Bucs continue roller-coaster season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continued their roller-coaster season of hard knocks, bad calls, and missed opportunities with a loss to the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Sunday.

Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown with 6:55 left, and the Tennessee Titans rallied to beat the Bucs 27-23 Sunday for their second straight win. Tampa Bay's record drops to 2-6 after an inadvertent whistle cost them a fumble return after stopping Tennessee's fake punt in the final minutes.

Tennessee came in with the NFL's No. 4 scoring defense, having not allowed more than 20 points in a game all season. The Buccaneers entered with the league's fourth-best offense, averaging 28.8 points a game, and they became the first to top the mark.

The Titans (4-4) led 14-3 after turning a pair of first-quarter turnovers into two TD passes by Tannehill.

The Bucs lost their third straight and fourth in five games despite Winston and Mike Evans putting the Bucs up 23-17 by connecting on a TD pass at the end of the first half and a second in the third quarter. They wouldn't score again despite outgaining Tennessee 389-246.

This loss comes after losing to the Carolina Panthers in London two weeks ago.

Because of this streak, NFL bookmakers liked the Panthers to prevail, and the Titans at home as well. Both games the Bucs were 2.5 point underdogs and failed to cover the spread in both games.

Other trends that played a factor in the game:

• Both teams have identical records against the spread as they have straight up - the Bucs are 2-5 ATS and the Titans are 4-4.
• The Titans have won nine of their last 10 games against teams with losing records.
• Tampa Bay has lost 18 of its last 22 road games.
• Sunday is the 16th straight game that Tampa Bay has been a road underdog, but the 2.5-point spread is the lowest they've faced in that span.
• Tennessee is 1-3-1 as a favorite against the spread this season.