Bucs Players Admit Confusion Ahead Of Cooper Kupp Reception

The Buccaneers reign as Super Bowl champions is officially coming to an end in three weeks when a new champion will be crowned following Tampa’s loss to the Rams in the divisional round.

When you trail 27-3, there are a lot of things to point to as to why you ultimately lost the game. However, Matt Stafford’s 44-yard completion to Cooper Kupp with 27 seconds left will be the play that most will talk about as it set up the game-winning field goal after the Bucs tied the game at 27. Kupp was able to make the play because the Bucs decided to blitz, leaving safety Antoine Winfield one-on-one with the triple crown winner. Not only was the decision to blitz questionable, it apparently wasn’t appropriately communicated to the entire defense.

“Some guys didn’t blitz,” said Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians following Tampa’s 30-27 loss to the Rams. “I don’t know if we didn’t get the call, but it was an all-out blitz and we should have gotten a ton of pressure.”

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Not a great time to have a communication breakdown.

Earlier in the game, a coverage breakdown led to a 70-yard touchdown for Kupp on a 3rd-and-20 for the Rams early in the second quarter. On this particular play, Bucs linebacker Lavonte David confirmed “some people got the call and some didn’t”.

The Buccaneers will certainly look a lot different than they did the last two years as they have a lot of questions heading into the offseason. One of the biggest is the future of quarterback Tom Brady who would be 45 at the start of the 2022 season.