2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

The 2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season was the franchise's 40th season in the National Football League and the second under head coach Lovie Smith. The offseason was marked by the draft selection of All-American Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston first overall in the 2015 NFL Draft. The team wore a patch to commemorate the club's 40th season.^[3]

After their Week 8 overtime win at Atlanta, the Buccaneers had already improved on their record from 2014 (2–14). Entering the month of December, Tampa Bay had just swept division rival Atlanta, avenging an ugly 56–14 defeat on TNF a year earlier. The team found themselves mathematically in the hunt for a playoff berth with a 6–6 record. Despite showing improvement, the Buccaneers lost their final four games of the season. They finished 6–10 and last in the NFC South for the fifth straight year.

Despite missing the playoffs, Doug Martin finished second in the league in rushing yards (just 82 yards shy of Adrian Peterson), and the franchise had their first ever season finishing in the top five in total offense. Winston, who started all 16 games, was voted the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year. On the defense side, the Buccaneers made improvements, ranking in the top ten in total yards and points allowed.

On January 6, 2016, head coach Lovie Smith was fired after two seasons as head coach.^[4]

2015 draft class

2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	1	Jameis Winston	QB	Florida State
2	34	Donovan Smith	OT	Penn State
	61	Ali Marpet	G	Hobart
4	124	Kwon Alexander	LB	LSU
5	162	Kenny Bell	WR	Nebraska
6	184	Kaelin Clay	WR	Utah
7	231	Joey Iosefa	FB	Hawaii

Notes

• The Buccaneers acquired additional selections in the fourth- and sixth-rounds (Nos. 109 and 184 overall, respectively) in a trade that sent safety Mark Barron to the St. Louis Rams.
• The Buccaneers traded their original fourth- and sixth-round selections (Nos. 101 and 178 overall, respectively) and tight end Tim Wright to the New England Patriots in exchange for guard Logan Mankins and the Patriots' fifth-round selection (No. 168 overall).
• The Buccaneers acquired an additional fifth-round selection (No. 162 overall) in a trade that sent guard/center Jeremy Zuttah to the Baltimore Ravens.
• The Buccaneers traded their original fifth-round selection (No. 137 overall), along with a 2014 seventh-round selection to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for the Bills' 2014 fifth-round selection during the third day of the 2014 NFL draft.
• The Buccaneers acquired an additional seventh-round selection (No. 231 overall) and in addition with defensive end George Johnson from the Detroit Lions in exchange for the fifth-round selection (No. 168 overall) that was acquired from the Patriots.

Staff

2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff

Front office Owner/president – Estate of Malcolm Glazer Co-chairman – Bryan Glazer Co-chairman – Edward Glazer Co-chairman – Joel Glazer General manager – Jason Licht Director of player personnel – Jon Robinson Director of football operations – Shelton Quarles Director of pro scouting – Rob McCartney Director of football administration – Mike Greenberg Head coaches Head coach – Lovie Smith Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Dirk Koetter Quarterbacks – Mike Bajakian Running backs – Tim Spencer Wide receivers – Andrew Hayes-Stoker Tight ends – Jon Embree Offensive line – George Warhop Assistant offensive line – Butch Barry Offensive quality control – Ben Steele

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Leslie Frazier Defensive line – Joe Cullen Assistant defensive line – Paul Spicer Linebackers – Hardy Nickerson Cornerbacks – Gill Byrd, Larry Marmie Safeties – Mikal Smith Defensive quality control – Dave Borgonzi Senior defensive assistant – Vacant Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Kevin O'Dea Assistant special teams – Carlos Polk

