Tampa’s had a fairly easy time of it against the Redskins defense in the first half on Sunday and they won’t have to worry about linebacker Ryan Kerrigan making things harder on them in the second half.
Kerrigan has been ruled out for the duration of the game after fracturing his hand. He had one tackle before departing a game that opened up with 24 straight points by the Buccaneers. Kirk Cousins’s touchdown run stopped the bleeding, but Washington couldn’t put any more points before halftime, so they’ll need to climb out of a 24-7 hole over the final 30 minutes.
Cousins is 12-of-15 for 111 yards and has avoided the interceptions that have plagued him throughout his career, but he did lose a fumble on a sack that Howard Jones returned for a Buccaneers touchdown. Jameis Winston threw for the other two Tampa scores of the first half and a once-stout Redskins run defense is getting steamrolled for a third straight week. The Doug Martin/Charles Sims tandem has 108 yards on 17 carries.
Tampa has committed six penalties for 60 yards, including some that have cost them chances to add points and a personal foul by William Gholston that helped set up the lone Washington score of the half. Self-inflicted wounds would be the quickest way for Tampa to make this a competitive game in the second half, so the Bucs should try to steer clear of the avoidable flags the rest of the way.