The joke will be that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers set back the modern-day NFL offense by decades on Sunday by failing to complete even one pass, something which had happened only one other time during the Super Bowl era.
asserted
which → set → era
But the Bucs get the last laugh.
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Bucs → get → laugh
They came away from Sunday's rain-drenched, mud-soaked meeting with the Atlanta Falcons with a 16-0 victory where they set a new club rushing mark of 324 yards.
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they → come → yards
On top of that, they have renewed life in the NFC South.
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they → renew → South
Afterward, coach Todd Bowles was asked if he informed his offensive coordinator or quarterback Baker Mayfield they weren't going to throw the ball a lot.
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they → ask → lot
"The conditions told him that," Bowles said.
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Bowles → tell → that
"I mean, you could see it as a downpour down there and the wind's blowing.
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wind → mean → downpour
You can kind of see the ball wasn't going anywhere."
So much for the space-age passing inside an air conditioned dome.
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ball → see → dome
Or rather, because this game at Raymond James Stadium was played in that unrelenting rain, it was three-yards-and-a-lot-of-slush.
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it → play → slush
Quarterback Baker Mayfield attempted three passes without a completion.
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Mayfield → attempt → completion
"All right, let's get this over with because you don't want to talk to me," Mayfield told reporters to open his postgame news conference.
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Mayfield → let → conference
This was some surreal stuff and that was obvious when Mayfield was asked questions about his lead blocking on one play.
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Mayfield → ask → play
"You know, if you're not going to throw the ball, I got to get active somehow," he said.
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he → know → ball
The last and only other time a team failed to complete a pass in a game since the NFL began playing Super Bowls was on Sept. 29, 1974 by the Buffalo Bills, according to the Associated Press.
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NFL → fail → Press
It was O.J. Simpson's Bills that did it that time with quarterback Joe Ferguson attempting only two passes without a completion.
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Ferguson → do → completion
Simpson ran for 117 yards in that long-ago game.
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Simpson → run → game
Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell went bonkers in this game.
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Irving → go → game
Irving gained 170 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry against the Falcons.
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Irving → gain → Falcons
Gainwell gained 140 rushing yards and averaged 5.6 yards per attempt.
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Gainwell → gain → attempt
But Irving didn't see it that way.
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it → see → ?
"I'm not going to lie to you.
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I → go → you
I don't know the last time I checked the weather for a football game," he said.
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he → know → game
"We're going to have to play in it anyway.
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We → go → it
That's how I think about it.
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I → think → it
"Rain, snow, muddy, you're going to have to play in it anyway."
It could be argued the Bucs would have been more productive, if perhaps, they had tried a pass sometime in the second half.
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they → go → half
But the Falcons tried doing some of that.
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Falcons → try → that
Their quarterback, Michael Penix Jr. completed only eight of his 24 attempts, throwing four interceptions.
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quarterback → complete → interceptions
The Bucs, on the other hand, didn't try to hit their heads against the proverbial wall like that.
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Bucs → try → that
They were too busy running up and down the field.
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They → run → field
The Aporia
