Buccaneers NFL injury report, odds: Tampa Bay's title defense takes major hit with Chris Godwin out and Mike Evans, Leonard Fournette ailing

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a rough night at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday Night Football, and the NFL Week 16 injury report is going to further dampen their spirits. The Bucs (10-4) had a chance to clinch the NFC South on Sunday night but were shut out 9-0 by the New Orleans Saints.

To make matter worse, receiver Chris Godwin was lost for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. The team's leading receiver (1,103 yards) was injured on a hit directly to his knee in the second quarter and did not return. It was initially reported that he sprained his MCL and could be back for the playoffs, but coach Bruce Arians said in Monday's news conference that an MRI showed that Godwin tore the ACL and will have surgery.

But Tampa Bay's chances to defend its title took a major hit with the Sunday night loss. The Bucs still have a 99.5 percent chance to win the division, according to the SportsLine Projection Model, but they saw a huge drop in their Super Bowl chances. They entered Week 15 with a 15.1 percent chance to repeat, according to the model, but the loss to New Orleans dropped that to 9.2 percent to win Super Bowl LVI.  

Sunday night's game was the first shutout of a Tom Brady-led team since 2006, and just the third time in the legendary quarterback's career that his offense failed to score. He had gone 255 straight games without being shut out and had never been blanked in a home game.

The New Orleans defense had its way with the Bucs, sacking Brady four times and holding the NFL passing leader to 214 yards and no touchdowns while intercepting him once.    

The Bucs saw two other major offensive weapons sidelined during the game, and their status is up in the air entering NFL Week 16. Second-leading receiver Mike Evans, who has 899 yards and leads the team with 11 touchdowns, tweaked a hamstring and also left the game in the second quarter. 

With Godwin and Evans out in the second half and Antonio Brown (suspension) and Breshad Perriman (COVID) also unavailable, the Bucs were left scrambling. Tyler Johnson (27 receptions), Jaelon Darden (six) and Scotty Miller (four) were the main receivers. Tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Cameron Brate also were ineffective, combining for four receptions.   

Evans' injury does not appear to be serious, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Coach Bruce Arians also said he will welcome Brown back this week from his suspension for misrepresenting his COVID vaccination status. 

Running back Leonard Fournette also injured a hamstring in the third quarter of Sunday night's game and is in danger of missing time, according to Rapoport. 

The former Jacksonville first-round pick has 812 rushing yards and is second on the team with 69 receptions for another 454. Backup Ronald Jones has just 337 rushing yards this season. 

Tampa Bay faces Carolina twice in the final three weeks, including Sunday at 1 p.m., and takes on the Jets in Week 17.  

Who wins every NFL game? And which teams will sink your bankroll? Join SportsLine now to get NFL picks every week, all from the model that simulates every game 10,000 times and is up almost $7,200.