Things couldn’t have possibly gone any worse for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last night. Not only were they shut out by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday Night Football, 9-0, but they also lost three of their top offensive weapons in running back Leonard Fournette and wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
Mike Evans was the first to leave after suffering a hamstring injury. And shortly after that, it was Chris Godwin who went down with a knee injury after a brutal low hit sent him somersaulting through the air.
Then, in the second half, it was Fournette who was lost for the game with another dreaded hammy injury. The losses of those three guys was too much for the Bucs’ offense to bear, as Tom Brady and company struggled to get anything going all night.
Less than 24 hours later, Ian Rapoport has provided some highly-anticipated updates for all three players. And although it’s not exactly the best news, it’s a lot better than things could have been for Bruce Arians’ squad.
The worst of the three appears to be Godwin, who suffered an MCL sprain and is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season. The good news, however, is that he should be back for the postseason.
As for Evans and Fournette, their hamstring injuries don’t appear to be serious. Fournette’s seems to be the more significant of the two, as he’s expected to miss a game or two, while Evans seems as though he could be questionable with a chance at suiting up against the Panthers in week 16.
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The good news for the Bucs is they’re still three games clear of the Saints for top spot in the NFC South with only three weeks remaining in the season. So they’re all but assured of a playoff spot and at least one postseason home game. But the loss and the injuries they sustained, it seems as though last night’s game all but ended their hopes at snagging the NFC’s top seed and a first round bye.
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