Final roster

2015 Tampa Bay Buccaneers final roster

	Quarterbacks  8 Mike Glennon  4 Ryan Griffin  3 Jameis Winston Running backs 25 Mike James 46 Jorvorskie Lane FB 22 Doug Martin 43 Bobby Rainey 34 Charles Sims Wide receivers 17 Donteea Dye 13 Mike Evans 11 Adam Humphries 89 Russell Shepard 85 Evan Spencer Tight ends 84 Cameron Brate 82 Brandon Myers 87 Austin Seferian-Jenkins 88 Luke Stocker 81 Tevin Westbrook		Offensive linemen 78 Gosder Cherilus T 69 Demar Dotson T 68 Joe Hawley C 70 Logan Mankins G 74 Ali Marpet G 64 Kevin Pamphile G 76 Donovan Smith T 62 Evan Smith G/C Defensive linemen 91 Da'Quan Bowers DE 92 William Gholston DE 94 George Johnson DE 95 Howard Jones DE 93 Gerald McCoy DT 77 Tony McDaniel DT 90 Henry Melton DT 56 Jacquies Smith DE		Linebackers 59 Kourtnei Brown OLB 50 Bruce Carter MLB 54 Lavonte David OLB 49 Darius Eubanks OLB 52 Jeremiah George OLB 53 Adarius Glanton MLB 57 Josh Keyes OLB 51 Danny Lansanah OLB Defensive backs 38 Jude Adjei-Barimah CB 27 Johnthan Banks CB 24 Mike Jenkins CB 30 Bradley McDougald FS 33 Kimario McFadden FS 26 Sterling Moore CB 37 Keith Tandy SS 21 Alterraun Verner CB Special teams 10 Connor Barth K 48 Andrew DePaola LS  5 Jake Schum P		Reserve lists 58 Kwon Alexander MLB (Suspended) 80 Kenny Bell WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 23 Chris Conte SS (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 57 Larry English DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 96 T. J. Fatinikun DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 72 Garrett Gilkey G (PUPTooltip Physically unable to perform) 83 Vincent Jackson WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 98 Clinton McDonald DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 18 Louis Murphy WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 97 Akeem Spence DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 31 Major Wright FS/SS (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad 61 Josh Allen C 19 Andre Davis WR 67 Antoine Everett G 72 Ben Gottschalk C 28 Gerod Holliman S 71 Martin Ifedi DE 75 Derrick Lott DT 71 Ronald Powell DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 29 C. J. Roberts CB 32 Joel Ross CB Rookies in italics 53 active, 12 inactive, 9 practice squad

Schedule

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	August 15	at Minnesota Vikings	L 16–26	0–1	TCF Bank Stadium	Recap
2	August 24	Cincinnati Bengals	W 25–11	1–1	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
3	August 29	Cleveland Browns	L 7–31	1–2	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
4	September 3	at Miami Dolphins	W 22–17	2–2	Sun Life Stadium	Recap

Regular season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 13	Tennessee Titans	L 14–42	0–1	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
2	September 20	at New Orleans Saints	W 26–19	1–1	Mercedes-Benz Superdome	Recap
3	September 27	at Houston Texans	L 9–19	1–2	NRG Stadium	Recap
4	October 4	Carolina Panthers	L 23–37	1–3	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
5	October 11	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 38–31	2–3	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
6	Bye
7	October 25	at Washington Redskins	L 30–31	2–4	FedExField	Recap
8	November 1	at Atlanta Falcons	W 23–20 (OT)	3–4	Georgia Dome	Recap
9	November 8	New York Giants	L 18–32	3–5	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
10	November 15	Dallas Cowboys	W 10–6	4–5	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
11	November 22	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 45–17	5–5	Lincoln Financial Field	Recap
12	November 29	at Indianapolis Colts	L 12–25	5–6	Lucas Oil Stadium	Recap
13	December 6	Atlanta Falcons	W 23–19	6–6	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
14	December 13	New Orleans Saints	L 17–24	6–7	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
15	December 17	at St. Louis Rams	L 23–31	6–8	Edward Jones Dome	Recap
16	December 27	Chicago Bears	L 21–26	6–9	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
17	January 3	at Carolina Panthers	L 10–38	6–10	Bank of America Stadium	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Tennessee Titans

Opening day was a matchup between the No. 1 overall and the No. 2 overall selections in the 2015 NFL draft. Jameis Winston started at quarterback for Tampa Bay, and Marcus Mariota started at quarterback for Tennessee. Mariota snagged the headlines for the day, passing for 209 yards and four touchdowns as the Titans routed the Buccaneers 42–14. Winston's Buccaneer debut was mostly forgetful, as his first pass attempt in the NFL was a "pick 6" interception.

Week 2: at New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay rebounded after their week 1 loss, and defeated the New Orleans Saints for the first time since October 2011. Jameis Winston threw a touchdown pass and ran for a touchdown, as Tampa Bay jumped out to a 23–7 lead. The Saints rallied, and had two chances for a game-tying touchdown in the final 8 seconds. Drew Brees final throw was knocked down at the endline, and the Buccaneers snapped a 7-game losing streak dating back to the 2014 season.

