That was tough.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday, putting the season total to one victory and two losses. The reason why the Buccaneers have lost when they have is in part because of time management.

Against the Cardinals, poor time management allowed the Cardinals to score two touchdowns in the last three minutes of the first half. If the Buccaneers closed out the half and not go three and out on their last drive, then that’s one less touchdown the Cardinals scored.

The mismanagement of the clock was very noticeable was against the Rams. The Bucs had two timeouts to score and win the game. Running back Charles Sims caught the ball for a 12-yard gain while staying in bounds, which kept the clock running. Head Coach Dirk Koetter opted to not use a timeout and keep the clock running, causing the game clock to drop from 49 seconds to 26 seconds left in the game. After a couple of botched plays, the game ended with Quarterback Jameis Winston being tackled while heading towards the end zone, leaving the Buccaneers with one timeout heading into the locker room.

Had the Buccaneers used that last timeout when needed, they in all likelihood would have won the game against the Rams. That’s at least a 2-1 record or possibly an undefeated record, which would be huge for this team and city. Now the Buccaneers face the past conference champions of last season, the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. The Buccaneers could end up going 1-4 into the bye week.

It could have been 2-3 or 3-2 if poor clock management didn’t occur. Now the Buccaneers will have to rely on Jameis Winston to carry them to success.