Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians has spent time the last two days discussing the delay of game penalty that made Matt Gay’s game-winning field goal attempt five yards longer than it was set to be after a long completion to Mike Evans.
Arians’s comments on the series of events leading up to the kick have also touched on moving the ball from the hash to the middle of the field, but all of the conversation would be unnecessary if Gay had simply hit the 34-yard field goal. He missed it, though, and also missed two extra points in a 32-31 loss to the Giants.
Gay put the loss “100 percent” on his shoulders, but he’ll have a chance to make up for the misses in the future. Arians said on Monday that the fifth-round pick “ain’t goin’ anywhere” and said the franchise’s rough history with kickers won’t lead him to change his mind.
“This history s--t . . . this is a new team. This is our team, a new team. Just go kick. Just go kick,” Arians said, via ESPN.com.
Gay is 7-of-9 on field goals and 5-of-7 on extra points overall this season.