Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Was Mike Evans' drop the reason behind Bucs' loss to Panthers?

Updated Oct. 24, 2022 6:31 p.m. ET

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to perhaps the NFL's worst team Sunday.

The loss to the Panthers dropped the Bucs' record below .500 (3-4), marking the first time since 2002 that a Brady team has sat below that mark this late in the season. And although Brady threw for nearly 300 yards (290), the squad's offense was mediocre at best, managing just one field goal, punting six times and coughing the ball up twice.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles didn't hold back when discussing the team's current state.

"We're not playing well," Bowles said after the game. "We're not playing well as individuals, we're not playing well as a team, we're not coaching well. All the way around. Not scoring enough on offense, not stopping them enough on defense.

"As a result, we have to wear this on our sleeve. They've got to be grown men, and we're going to see what we're made of. How many people can handle adversity? It's about as dark as it's going to be right now."

Despite the offense's instability, "Undisputed" cohost Skip Bayless zeroed in on one play as the main reason behind Tampa's loss: a first-quarter Mike Evans drop that would've resulted in an easy score had he made the play.

"CJ Henderson just fell down, and Mike Evans cannot hang on to the easiest touchdown throw of his career," Bayless said. "He's one of the best receivers in football, and — maybe I need to get new Lasik — [but] this looked like a great throw, about 45 or 50 yards down the field, and it hits him right in the hands, and he gags it! He did everything but catch it. He let the ball sort of play him.

"And what did Mike Evans say after the game? He said a lot of plays lose games, but he says, ‘No one play is the sole reason you lose, but that was definitely the biggest reason we lost. I seen the life go out of us. It took me a while to get back to playing.’ It's a team that is teetering, and all of a sudden, its best receiver gags the first big throw of the game. … What would've happened yesterday if Mike Evans had simply hung on and scored?"

Shannon Sharpe, however, pointed his criticism at the quarterback.

"[Brady] deserves 95% of the blame because he's the GOAT. … He got three points. … The Bucs' first nine drives: punt, punt, punt, punt, halftime, punt, turnover on downs, punt, field goal. What the defense got to do with that?"

Tom Brady's Bucs embarrassed 21-6 by Panthers in Week 7

Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe discuss what percentage of the blame Tom Brady deserves for the Bucs' Week 7 loss.

That said, is it time for former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians make his way back to the sidelines?

Eric Mangini joined Monday's "The Herd" to discuss why he believes Brady doesn't appear to have a power issue with Bowles and that he thinks an increased role for Arians could be just what the Bucs need.

"I don't see this as a Tom Brady power issue at all," Mangini said. "To me, there [are] bigger issues here. … When you look at it from a coaching perspective, one of the most interesting things is [that] Todd Bowles goes from just the defensive coordinator to the head coach and the defense isn't playing as well.

"And now you've got Bruce Arians who's still in the building — and I know they're not talking about coaching changes, but that's a very easy transition to make. Maybe it's not [that] he goes back to being the head coach, but he could easily become way more involved very quickly."

Is there a power issue in Tampa Bay?

FOX Sports NFL Analyst Eric Mangini explains why Tom Brady does not appear to have a power issue with head coach Todd Bowles.

The Bucs offense averaged 32.5 points and 397.7 yards per game, a 45.6% third-down conversion rate and 47.5 big plays (10-plus yards rushing or 20-plus yards passing) through the first seven weeks with Arians at the helm in Brady's first two years in Tampa (2020-21). What's more, Brady & Co. scored on 91.5% of red-zone drives, while just 17% of drives were three-and-outs, on average, over that same time.

Under Bowles, the Bucs offense has averaged just 17.7 points and 330.6 yards per game, a 35.1% third-down conversion rate and only 33 big plays through the first seven weeks of this season. Tampa Bay has scored on just shy of 79% of red-zone drives with just over 23% of drives ending as three-and-outs.