Buccaneers fans will hate Week 12 grading as season slips away

Adam Schultz

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Buccaneers fans will hate Week 12 grading as season slips away image

© Jayne Kamin-Oncea

Not much went right for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football as the Los Angeles Rams handed out a good old-fashioned butt kicking in a 34-7 demolition job at SoFi Stadium.

But while the loss was bad, so too was the injury to quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Suffering an AC joint sprain, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Mayfield's status for Week 13 is up in the air, so it was a double-whammy for the Buccaneers; they lost the game, and potentially Baker for a week or two.

As such, CBS Sports' John Breece has given the Buccaneers a "D" grade for Sunday night's horror show.

“This was a nightmare game for the Bucs,” Breech wrote. “Not only did they get destroyed, but they lost Baker Mayfield to a shoulder injury that knocked him out of the game for the entire second half. The loss means that the Bucs are now 6-5 and if Mayfield has to miss any time, there's a real chance that Tampa's four-year reign atop the NFC South could come to an end.”

More: Will Baker Mayfield play in Week 13? Bucs QB gets confusing injury update

Teddy Bridgewater in line to start vs. Cardinals 

Bridgewater came into Sunday night's game after halftime, going 8 of 15 for 62 yards, as he struggled to get things rolling against a stout Rams defense.

Now, it is likely the Buccaneers won't risk Mayfield in Week 13, so Teddy could be getting all the first-team reps in preparation to start against the Arizona Cardinals.

With the next three games at home, the Buccaneers have a chance to steady the ship, but without Mayfield, all games are now a 50/50 proposition for Todd Bowles' team.

Sunday was bad for a host of reasons, and now Bridgewater could be looking at being Tampa Bay's starter while Mayfield nurses his injury.

Tampa Bay's season is on thin ice.

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Contributing Writer