Finally!
August 11th, 2017
Like legions of Bucs fans, Joe is fired up today for one the great days of the year, the preseason opener.
After nearly 7 1/2 months of no football, finally, finally, finally, the Bucs face a real opponent again.
What a smile will cross Joe’s face at 7:30 p.m., when kickoff comes in Cincinnati.
Tampa Bay running backs, for the first time since January, will be asked to break tackles and find holes behind offensive lineman who are cut blocking and doing everything they can to punish the opposition.
Defensive linemen can finally hunt a quarterback and actually get in his throwing lane and close for a hit.
It’s honest football, not the training camp brand. Who couldn’t adore this kind of football?
Of course, if you’re paying top dollar to watch it, well, that can be a downer when the starters exit after one quarter, which is Dirk Koetter’s plan against the Bengals tonight.
Enjoy it, Bucs fans. And the TV ratings, as they always are for the preseason opener, will be huge.
And if you want to join the Stick Carriers in a high-octane Bucs watch party with hundreds of fans, the action is at Sports Legends Bar & Grill in Clearwater. Arrive early. Stay Late. Celebrate what this day represents.
August 11th, 2017 at 8:49 am
I watched some of the Pack-Philly game on the local channel up here last night.
Aaron Rodgers never got on the field…well he did come out for pre game warmups and horsed around with the crowd and Jordy Nelson with everybody yukking it up. Pretty boring game from the get go. As starved as I am for NFL football the game was so boring I went to the SNL show.
BTW…not to violate any NFL rules or cost them any money…I pay for Direct’s NFL ticket up here but they do not carry the pre-season games.
Does anybody know a LEGAL way to watch tonight’s game on the internet…maybe the Bucs will stream it or perhaps TV8 or whoever carries it will stream it on their site complete with commercials so everybody gets compensated?
August 11th, 2017 at 8:52 am
Doug is able to play in the preseason, correct?
August 11th, 2017 at 8:53 am
I’m guessing that Steve wrote this… I doubt that Lee is so excited about the pre-season
August 11th, 2017 at 8:54 am
Let the Games begin !
August 11th, 2017 at 8:57 am
Very excited to see the Bucs showcase on The TV tonight!!!!!! Much too watch and look for!!!!!!! Keep your eye on the bubble players that will be on special teams in the 1st quarter, (usually that is a big hint of who will make the back end of the roster)!!!!!
The Season unofficially starts now!!!! So much excitement in BucLand right now!!!!!! Makes all the work years before for a Great GM and Great Coaching worthwhile!!!!!!!! Enjoy it Buc Fans!!!!!!!!!!!
Stay Healthy!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#Free_Buc1987!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 11th, 2017 at 9:06 am
I got to wait and watch it in the morning recorded on NFL Network. That means I’ll have to avoid JBF this evening so I dont get any spoilers. You how hard that’ll be? That’s like Rosie Odonnel avoiding chocolate for a few hours!! There might be a wrath to deal with!
August 11th, 2017 at 9:08 am
Release the hounds!!!
August 11th, 2017 at 9:13 am
Rhealist says:
“Keep your eye on the bubble players that will be on special teams in the 1st quarter, (usually that is a big hint of who will make the back end of the roster)”
See now if you would just stick to making points (as opposed to focusing on patting yourself on the back or annoying all with exclamation points) – then you could actually be taken seriously.
“The new phone book’s here – the new phone book’s here – I’m SOMEBODY now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” – Steve Martin as The Jerk
August 11th, 2017 at 9:17 am
And to expound on your point Rhealist – in particular, watch who is playing gunners on kick coverage teams and watch who is covering gunners on return teams.
August 11th, 2017 at 9:24 am
Yes, It’s finally here. Clodhopper I feel your pain, I used to have to do the same thing because I live in Maryland. You should check out Set TV, Its kind of like Sling or PlayStation Vue except you get all of the games like NFL Sunday ticket. Unlike Kodi, it’s 100% legal. It’s $20 a month and as long as you have a good internet you shouldn’t have to worry about buffering. I use it on my android box. I know it works on the firestick also, but I am not sure what else. Anyway I digress, I am excited to be watching my boys tonight and I will have my big stick right next to me!!!!
August 11th, 2017 at 9:48 am
Gamepass.
August 11th, 2017 at 10:01 am
I’m excited to see the Bucs play but preseason games are hard to watch all the way through.
I watched the Dolphins vs Falcons, Bears game and Houston vs Carolina game.
My initial impressions are the following:
1)No surprise here but the Falcons offensive starters look very formidable.
2)Players that will likely make their roster for the Dolphins played ok…not bad but didn’t really stand out either. Again, the Falcons offensive starters looked good against the Dolphins starting defense but that may be more that the Falcons offense is really good than the Dolphins defense being a weakness(Dolphins did loose a projected starter at LB to what appears to be a season ending injury)
3) Mike Glennon looked really awful. HE ended having a passer rating of 0.0 and had the Broncos DB’s had more yards receiving his passes than the Bears receivers. Sheesh!
4) Mitchell Trubisky looked fantastic. Granted it’s limited action in a preseason game, but wow he played extremely well. He looked posied, athletic and accurate. Their fans have to be ecstatic at how he played.
5) Deshaun Watson also looked very good in his first action. Their fans I am sure also have to be very pleased at how their 1st round QB played in his first preseason action.
6) Carolina starting defensive line looked fairly dominant against the Texans starting OL and KB13 looks in shape and ready to be a #1 receiver for them.
McCaffrey played fairly well and had a good average yard per carry, but he does look small to me.
August 11th, 2017 at 10:12 am
StPete, I don’t know where you live, but in PA the NFL network doesn’t have the game live but is rebroadcasting it in-full at 1AM. I’m recording it and watching it when I get home from my part time job Saturday morning.
August 11th, 2017 at 10:12 am
Wausa, cant really gauge a whole lot from preseason. Consider that everything is vanilla as teams dont want to start showing their hands too early. Falcons went for it on a fourth and one on their score by the starters and I am sure the dolphins loaded up to stop the run to test their run defense but Atlanta called a swing pass to Freeman out of the backfield that went for a td. Dolphins probably guard for that in a real game..
August 11th, 2017 at 10:45 am
I know its pre season but to look bad in an exhibition game when no-one is game planning against you and you are a vet is pretty pathetic. The young guys that looked decent should because its all vanilla and Much of the comp won’t make a roster but that does make Me think the game won’t be too BIG for them.
August 11th, 2017 at 2:14 pm
StPeteBucsFan, I’m not 100% sure, but I THINK NFL streams preseason games.
Again…I’m not sure.
I use to have all sorts of illegal links, but I stopped doing that.
August 11th, 2017 at 2:21 pm
Nole on Sat- Bucc on Sun Says
“I know its pre season but to look bad in an exhibition game…”
The thing is, the level of competition remains the same most of the time in these games. Backups playing backups. Mostly, the are equally matched.
I don’t really care about winning these games…though a win is nice.
What I want are:
No starter or second string injuries. (Which is always an issue as they play against guys trying to impress for a roster spot)
Equal Kicking competition. Heck…I would not care if Koetter chose to try for a long field goal instead of punting a few times, even if it results in a miss and the other team scoring. We need game experience to judge these kickers.
I want to see the backups play…the bubble guys. In fact, a few of them I wouldn’t mind seeing play again starters…like Godwin, Martino and Walker. Just to test them under real fire.
Offensive line. Defensive line. Tight Ends.
Everything else I am pretty secure in.