Bucs pull many starters at halftime, deny tanking for No. 1 pick
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew a 20-7 halftime lead against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday and lost 23-20 to finish the season 2-14, which allowed them to secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Though the evidence points to Tampa Bay tanking in order to secure the top pick, head coach Lovie Smith and some players said that was not the case.
“Yeah, we didn’t have some of our best players right at the end but the guys we had in there we felt like we could move the ball and be able to win with,” Smith said via The Tampa Bay Times.
The Bucs pulled many of their starters at halftime and most of their key players by the fourth quarter, according to The Times. Tampa Bay allowed the Saints to score 10 points in the final two minutes of the game.
“I don’t think anybody tanked it,” quarterback Josh McCown said following the game. “We played the guys we played to rotate guys in to give them a look.’’
Normally the explanation that they were giving other players a look would make sense, but when losing the game would arguably help the franchise, then the tanking accusations seem awfully convenient.
If the Bucs indeed were tanking for the pick, then maybe the football gods will punish them by having them draft someone who turns out to be a bust (please let it be Jameis please let it be Jameis please let it be Jameis).
