The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally found a spark; however, it went in vain as they lost to the Atlanta Falcons in a close 29-28 contest, and it came from an unexpected source. The Buccaneers announced a major development when tight end Devin Culp delivered a stunning breakthrough against Atlanta.

“Baker Mayfield finds Devin Culp for a Tampa Bay touchdown. It’s Devin Culp’s first catch of the season, and the first touchdown catch by a Buccaneers tight end this season. Tampa Bay leads 20-14,” as reported by Buccaneers Communications on X.

Baker Mayfield connected with Culp for a six-yard score that not only marked Culp’s first catch of the season but also the first touchdown by a Tampa Bay tight end this year. His timely grab pushed Tampa Bay ahead 20-14 with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.

Mayfield took a few steps backward and threw the football towards the tight end, and after making the touchdown, his celebration stole the headlines. Culp was seen celebrating fiercely as he had a helmet-to-helmet “feast” clash with wideout Emeka Egbuka. It was totally justified as well, because it was his first touchdown.

It’s not surprising he showed so much emotion because he had no touchdowns and five career catches for 88 yards before today. But as has been seen for weeks, Culp’s big play just made it evident how serious Tampa Bay’s problems are. The Buccaneers have yet to win more than two out of seven, and it’s been seen that their defense and special teams have been failing them. Tampa Bay ranks sixth-worst at giving up passing yards among all clubs.

But what should be Tampa’s backbone, its offense, has turned out to be its biggest problem. The Buccaneers’ 24-20 loss against the Saints last week exposed just how bad these issues were. The Buccaneers were 3-13 on third down and 2-7 on fourth down, missing almost every time.

Their season-long rankings make it no surprise. Third-down conversion percentage: 19th. Yards per game: 22nd. Red zone percentage: 26th. And it all begins with Baker Mayfield, who kicked off the season with an MVP performance but has fallen apart hard.

However, he is not the only problem. They struggled against man coverage, where they have to find one-on-one opportunities as they have -0.17 EPA per play against man coverage and 5.1 yards per attempt. This might be because OC Josh Grizzard is struggling with scheming players open vs. man coverage, but it’s also up to their wide receivers to get open themselves in these situations.

Buccaneers loss to Falcons

Atlanta clawed their way back toward the end, capitalizing on a number of halts and a pivotal interception from Mayfield. Cousins orchestrated several pressure-cooker drives, among them a period in which Kyle Pitts broke out for three touchdowns and 100+ yards, shredding Tampa Bay’s defense.

A big fourth-down sideline catch by David Sills brought Atlanta life with a couple of seconds remaining, enabling the Falcons to march towards field-goal position as time ticked down. Though Tampa Bay led 28-26 with less than a minute remaining, its defense derailed again.

But then came Zane Gonzalez with the dagger, a game-winning field goal as the Falcons took down Tampa Bay 29-28. As the ball went through, so did any hope the Buccaneers had after Culp made his historic breakthrough.

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The Buccaneers were left with the bitter taste of a season getting away.