After watching his Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose Thursday night's game to the Atlanta Falcons, a game that looked to be in the bag for Tampa, receiver Mike Evans could not hide his frustration.
Trailing 28-26 on the game's final drive, Atlanta faced a seemingly insurmountable third-and-28. Even after Kirk Cousins and Kyle Pitts Sr. Connected for 14 yards, getting the Falcons half of what they needed, a fourth-and-14 still looked daunting. But Cousins found David Sills V for 21 on that play, which not only picked up the first down but also put Atlanta across midfield and near field goal range. Minutes later, Zane Gonzalez hit a 43-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Falcons a 29-28 win.
Evans was visibly upset on the sidelines after Atlanta picked up the critical first down. When the game was over, Kyle Burger of Tampa Bay 28 (ABC) got video of a frustrated Evans walking to the Tampa locker room.
"Third-and-28," Evans said in the video, as he hit his helmet against the wall. "It's third-and-28."
Evans, playing in his first game since Week 7, put up big numbers. He caught six passes for 132 yards. There was every reason to think that would be enough, as Tampa had a 28-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Atlanta did score two touchdowns but missed on the ensuing two-point conversion both times, which allowed the Bucs to maintain their lead. But the Falcons got one more possession at the end, which was Tampa's downfall.
With the loss, the Buccaneers, now 7-7, are in second place in the NFC South behind the 7-6 Carolina Panthers. That's the bad news for Tampa. The good news for the Bucs is that, even if Carolina wins its Week 15 game against the New Orleans Saints, the Panthers and Buccaneers play twice in the season's final three weeks.
Still, while Tampa controls its own destiny to make the playoffs, we can hardly blame Evans for being frustrated after seeing his team blow this game.