Week 3: at Houston Texans

Buccaneers kicker Kyle Brindza missed three field goals and missed an extra point, as Tampa Bay fell at Houston by the score of 19–9. Jameis Winston threw for 261 yards, one touchdown pass, and one interception in the loss. Brindza did make a 58-yard field goal in the second quarter, which was the second-longest field goal in franchise history. Midway through the third quarter Vincent Jackson appeared to catch a 23-yard touchdown pass from Winston, but it was overturned after review, when it was determined that he did not get both feet down.

Week 4: vs. Carolina Panthers

Cam Newton threw for 124 yards and two touchdown passes, as Carolina beat Tampa Bay by the score of 37–23. Jameis Winston threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns, but threw four interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), and lost a fumbled snap in the defeat. After his struggles the previous week, Buccaneers kicker Kyle Brindza missed two field goals and an extra point, and was cut by the club on Monday morning.

Week 5: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Tampa Bay snapped an 11-game home losing streak that dated back to December 2013, defeating Jacksonville by the score of 38–31. Doug Martin rushed for 123 yards, two touchdowns, and had one receiving touchdown. Connor Barth returned to the club as kicker, going 3-for-3 on field goals, and 3-for-3 on extra points.

Week 7: at Washington Redskins

Tampa Bay blew a 24–0 lead to the Redskins . Kirk Cousins threw a game-winning 6-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Reed with 24 seconds left in regulation.

Week 8: at Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta turned the ball over four times, twice inside the red zone. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 17-point lead, with 20 points scored off of turnovers. However, Matt Ryan threw a game-tying touchdown pass to Julio Jones with 17 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. The Buccaneers won the coin toss in overtime, and scored a field goal on their first possession. The Tampa Bay defense held Atlanta to a turnover on downs, securing a 23–20 victory.

Week 9: vs. New York Giants

Jameis Winston scrambled for a 10-yard touchdown run with 9:25 remaining, but the potential game-tying two point conversion attempt failed. The Giants subsequently kicked two field goals to go back up by 8 points. The Buccaneers attempted a hook and lateral play as time expired, but Trevin Wade of the Giants recovered the loose ball and ran it in for a touchdown the other way.

Week 10: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Dallas and Tampa Bay were limited to field goals for the first 59 minutes of the game. Trailing 6–3 with just over one minute left, Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston scrambled for a 4-yard run to the endzone, but lost the ball as he was up-ended just short of the goal line. Dallas recovered the fumble, but was penalized for defensive holding by Jeff Heath. On the next play, Winston ran a naked bootleg for a 1-yard touchdown and a 10–6 Tampa Bay lead with 59 seconds remaining in regulation. With 28 seconds left, Matt Cassel's pass intended for Dez Bryant was intercepted by Bradley McDougald in the endzone to secure the victory. Bryant lobbied for pass interference due to contact by McDougald, but it was not called. It was Tampa Bay's first victory against Dallas since 2003, and the Cowboys' 7th straight loss (all without Tony Romo).

Week 11: at Philadelphia Eagles

Doug Martin rushed for 235 yards, and Jameis Winston threw five touchdown passes (tying an NFL rookie record), as Tampa Bay routed the Eagles by a score of 45–17. The combined 283 rushing yards was a franchise record for the Buccaneers, and the 521 total offensive yards was the second-highest regular season total in team history.

Week 12: at Indianapolis Colts

Matt Hasselbeck threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns passes to T. Y. Hilton as the Colts defeated Tampa Bay 25–12.

Week 13: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Tampa Bay swept Atlanta for the first time since 2007. Jameis Winston threw for 227 yards, one touchdown pass, and one rushing touchdown. Winston connected on a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans with 1:39 remaining for the game-winning score. One play later, Lavonte David sealed the win with an interception of Matt Ryan on the first play of the Falcons' final drive.

Week 14: vs. New Orleans Saints

Drew Brees threw for 312 yards and two touchdown passes, as New Orleans defeated Tampa Bay 24–17. The Saints jumped out to a 14–0 lead in the second quarter, and led 17–10 at halftime. Tampa Bay made the score 24–17 after Jameis Winston threw a touchdown pass to Adam Humphries with just under 9 minutes left in regulation. Trailing by 7, the Buccaneers got the ball back with 5:22 to go, but went 3-and-out. The Saints were then able to run out the clock to secure the win.

