt like they were going to win. With 41 seconds left, Tampa Bay’s defense let the Niners drive down the field for the expiring field goal to seal their fate.

Heading into the bye week, this team needs to take a hard look at where they fell short. Yes, injuries played their part, but poor tackling, lack of execution, and the dreaded miscommunication led to the Bucs defense collapsing late in the game. Coming out of the bye week, the Buccaneers face an easier path with some very winnable games, but they will need to change and adapt if they want to succeed late in the season. Simply put, the Bucs need their playmakers to step up to close out games. If they can’t start getting more production from their top playmakers, then this season is doomed and the streak of playoff appearances and certainly division titles is in jeopardy.

The Bucs just can’t seem to avoid the injury bug. It feels like in every game this season the team loses one or two key starters to injury at some point in the game. This week, it was All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs who went down early in the second quarter with a knee injury. Wirfs had a player’s right knee locked and was slow to come off the field, needing help from medical staff. It didn’t take long before he returned to the locker room and was sent off for the remainder of the match. Tests revealed the best possible outcome of an MCL sprain and he will only be out a few weeks with a slim chance of being able to make it after the bye.

But it wasn’t just Wirfs. Before the game even started, standout rookie cornerback Tykee Smith was ruled out due to a knee injury he suffered during Friday’s practice. And fellow rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan, who was preparing to play and was active, was unable to go after testing his hamstring injury before the game. Later in the game, the Bucs lost starting cornerback Zyon McCollum who had an All-Pro caliber season to a hamstring injury and rookie passer Chris Braswell to an oblique injury. . As the injury bug continues to take its toll, the Bucs have a well-deserved week off to rest, recuperate and recover not only their bodies but also their minds as they head into the final stretch of the season.

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