Buccaneers Week 9 Top Performers at Kansas City Chiefs

The Buccaneers ' fatal flaws have been firmly exposed, and they're simply too much to overcome against good teams.

They can't defend the middle of the field, they can't stop competent passing attacks on money downs, their run defense is the worst it's been since Todd Bowles has been here, and the offense simply doesn't have the horses to help Baker Mayfield elevate his game.

It was all on display in the team's 30-24 overtime defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs Monday. Injuries have played a big role, yes, but ultimately the head coach's shortcomings as an overall game manager and defensive playcaller again doomed a squad that at least did play hard all night.

But this is a 4-5 team that likely will be 4-6 headed into the bye, and they'll be scrounging desperately for answers to remain in the NFC wild card hunt. Let's do our shoutouts and get out of here.

Offensive Top Performer: TE Cade Otton Otton's emergence has been a highlight of the season. After recording 70+ yards just once in his first 42 games with the Bucs, he's now eclipsed that mark in three consecutive contests. Pair that with 4 touchdowns in that time frame, and Otton has answered the call for this talent-starved offense. He finished 8 catches for 77 yards and a score.

When Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan do return, offensive coordinator Liam Coen will have a wealth of riches to play around with but Otton's involvement needs to remain.

Speaking of the receivers, Sterling Shepherd fought off a hamstring injury to lead the corps with 4 catches for 47 yards, including multiple highlight reel grabs. Given where the unit is at, his performance was adequate, especially on the final drive.

Baker Mayfield largely played well. He once again led a game-tying drive but didn't get a chance to even lay a finger on the pigskin in OT, but he took care of business when asked. Completing 23 of 33 passes for 199 yards, one score and no turnovers, Mayfield kept his cool in a raucous environment against a very good defense. That's encouraging at least.

Defensive Top Performer: DB Tykee Smith The rookie returned from his concussion to keep his impact rookie season going. There some missed tackles for the Georgia product, but Smith still notched 10 total tackles, a forced fumble and multiple passes defensed. He's the first rookie since Atlanta's A.J. Terrell in 2020 to log at least 3 fumbles and 1 interception in a season.

But once again, not much else to really highlight. Zyon McCollum played well again, which shouldn't be a concern at this point. It's the spot across from him that's consistently a void.

The pass rush made an impact on Patrick Mahomes in the first half with 3 sacks and 4 total, but that faded severely down the stretch. Vita Vea and Caljah Kancey both recorded two sacks each but generally received little help from anyone else.

This unit misses tackles, doesn't maintain its discipline in zone despite playing it a league-leading percentage of the time, and they've become egregiously unsound in the gaps. There is too much talent to be so underwhelming, and that falls squarely on the coaching.

Special Teams Top Performer: K Chase McLaughlin The rainy night left Chase McLaughlin unphased with his 4 made kicks — one 47-yard field and three extra points, even though one of those PATs probably should've been a 2-point try.

Bucky Irving produced an excellent kickoff return, a season-long 46-yard scamper to open the second half, which favorably positioned the Bucs' for an opening touchdown. Trey Palmer also put in a couple good returns on punts, so definitely one of the better nights for a pretty terrible unit.