“Dangerous” Bucs
November 18th, 2022
Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
So now it’s mid-November. When the Bucs next take the field it will be after Thanksgiving. In other words, the playoff push.
And while the Bucs, as Bill Parcells would say, are an average team, that doesn’t mean they cannot rise up and clock an unsuspecting foe.
Case in point last week in Munich. The Bucs, mostly floundering since the beginning of October, faced the first-place Seahawks. And what happened? The Bucs punched the Seahawks in the mouth and played their best game of the season.
Looking at who the Bucs have beaten, and their sorry division, former Bucs beat writer and current Pro Football Talk staffer Charean Williams suggested playoff teams better be careful if they are matched up against the Bucs.
The Bucs are dangerous because they have weapons. Of course, what fool of a defensive coordinator would actually want to face Tom Brady in the playoffs? Especially when he has Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and maybe Julio Jones, too?
Defensively, coaches must find ways to tangle with guys like Vita Vea or Lavonte David or Antoine Winfield, and others. In a blink of an eye, these guys can create a turnover or put a key offensive player out.
The Bucs may not be a good team (“You are what your record says you are.”) but they are dangerous.
Just ask Pete Carroll.
November 18th, 2022 at 12:39 am
I am liking the upbeat article, Joe, but those Seabirds weren’t ready to play. I knew it when I saw them jumping around and dancing before the game. They were jacked up but I knew they weren’t concentrating on the game that they were going to play. Our team keeps saying that they have to be on the same page. I hope those pages are in the same book. 🙂 It sure would be fun to watch great games, henceforth.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:45 am
Bucs could be a very dangerous team if Brady just takes over playcalling duty, or at the very least is a lot more willing to audible out of Leftwich’s awful and predictable calls.
I know we won, but how can anyone not call for Leftwich to be fired when he runs the same ‘trick’ play, twice, over the span of a few downs. Seriously, you have to be a complete idiot to think that is going to work. The only way you think that would work is if you’re such an idiot, that you don’t know you’re an idiot, and thus you think everyone is as dumb as you are since you know you’d fall for it.
In any case, making Leftwich’s role smaller and smaller will be the key to getting something done this year and not having it all be a waste.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:30 am
What you said about Seattle is true Crickett Baker but it also means that the Bucs were the more prepared team for that match in Munich. 95% of the time Tampa has been the team which is unprepared and loses in that situation. It is a positive development regardless of who they beat and the Bucs did outplay and out-coach Pete Carroll and his Seattle squad as crazy as that would have sounded a week a go.
November 18th, 2022 at 6:46 am
I remember the ’76 season when Pittsburgh lost 4 of their first 5, Bradshaw was hurt, wheels were coming off… They won the next 9, two 1000 yard rushers. Sadly, no super bowl tho
November 18th, 2022 at 7:05 am
Hey Joes, don’t forget the Special Teams. Camarda is developing into a nuclear weapon, Succop is always reliable, and Darden is improving.
November 18th, 2022 at 7:37 am
I’ll believe we are dangerous if we can beat either SF or Cinn….
We should beat Cleveland, Carolina, Ariz, Saints & Atlanta
We should go 5-2 and win the division…….could still win it at 4-3…..
November 18th, 2022 at 7:45 am
Will the REAL Bucs please stand up! They were really good last game. But is this a one off or are they finally getting their sheit together?
November 18th, 2022 at 7:53 am
Joe. I see your assessment of the Bucs team in this post as fair. We can’t characterize this team as “good” based upon a single game.
Going forward though I believe they have the potential to become good. But that depends upon how healthy they are going into the post season. If they can get healthy when the playoffs begin there’s no reason they can’t make a run deep into the playoffs. Brady knows what it will take to get back to the Super Bowl and I wouldn’t ever bet against him. I doubt that any teams defense would wish to meet him in the playoffs if Evans, Godwin, Jones, and Gage are all healthy and the O-line protects him like they did in Munich.
November 18th, 2022 at 8:43 am
Play another game like the Bucs did against Seattle, and then talk about the future.
But right now, the Seahawks game was the anomaly, second of 10 (Cowboys being #1, and they weren’t that great against them…).
This team should not get too far over their skis, just shut up and play.
One. Play. At. A. Time.
PROVE they are “back.”
November 18th, 2022 at 9:23 am
Potential is there, but whether or not we’ll see this team continue to perform at the level of the most recent game remains to be seen. We need everybody from the HC to the long snapper on the same page to manifest that potential down this 7 game stretch.
November 18th, 2022 at 9:46 am
Unfortunately the Bucs this season have a habit of getting complacent. Hopefully the last two wins gave them the juice they need to get winning back in their blood. Rams are not a good team and the verdict is out on Seattle, their division isn’t so great either. The Pittsburgh & GB games stick in my head, the O play calls were bad.
November 18th, 2022 at 10:02 am
Their season is over…
Their season is over, the season is over, the season is over!
If they have any fight to them, thats what they need to keep saying to themselves and prove that its NOT over! Its so close though….so keep winning and pulling yourselves out of that funk.
November 18th, 2022 at 12:31 pm
Yeah. Dangerous. Hahaha.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:09 pm
If the Bucs are going to be dangerous, they will have to start scoring more than 21 points in a game. The Defense for the most part has kept the games close with exception to that Chief game. Hopefully the drama is done, and TB12 is back to where he normally is. I think the last 2 weeks have re-energized him, and should make for exciting push. Gotta create more turnovers as well.
November 18th, 2022 at 3:11 pm
Just concentrate on one game at a time. The browns should be a little beat up after their game with the Bills this week. We will be rested. Bucs should jump on Cleveland quick. There is no way we should lose a game coming out of a bye against a team who may not be full strength. One game at a time.
November 19th, 2022 at 9:48 am
I’ve given a lot of crap about BL and play calling but the thing is if the Bucs can’t run the ball they become one deminsinal. This last game showed us that when we can run the ball and use play action we are set up better to win. Our O-line needs to do better run blocking so we can set up more play action. Brady is lethal in play action but it does t work if you can’t run the ball. BL still needs to do a better job at play calling but all the blame isn’t on him