TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The debut of the Buccaneers newest wide receiver, Antonio Brown, did not even creep close to the level of hype previously associated with the acquisition.
Brown and the rest of the Buccaneers fell to the New Orleans Saints in a prime time game on Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium. They fell to the Bermuda grass field and, then, the Saints proceeded to keep them there stomping on them again and again and again.
“We got our ass kicked pretty good,” the Buccaneers head coach, Bruce Arians, said on Monday afternoon. “You look at the film and you try to figure out why.”
Despite the accusations and the assumptions circulating on Twitter, Brown was hardly the problem.
He caught three passes for 31 yards and he was targeted by Tom Brady five times in the game. He actually received the second most targets on the team.
“Tom made a couple good throws” said Arians, “and he made some really good catches. The first third down, we should have went to him and we decided to go to Gronk but I think he played more than I wanted him to because of the situation of the game but, for his first ball game, he did fine.”
The “situation” Arians referred to is the deep hole the Buccaneers found themselves in before halftime. They trailed 31-0 so, obviously, running the ball for short gains did not appeal to them.
“Offensively, we got out of the game plan so fast,” said Arians, “and I felt terrible for the left side of the line because there was no threat of the run and I thought we had a really good plan for the running game.”
Unfortunately, that plan did not come to fruition.
The Buccaneers carried the ball five times for eight yards and, to add to the misery, one of those carries occurred when Blaine Gabbert took a knee with seconds remaining in the game.
Brown did not poison the essence of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He simply fell with them and, hopefully, he will help them to rise to the occasion in their upcoming game against Carolina Panthers.
“You learn from it,” Arians said. “You don’t bury it. You don’t bury your head in the sand. You own it.”