Week 15: at St. Louis Rams

Case Keenum threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns for the St. Louis Rams on Thursday Night Football. The Rams jumped out to a 28–6 lead after three quarters. Jameis Winston rallied the Buccaneers with a career-high 363 yards passing, and threw two touchdown passes to trim the deficit to 31–23 with 1:34 left in regulation. An onside kick attempt failed, and the Rams ran out the clock to secure the victory. This would become the final home game for the Rams in St. Louis, as the team relocated back to Los Angeles for the 2016 season.

Week 16: vs. Chicago Bears

Jameis Winston's hail-mary pass touchdown to Austin-Seferian Jenkins is not enough as Tampa Bay fell to Chicago 26–21 in the Buccaneers’ final home game of the season, and Lovie Smith went 0–2 against his former Bears team that fired him at the end of the 2012 season.

Week 17: at Carolina Panthers

Carolina swept the season series and finished with a record of 15–1. Tampa Bay finished the season losing their final four games and slipped to 6–10. After an incomplete pass by Jameis Winston, Mike Evans exchanged heated words with the officials resulting in Evans receiving two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls and an ejection from the game.

Standings

Division

NFC South
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(1) Carolina Panthers	15	1	0	.938	5–1	11–1	500	308	W1
Atlanta Falcons	8	8	0	.500	1–5	5–7	339	345	L1
New Orleans Saints	7	9	0	.438	3–3	5–7	408	476	W2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	10	0	.375	3–3	5–7	342	417	L4

Conference

NFC v t e
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division Leaders
1	Carolina Panthers	South	15	1	0	.938	5–1	11–1	.441	.438	W1
2	Arizona Cardinals	West	13	3	0	.813	4–2	10–2	.477	.457	L1
3	Minnesota Vikings	North	11	5	0	.688	5–1	8–4	.504	.449	W3
4	Washington Redskins	East	9	7	0	.563	4–2	8–4	.465	.403	W4
Wild Cards
5[a]	Green Bay Packers	North	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	.531	.450	L2
6[a]	Seattle Seahawks	West	10	6	0	.625	3–3	7–5	.520	.431	W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
7	Atlanta Falcons	South	8	8	0	.500	1–5	5–7	.480	.453	L1
8[b]	St. Louis Rams	West	7	9	0	.438	4–2	6–6	.527	.482	L1
9[b]	Detroit Lions	North	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	.535	.429	W3
10[b]	Philadelphia Eagles	East	7	9	0	.438	3–3	4–8	.508	.473	W1
11[b]	New Orleans Saints	South	7	9	0	.438	3–3	5–7	.504	.402	W2
12[c]	New York Giants	East	6	10	0	.375	2–4	4–8	.500	.396	L3
13[c]	Chicago Bears	North	6	10	0	.375	1–5	3–9	.547	.469	L1
14[c]	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	South	6	10	0	.375	3–3	5–7	.484	.406	L4
15	San Francisco 49ers	West	5	11	0	.313	1–5	4–8	.539	.463	W1
16	Dallas Cowboys	East	4	12	0	.250	3–3	3–9	.531	.438	L4
Tiebreakers[d]
^ a b Green Bay finished ahead of Seattle based on head-to-head victory. ^ a b c d St. Louis and Detroit finished ahead of Philadelphia and New Orleans based on conference record. St. Louis finished ahead of Detroit based on head-to-head victory. Detroit finished ahead of Philadelphia and New Orleans based on head-to-head sweep, while Philadelphia finished ahead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory. ^ a b c The New York Giants and Chicago each finished ahead of Tampa Bay based on head-to-head victory, while the Giants finished ahead of Chicago based on conference record. ^ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.

Awards

• Week 2: Pepsi Next Rookie of the Week — Jameis Winston
• Week 3: Pepsi Next Rookie of the Week — Kwon Alexander
• Week 5: FedEx Ground Player of the Week — Doug Martin
• Week 5: Special Teams Player of the Week — Bobby Rainey
• Week 5: Pepsi Next Rookie of the Week — Jameis Winston
• Week 11: Defensive Player of the Week — Lavonte David
• Week 11: FedEx Air Player of the Week — Jameis Winston
• Week 11: Pepsi Next Rookie of the Week — Jameis Winston
• Week 11: FedEx Ground Player of the Week — Doug Martin
• November: Offensive Rookie of the Month — Jameis Winston
• Week 13: Castrol Edge Clutch Performer of the Week — Jameis Winston

References

External links

• Official website