Buccaneers @ Colts
Final Score: Buccaneers 38, Colts 31
Writer: Justin Herrera (@Semtexmex93 on Twitter)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into Indy looking for a big win against the streaking Colts. This game turned into a battle of two halves, as Carson Wentz and the Colts took the lead going into halftime, but the Bucs, backed by an impressive four touchdown performance by Leonard Fournette, found their way back into this game and then won it on a 28 yard TD run. The final score was Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38, Indianapolis Colts 31.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Quarterback
Tom Brady: 25/34, 226 yards, TD, INT | 2 carries, 2 yards
Tom Brady started this game off poorly, going 7/12 for 39 yards and only getting two first downs. On the Bucs’ first scoring drive, Brady completed all three of his passes for 25 yards, leading to a Leonard Fournette TD run. On the next drive, Brady seemed off-target on a pass attempt to Scotty Miller, which got picked by Isaiah Rodgers, though Miller kind of gave up on the ball after appearing to cut inside when he should have cut outside. Either way, it was a turnover and one that both Brady and Miller need to work on correcting. On the very next drive, Brady and Rob Gronkowski got going for 41 yards, to set up a Fournette receiving TD.
Opening up the second half, Brady looked zoned in and ready to make his comeback. Brady started out by hitting Gronk with an 11-yard dart. The Bucs then got a gift in the form of a defensive P.I. call against Rock Ya-Sin, putting the Bucs in scoring position for a four-yard rushing TD by (you guessed it) Leonard Fournette. Brady got back to business with Gronk, as the combo went 2/2 with 41 yards on the drive, putting the Bucs in the red zone for a Ronald Jones touchdown. The game was a tie when Brady took the field for his final drive. On this drive, he didn’t need to do more than take care of the ball and get into scoring range. Brady helped the Bucs get into field goal range by completing all four of his passes for 30 yards. The good thing is they didn’t need a field goal as Fournette decided to score his fourth TD.
Tom Brady's Game Winning Drive from today. pic.twitter.com/QEIFWxg14K
— Barry (@BarryOnHere) November 29, 2021
Running Back
Leonard Fournette: 17 carries, 100 yards, 3 TD | 8 targets, 7 receptions, 31 yards, TD
Ronald Jones II: 7 carries, 37 yards, TD
Leonard Fournette had a monster day on Sunday going for 131 total yards and four total touchdowns. Fournette was a beast as he finished his runs and wasn’t being pushed back. Fournette’s best run of the game was his last one. He took the rock to the outside and ran in a 28 yard TD. Before this run Fournette was at 72 yards and averaging 4.5 ypc, so he was still very good, but this run just showed how explosive he was at the end of the game. Overall Fournette was the offense today and should resume being the guy in this offense going forward. Ronald Jones pretty much got one drive in this game, where he got 22 yards and ran in a one-yard TD.
leonard FOURnette.
📺: #TBvsIND on FOX
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/tkAMKUS3dn— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2021
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Rob Gronkowski: 10 targets, 7 receptions, 123 yards,
Chris Godwin: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 24 yards, Fumble
Cameron Brate: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 23 yards
Mike Evans: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 16 yards
Tyler Johnson: 1 target, 1 reception, 9 yards
Having a vintage Gronk day. #GoBucs @RobGronkowski
📺: #TBvsIND on FOX
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/v677GlbZCG— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2021
Rob Gronkowski and Leonard Fournette were the best players on the field for the Bucs on Sunday. Gronk was consistently getting loose and making big plays. Gronk caught passes of 32, 26, and 20 yards in this game as he tallied over 123 yards on 10 targets. Brady showed that as long as Gronk is on the field he is going to feed him the ball. Chris Godwin and Mike Evans both were damn near unused in this game. Godwin had an early blunder in this game in the form of a fumble and only caught three other passes for 25 yards in this game. For the most part, he was invisible.
Indianapolis Colts
Quarterback
Carson Wentz: 27/44, 306 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT | 3 carries, 21 yards
This game started off slow for both Tom Brady and Carson Wentz. Well, jump to the second quarter to Wentz and the Colts’ first touchdown of the day. Wentz went deep to speedster Ashton Dulin for a 62 yard TD. This touchdown set a tone for the game. It made the Bucs respect Wentz’s arm and Reich’s confidence in his quarterback. After an interception by the Colts, Wentz took over, and with the help of a defensive P.I. call, the Colts would score on a Jack Doyle 15 yard catch. On the final drive of the half, Wentz scrambled for a gutsy 16 yards on third and 15, helping to propel the team to a 4 yard TD to T.Y. Hilton.
Wentz’s second half started strong with two passes to Michael Pittman for 38 yards and a 15 yarder to Kylen Granson before getting strip-sacked by Shaq Barrett. His next drive was a lot of the same as he connected with Doyle for 22 yards on two passes, before overthrowing Pittman and getting picked by Antoine Winfield. Wentz’s final drive saw him get intercepted on an underthrown pass to Pittman again.
CARSON WENTZ IS SLINGING IT AGAINST TAMPA 👀 #TBvsIND pic.twitter.com/03JRjHmNVg
— PFF NFL Podcast (@PFFNFLPod) November 28, 2021
Running Back
Jonathan Taylor: 16 carries, 83 yards, TD | 5 targets, 4 receptions, 14 yards
Nyheim Hines: 1 carry, 3 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 26 yards
There it is.
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/h29uGjk9HG
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) November 28, 2021
Jonathan Taylor didn’t have the day that he had last week, but he did still score a TD in this game. Prior to his final drive, Taylor has eight carries for 35 yards, which is why his final drive was impressive. He had eight carries, 58 yards, and the all-important game-tying TD on this drive. For most of the game, Taylor was not getting utilized, but when the Colts buckled down and played to their strengths (running the ball), that’s when we saw the team have late-game success. Nyheim Hines did not have a relevant game unless you consider his special teams’ fumble noteworthy.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jack Doyle: 7 targets, 6 receptions, 81 yards, TD
Ashton Dulin: 1 target, 1 reception, 62 yards, TD
TY Hilton: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 28 yards, TD
Michael Pittman: 10 targets, 4 receptions, 53 yards
Kylen Granson: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 22 yards
Zach Pascal: 7 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards
Mo Allie-Cox: 2 targets, 1 reception, 8 yards
Ashton Dulin is a great story. Played for D-II Malone, whose program folded before he went undrafted in 2019.
This is Dulin’s first career NFL TD.pic.twitter.com/pCKpjKQhIB
— Pat Chiesa (@PatChiesa) November 28, 2021
Jack Doyle had himself a game, averaging 13.5 yards a catch. Doyle was a beast locking in on a 15-yard TD while being an active part of almost every scoring drive for the Colts on Sunday. The Colts showed us that they still believe Doyle can be a good tight end in this league and it paid dividends against the Bucs. Michael Pittman was targeted 10 times and was overthrown and underthrown quite a bit in this game. While his first three passes could’ve been caught, Pittman and Wentz definitely need to work on their connection. Ashton Dulin on the other hand should be targeted more often as he burned his defender for a 62-yard touchdown. T.Y. Hilton also got himself a 4 yard TD in this game but wasn’t really utilized to his fullest potential.
— Justin Herrera (@Semtexmex93 on Twitter)