Ian Beckles & Ira Kaufman: Bucs Will Finish 11-6
September 9th, 2022
Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles.
The prediction time of year is wrapping up. It’s time to put your footballs on the table.
Sage of Tampa Bay Sports Ira Kaufman, the venerable JoeBucsFan.com columnist, and former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990-1996) have done just that.
Beckles was ranting on his WDAE radio show this week about how he studied last year’s schedule and had a challenging time finding losses. This year, Beckles said, he’s having “a hard time finding wins.”
Still, despite the difficulty, Beckles sees the Bucs cruising to an 11-6 record after losing Sunday night in Dallas.
It’s “a different equation” in 2022 for Beckles. More question marks start with the offensive line, he says, and Beckles doesn’t believe rookie guard Luke Goedeke and first-time starting center Robert Hainsey will improve greatly through the season. If the line sucks early because of them, Beckles said, expect it to struggle late.
Beckles worries most about Hainsey because he’s playing next to a rookie (Goedeke) and a guy new to the system (Shaq Mason).
What about Ira, who has been covering the NFL since the 1970s and the Bucs since 1985? He’s got the Bucs at 11-6, as well, but winning on Sunday night. The Sage makes that season call and a couple dozen more Bucs with Joe in the annual prediction podcast below.
September 9th, 2022 at 6:57 am
What a difference a year makes. Last year everyone was predicting an undefeated season. This year, everyone predicts barely a wild card team.
Next year when Brady leaves….the 5-win forecasts will be in fashion again.
September 9th, 2022 at 7:40 am
Don’t forget these are all WSP’s.
No, not Widespread Panic.
Without Suh Predictions.
Wait…With Suh Predictions is the same acronym. Dangit.
In any case, with Suh we go 12-5.
September 9th, 2022 at 7:47 am
Whenever a “pundit” makes a prediction, it would be useful to see their track record over the past few years. Are they any good at record prognostication?
September 9th, 2022 at 8:02 am
Just saw on NFL Network a 3 of their pundits picked the LA Chargers to WIN the Super Bowl.
September 9th, 2022 at 8:17 am
11-6 sounds good to me!! Especially if the season ends playing for another boat parade!! I DO REMEMBER THOSE Jameis years!!
LFG!!!!!
September 9th, 2022 at 8:32 am
I Broke down the schedules and checked Tampa’s opponent’s offseason’s. Also I factored in Tampa’s additions and subtractions and I honestly believe they’re a little better than last year. Offensive line depth is worse but receivers are great! Backfield is better cause White is an upgrade from Jones. Defense is better also because of the free agent signings and they will be younger along the Line. I don’t see any improvement on special teams. They could be the team’s Achilles heel in 2022. So now the prediction. The sportbooks think 11 is the under but I see a lot of parity at the top. With a division champion schedule it will take an injury lite year like 2020 to pull off the over. A normal injury year and they have already had some key losses would probably put them at 10 wins. So that’s my guess. We’ll see in December.
September 9th, 2022 at 8:45 am
I am not sure why people doubt Brady over and over again, but for some reason they do. If the Bucs go 11-6 it would be his worst regular season record in over 12 years.
September 9th, 2022 at 8:46 am
I hate predictions.
September 9th, 2022 at 8:49 am
@Casual Observer – I’m with you 100%. Any media type making season predictions should show their track record of making picks. That way you know whether to take them serious or not.
September 9th, 2022 at 8:50 am
Predictions are meaningless can’t wait for the season to start go bucs.
September 9th, 2022 at 8:55 am
Strange how Ian thinks the Bucs OL will be exposed by Dallas but that the Dallas OL will protect Dak enough to insure a W for them even though they do not have depth at wideout after CD Lamb. Its like Ian thinks Mike Smith is back and the Bucs will be playing soft zone with 10 yard cushions. Anyhow, I hope Ian is wrong and wonder as he said the Bucs will have trouble finding wins had the Rams game penciled as a loss? He might want to change that one. The Lambs certainly got boatraced in the second half, Matt Stafford looked like he was having as much fun as Ned Beatty on a canoe trip in North Georgia.
September 9th, 2022 at 9:27 am
An 11-6 prediction is probably as good as any other. Kinda like forecasting next week’s weather though; might rain, might not, depends on a lot of variables. In the case of the NFL, certain things we don’t control … like injuries, officiating, other teams’ performances.
Bucs’ Average Margin of Victory (AMV = Points Scored – Points Allowed per game) was a whopping 9.29 in 2021. And yet, we only ranked 4th in the NFL (Bills, Cowboys & Pats were above us, with the Bills having an incredible 11.41 AMV; perhaps that’s why they’re favored to win the 2022 Super Bowl?).
I’ll be very surprised if our 2022 AMV exceeds 5.0 (last year the Colts had a 5.06 AMV which had them ranked 7th in the NFL).
We’ve got a tougher schedule, against what should be some better defenses (and offenses), and a less experienced OLine. Result SHOULD be more close games than we had in 2020 & 2021 with TB12 at the helm.
September 9th, 2022 at 9:27 am
If the line is as bad as Ian Beckles believes why hasn’t Jason Light panic like Ian Beckles has – I have certainly more faith in GM Light who has first hand knowledge of what’s going on
September 9th, 2022 at 9:44 am
As a lifelong fan I remember having daydreams of consecutive winning seasons or consecutive seasons with a playoff win. If the Bucs go 11 wins, 13 wins and then 11 wins it would be the greatest 3 year stretch in team history.
Win the division, win a playoff game and let’s enjoy the ride while it last.
LFG!!!!!!!
September 9th, 2022 at 10:17 am
When Licht panics, I will panic.
When Beckles panics, I laugh.
September 9th, 2022 at 11:03 am
Cobraboy – Me too!
September 9th, 2022 at 11:04 am
Bucs are favored in every game they play this year.
September 9th, 2022 at 11:22 am
Is Ian and Ira agreeing to this degree about the same in occurrence as a Solar eclipse? Don’t know, but I’ll jump on that prediction bandwagon.
September 9th, 2022 at 11:24 am
Why didn’t Licht try to improve the O line ??
September 9th, 2022 at 12:09 pm
It’s very simple.
1. Licht has seen what we haven’t seen and is clearly (at this point) very confident the Bucs have the horses.
2. Licht was not at any advantage in a trade market. He was going to get gouged in a trade and he didn’t think getting raped in a trade for a mediocre lineman was worth it.
Licht drafted and the coaching staff trained Hainsey and Goedeke for a reason. Well, that reason is here.
September 9th, 2022 at 12:18 pm
12-5 meh.
Go Bucs!
September 9th, 2022 at 12:36 pm
[Yes, when it is finalized. — Joe]
September 9th, 2022 at 3:07 pm
#8 – LOL!
And I love the Widespread Panic reference. Some badass mofos.
September 9th, 2022 at 10:28 pm
Said that all offseason and I’ve been attacked all offseason, despite the fact I’ve picked the exact record of the team each year going back 2017 (I didn’t do public picks before that). The Bucs have a really difficult schedule, really difficult, and 11-6 seems very realistic.
With that said, who cares, if they get into the playoffs, they got Brady, which means they’re a favorite to get to the SB.
Also, said all offseason, I have the Saints at 10-7, in part because they also have to play that difficult schedule. I have the Bucs splitting with the Saints – so if they get swept yet again, you flip those results around and the Bucs are the ones that are 10-7. Lets make sure that doesn’t happen again.