Bucs plan to recalibrate, recover during bye week

TAMPA, Fla. — Inexperience. Indecision. And, ultimately, inexcusable.

Uncertainty about the ins and outs of the Bucs defense had an adverse effect on two young cornerbacks who finished Sunday’s game, allowing for softer-than-ordered man-to-man coverage in the 23-20 loss to the 49ers.

Coach Todd Bowles said second-year defensive back Josh Hayes and rookie Tyrek Funderburk were told to play tighter coverage on San Francisco’s final drive. The Niners needed only 41 seconds to travel 39 yards in six plays and set up Jake Moody’s game-winning 44-yard field goal.

“Two-minute (situations), sometimes you get some zone (coverage) and it just feels like you’re playing kind of soft,” safety Jordan Whitehead said. “You let them catch it and you tackle them. You play like it’s the first quarter.

“You can’t do that in this situation. They only need three points. You can’t play like that. They only need 20 yards to get in field-goal range. You’ve got to play tighter. That’s on us. We’ve got to knuckle up.”

One day after watching his team suffer its fourth straight loss and fifth in six games, Bowles said he and his staff will spend the bye week analyzing how to fix a defense that is on the verge of collapse.

Over the past six games (in which they’ve gone 1-5), the Bucs defense ranks 31st in the NFL in scoring defense (31.3 points per game), 32nd in total defense (425.3 yards per game), 31st in pass defense (304.3 ypg) and 31st in opponent’s passer rating (118.6).

Monday, Bowles said he wanted his cornerbacks to play tighter on the 49ers receivers after the Bucs tied the game on Chase McLaughlin’s 26-yard field goal. But for some reason, neither Funderburk nor Hayes responded.

“The first time playing, a little nervous, I’m sure,” Bowles said.

Were they told to play tighter coverage? “Everything is communicated,” Bowles said.

And they still stayed back? “Everything is communicated,” he reiterated.

The Bucs are hoping to get healthy during the bye week. Cornerback Jamel Dean (hamstring strain) is set to come off injured reserve. Corner Zyon McCollum left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. Safety Tykee Smith sustained a knee injury Friday and did not play.

The Bucs got some good news on offense. Tackle Tristan Wirfs suffered a “low-grade knee sprain” and will be week to week, Bowles said. Receiver Mike Evans (hamstring) also could return after the bye.

“We’re trying to get everybody healthy,” Bowles said. “Recalibrate. We need time off. ... As coaches, we’ll self-scout. We’ll come up with better plans, and we’ll do some things to get ready for the stretch run.”

A year ago, the Bucs started 3-1 before losing six of their next seven games. They finished with a flurry, however, winning six of their next seven, including a wild-card game against the Eagles.

Injuries have taken a bigger bite out of the Bucs this season, forcing them to use rookies and relative newcomers to start or sometimes finish games.

“You don’t anticipate those things, but they make the team for a reason,” Bowles said. “Everybody is on the same game plan. You have to mentally prepare if you can’t physically prepare so when you got out there and you get an opportunity you’ve got to make the best of it. That’s in football, that’s in life.”

The offense could have done more Sunday to take some pressure off the defense.

The Bucs took advantage of three straight 49ers penalties and a ridiculous fourth-down conversion pass from Baker Mayfield to Rachaad White to set up first and goal at the San Francisco 8 with a minute left.

Bowles said the goal was to bleed the clock to prevent the 49ers from having enough time to win the game while also trying to score a touchdown.

But on second down, White was dropped for a 3-yard loss and then Mayfield fired incomplete to Rakim Jarrett, forcing the Bucs to settle for McLaughlin’s field goal.

“It’s a matter of wins and losses and we’re still not winning, so it still sucks,” Mayfield said. “You’ve got to play to win down there at the end on offense. You try to balance bleed the clock out so they don’t have too much time, but also go win the game.

“Unfortunately, we had a negative play down there that set us back a little bit. You’ve just got to make a better throw or win our one-one-one matchups and come out and find a way to win.”

Players will be off until Nov. 18 while coaches do some self-scouting and work on devising better game plans.

“You don’t need any new players,” Bowles said. “No doubt about it. If we stop making the mistakes that we’re making, we’re in every game at the end. We’ve got to turn it around and turn those losses into wins.”

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