Tampa Bay Loses Two Star Wide Receivers to Injuries Monday Night

The NFL’s Week 7 schedule was one of the best that we’ve seen so far this season. While the primary broadcast saw the Tampa Bay Bucs play host to the Baltimore Ravens, a second game aired exclusively on ESPN+ that saw Justin Herbert face off with Kyler Murray.

If you missed any of the action, we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know.

Baltimore Ravens @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Coming into this game between the Ravens and the Bucs, the focus was on the offenses, which ranked first and second in the league.

To no one’s surprise, the game got off to a hot start as Baker Mayfield and the Bucs marched down the field and scored on their opening drive. Tampa would add a field goal before Lamar Jackson took the game over and never looked back.

Jackson furthered his case for a third MVP trophy by going 17-22 for 281 yards and throwing five touchdowns with no picks. The fact that Jackson had as many touchdowns as he had incompletions is incredible. The dual-threat QB also tacked on nine rushes for 52 yards.

While Jackson threw a pair of his five touchdown passes to tight end, Mark Andrews, the biggest pass of the night was a 59-yard pass to Rashod Bateman who got behind the Buccaneer’s defense before Jackson dropped a pass right into his hands.

Jackson and his five TD passes weren’t the only source of offense for the Ravens, though.

Derrick Henry, the team’s biggest offseason acquisition, carried the ball 15 times for 169 yards, including an 81-yard run down the sideline that nearly resulted in a TD. Henry was kept out of the endzone as a runner but caught one of Jackson’s five TD passes.

Two Injuries on the Field

Tampa Bay didn’t only lose the game, but also two of their biggest offensive weapons. In the second quarter, it looked like Mike Evans had his second TD reception of the game in hand, but the ball fell to the ground as Evans grabbed his hamstring as he slid out of bounds.

He would leave the game and will undergo more testing on Tuesday. With Mike Evans out, the team turned to Chris Godwin to be its new number-one receiver.

Down by 10 with 41 seconds to go, Chris Godwin and the rest of the Tampa Bay starters were still in the game, even though Baltimore had pulled its offensive starters. On a play that didn’t have any impact on the final score, Godwin’s ankle got rolled up on.

The injury was so gruesome that ESPN refused to air a replay, and it was announced after the game that Godwin would miss “considerable time” as he too is slated for more testing on Tuesday.

The Ravens moved to 5-2 after picking up their fifth straight win by a score of 41-31 as Tampa Bay fell to 4-3. However, the Bucs’ biggest concern is what their WR room looks like following injuries to its top two contributors.

Both teams will play divisional games next season as Baltimore travels to Cleveland to take on the 1-6 Browns while Tampa Bay will stay home to host the Atlanta Falcons, who are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

LA Chargers @ Arizona Cardinals

For the first time in the illustrious history of Monday Night Football, a game aired exclusively on a streaming platform as Justin Herbert and the LA Chargers made the short trip to the desert to face Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.

If the Buccaneers and Ravens were all about the offensive firepower, the streaming-only game was a low-scoring affair that saw both teams play solid defense.

Ultimately, the Cardinals’ defense won the war, keeping Los Angeles out of the end zone for four quarters. Only able to put up five field goals, the Chargers mustered up 15 points. QB Justin Herbert certainly didn’t play poorly. He completed nearly 70% of his 39 passes for 349 yards but was unable to guide his team to paydirt.

On the other side, Kyler Murray had a much quieter game as the Cardinals relied more on their rushing attack to stifle the Chargers. Murray ended the game 14-26 for 145 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

James Conner was the heartbeat of the Cardinals’ offense as the veteran running back carried the ball 19 times for 101 yards, good for 5.3 yards per carry. Conner also brought in two receptions for 51 more yards, including Murray’s only TD toss of the night.

Murray tagged on a rushing score of his own, and the Cardinals’ 17 points were enough to seal the deal, as the team kicked a last-second field goal to seal the game.

The 17-15 loss dropped the Chargers to 3-3 in Jim Harbaugh’s first year as the head coach of the team. It was assumed that LA would struggle this year, as the team moved on from long-time offensive weapons Keenan Allen, Mike Willaims, and Austin Ekeler following the 2023 season.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s offense has sputtered along throughout this season, and the woes continued even though the team picked up the win on Monday Night.

The loss marked Jim Harbaugh’s first loss as a head coach on Monday Night Football as he came into the game 6-0 on Monday Nights.

Justin Herbert, Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers will look to rebound next week as they host the New Orleans Saints, who are expected to still be without their starting QB. The Cardinals will fly across the country to face the Miami Dolphins who are hoping to have Tua Tagovailoa back.