The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had one of the worst second-half meltdowns you will ever see in their loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, and things began to come unraveled when Giovani Bernard made a critical mistake early in the third quarter. The veteran running back reluctantly spoke with reporters about the miscue after the game.
The Bucs were leading 17-3 when they called a fake punt from their own 26 on their first drive of the second half. Bernard was supposed to take a direct snap and try to run up the gut, but he somehow missed the call. He did not realize the snap was coming to him, which led to a fumble.
The Bucs' punt didn't quite go as planned pic.twitter.com/enSykUWIel
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) December 18, 2022
Tampa Bay’s defense held the Bengals to a field goal, but nothing went right for the Bucs from there. Tom Brady fumbled twice and threw two interceptions as Cincinnati scored 34 unanswered points. The Bengals won 34-23.
When reporters first tried to ask Bernard about the botched fake punt, he attempted to leave without answering questions. He then had a testy exchange with the media. Bernard accused reporters of not making an effort to talk to him all season until he messed up. ESPN’s Jenna Laine shared a video of the back-and-forth:
Bucs running back Giovani Bernard didn’t want to talk to the media about what happened on the botched fake punt. Here’s that interaction.
Note: As reporters, it is our job to seek clarity on what happened, especially on the most pivotal play of a game. pic.twitter.com/snQSvLE5mA
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) December 19, 2022
Bernard eventually fielded the questions. He took full responsibility for not knowing the playcall.
“It was a miscommunication, that’s all it was, on my part,” Bernard said. “I take complete fault for that.”
Bernard has been limited to just a handful of games this season because of injuries. Laine pointed that out to him when Bernard implied that the media only wanted a comment from him after he did something wrong. While Tampa Bay’s meltdown was not all on him, he certainly played a role.
