Not Overly Impressed

August 27th, 2021

Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians.

You would think a team that brought back 22+1 starters from a Super Bowl club that curb-stomped the Chiefs would get a little respect.

Not from Conor Orr.

The SI.com NFL beat guy is clearly not a believer in the Bucs. In picking the outcome of each NFL game, Orr has the Bucs losing to just about every decent team on the schedule to finish at 12-5.

The Rams, the Belicheats, the slimy Saints (twice) and the Bills? Orr has each of those games as an “L” for Tampa Bay. Well, at least with the slimy Saints, Orr thinks the Bucs split the two-game series between the division rivals.

Shame on us for doubting the Buccaneers last year. While we had them winning 10 games, we had them missing the playoffs, being edged out by the Falcons. That won’t be the case in 2021, when Tampa Bay comes into the season riding a tailwind of great understanding that flowed from the end of last year. The Bucs caught a lot of breaks en route to their Super Bowl title, but also successfully melded two offenses to the point where they could resemble the best of what New England always was—a good power running team at its core, with the ability to seek out and take advantage of certain mismatches throughout the course of a game. While we often tend to develop a special kind of amnesia this time of year, forgetting that teams rarely make it back to the Super Bowl the following year, Tampa Bay did return all requisite pieces of an already very talented roster. With Tom Brady as their Pied Piper, the Buccaneers roll on.

To be fair, Orr believes the Bucs win the division, though Orr claims the NFC South will be very poor this fall.

While he professes respect for the Bucs, as you can read in the excerpt above, losing to so many good teams (though he has the Bucs cleaning up on lesser teams) suggests to Joe that Orr isn’t fully sold.

22 Responses to “Not Overly Impressed”

  1. Winny Testaverde Says:

    Not too outlandish in my opinion ( still not used to the 17 game thing )…as long as they get hot again to close out the season…I’m good.

  2. Long John Says:

    Mr. Orr thats called winning!

  3. Bird Says:

    That looks like an L to the Giants? Really? Not sure they will age well

  4. Bird Says:

    That^

  5. The Red Mirage Says:

    Zero chance Bucs lose to NE.

  6. Pine Hills Says:

    In the words of Bender, the robot from Futurama:
    He can kiss My
    shiny metal azz!

  7. Iamabuc Says:

    He’s just an Ork, thinking he defeat the Lord of the Rings….😂

  8. German Buc Says:

    The World Champs losing to the Giants?? At home??? What are the odds on this?

  9. SoFloBuc Says:

    How times have changed!! Bitching about a 12-5 season! Let the games begin….Go Bucs!!

  10. AKicknTheBucNuts Says:

    Thank God you listed Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians under that photo.

    Who would have known otherwise.

  11. gotbbucs Says:

    I’ll take it.

  12. Thisisouryear!! Says:

    I’m disappointed. I thought we were less than a week from Dallas. I don’t ever remember a week off after preseason.

  13. Court XXXVII Says:

    I’ll take 12 – 5 any given Sunday. Just get to the playoffs and let the magic re-commence. Remember when 5 wins a season was likely? Grateful those years are over, every day.

  14. Cobraboy Says:

    “Buc Taint”

    “They are still the Bucs.”

    It’s generational.

  15. Eddie Marz Says:

    Most of these sport genius’s don’t know crap. Pencil pushers at best. After the season they’re all hiding, none of them stand by their predictions. GO BUCS!

  16. Defense Rules Says:

    Until weathermen like Conor Orr learn how to accurately forecast team injuries PRIOR to the start of the season, it’s hard to put much faith in their prediction.

  17. Defense Rules Says:

    Thisisouryear!! … I’m thankful as all git-out that we do have that 10-day breathing space between our first real game & last preseason game. Gut feeling is that they did it because we only played 3 preseason games, and most teams will probably play the starters quite a bit in that 3rd game.

    Looking at the rest of our schedule, we lucked out. The only real ‘short week’ that we have is Oct 14th (Thursday) when we play the Eagles after playing the Dolphins that previous Sunday (Oct 10th). Good news might be that the Eagles haven’t looked all that good in preseason. But of course that doesn’t count.

    That’s it; almost all the other games have 7 days between them except for our Nov 28th game against the Colts AFTER we played the Giants the previous Monday night. Even our BYE week comes at a great time, almost mid-way in the season (play 8 games, then BYE, then play 9 games). Finishing our season with the last 3 games against the Panthers, Jets & Panthers again may very well work in our favor too.

  18. Drunkinybor Says:

    We are going to beat the Rams. It’s my personal guarantee! For what it’s worth you know as a drunk.

  19. Craig Says:

    The Bucs lose to Jameis? I think our defense still has a pick or 30 to bone. Ain’t no way the defense doesn’t outdo themselves if they seem Magoo across the line.

    After the Bucs, the rest of the division is going to be crap this season, I expect the Bucs to sweep them all and win the division by 6 or more games.

  20. Capt.Tim Says:

    Its mot hard to imagine the Bucs losing.
    They’ve done it more than any Pro team in history- in any league.
    I still have to pinch myself, to believe it.

  21. Good for Joel they have to be proud. Of super bowl win. Says:

    W he at are you doing in the middle of a horrible hurricane. We here is your common sense and do you not.read the weather reports

  22. Buczilla Says:

    I’m fully sold that Orr is horrible at his job.