Cameron Brate: Lions Are “Lock Of The Week” To Beat Bucs
October 11th, 2023
Former Bucs tight end Cameron Brate.
Here’s a kick in the groin.
A lifetime Buccaneer who still pays close attention to his former team thinks the Bucs will be toast on Sunday.
Nine-year Tampa Bay tight end Cameron Brate isn’t playing this season and likely is retired. But those who know Brate are aware that he is an astute and very serious football and basketball fan.
Brate still lives in Tampa and these days he checks in on a podcast co-hosted by former Bucs defensive lineman Beau Allen. Brate makes college picks and often drops his NFL pick of the week on the show.
Today, Brate shook his head at the Bucs’ chances against the Lions on Sunday at The Licht House.
“It pains me to make this pick — lock of the week: Detroit Lions -3 at Tampa,” Brate told Fax And The King. Dude, Detroit is a wagon. Detroit is awesome. Tampa has played really well, but this one is going to be a little bit of a tough matchup for them.”
Brate talked about how fun the Lions are to cheer for, and he believes they’re in the NFL’s elte class.
Ouch!
As for coming off the bye being a possible advantage for Tampa Bay, Brate sees it more as “rust” versus “rest.”
On a fun note, and Brate is a much more fun personality now that he’s not engaging in politically correct NFL playerspeak, Brate gave a little insight on a recent podcast of playing for Lovie Smith when he was Bucs head coach.
“I played for Lovie in ’14 and ’15 in Tampa. We were terrible. We were so bad. Oh my God. It was horrible. We literally just didn’t have a chance. Our roster was terrible,” Brate said.
“But it was hilarious because we had Lovie and the [defensive coordinator] was Leslie Frazier I played for Leslie for two years and I don’t think I ever heard or saw him say one word in two years.”
Yes, The Lost Decade was quite a time.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:05 pm
Hilarious picture of Brate along with that along with that quote, “Lock of the week”. love it Joe.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:06 pm
Well, I “used” to love Cam Brate.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:10 pm
Damn Cam
October 11th, 2023 at 12:11 pm
He’s just being honest, which I appreciate.
The Lions are the real deal. We’ll have our hands full.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:13 pm
Cam is entitled to his opinion. I was a fan of his as he was one of Licht’s first UDFAs. That and his Harvard roots caught my attention.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:18 pm
He’s just calling it like he sees it. It’s up to the Bucs to play at the top of their game. No stupid penalties or turnovers and they win.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
This should be a good test for both teams. The Lions best W was KC opening night but they barely won and the Chiefs were down their best playmaker that night (Kelce).
They had a disappointing home loss to Seattle and then have beaten 3 bad teams between Atlanta/Greenbay/Carolina.
I don’t think they have seen a defense as good as ours yet. We have already seen a better defense after playing the Eagles.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:23 pm
Love Dan Campbell, love Jared Goff, ST Brown, love Hutchinson, their tough style, they are likeable and fun to watch. Yes we have our hands full and it seems like whenever the Bucs are flexed or put in primetime – we return the favor to a nationally televised audience by shi**ing the bed. Im NOT in to no moral victories, but if we lose sunday, then HOW we lose Sunday matters. I do not want to see us getting defaced, emasculated and bullied by losing 38-7. If we lose 28-24 or something in a tough back and forth then that would obviously be much more encouraging talk on a Monday, but rest assured it will be apoplectic if they come down here and put their foot up or asses
October 11th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
He’s probably right, and he’s just being realistic. In some ways I think the Lions might be even better than the Eagles. Their offense is definitely more efficient than the Eagles has been so far, and on defense Hutchison is probably the best DL in the NFL right now.
For the Bucs to win the Lions are going to have to help them out – or the Bucs are going to have to be better than what they’ve shown. It’s possible, just not likely.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
F the Lions. The darlings of the 2023 season. They aren’t unbeatable. If i was a Buc player I’d want to play this game yesterday.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:29 pm
We’ll see how good Goff is after Antoine knocks the air right out of his lungs.
This Lion love fest is pissing me off.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:31 pm
Just like the Commanders where a lock to beat the Bears last week. Any given sunday any given sunday.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:36 pm
I could see a bit of a slow start off the bye but I can’t see a blowout unless the Lions are unprepared. Detroit does have a great team but they aren’t loaded like the 49ers or Eagles. Very comparable team to the Bucs imo. They have a way better run game than us and it makes them a more explosive offense. They haven’t faced a defense this good yet. I really look at this one as similar to the Vikings game even though the Lions are a better team. Defense has to stop the run, lock down Brown and LaPorta and on offense give Baker solid protection. If that happens, who is stopping Mike and Godwin on the other side? If the defense balls out… Bucs by 10.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
That last quote was more interesting that the main subject of the article
October 11th, 2023 at 12:52 pm
Lion blunders are our best chance.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:52 pm
I’m personally a lot more scared of the Eagles offense than teh Lions in terms of how our D matches up.
October 11th, 2023 at 12:57 pm
The lost decade is one of the wildest times ever mark Dominick was awful lol MRSA outbreaks adderoll bad trades no sacks lol it was very bad but funny
October 11th, 2023 at 1:22 pm
I got $50 on the bucs to win in a very close game – excited to hopefully see Kancey play and showcase that speed – as always go bucs!!! 🙂
October 11th, 2023 at 1:34 pm
Bet you mccoy is taking the Bucs!!💪🏻
October 11th, 2023 at 1:43 pm
JUST SAD
Brate left the game because of repeat concussions. Sad to say he has serious brain damage. That Ivy League education has gone to waste.
October 11th, 2023 at 1:58 pm
Love that this team is feeding off the doubters
October 11th, 2023 at 2:13 pm
Tear there knee caps OFF! Detroit SUCKS THAT FRANCHISE IS A JOKE!!!!
October 11th, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Yale is has a vastly superior Economics department.
October 11th, 2023 at 3:48 pm
The Lions ain’t all that. We got this!
🎶 Don’t believe me just watch 🎵
October 11th, 2023 at 3:56 pm
The lost decade was the Glazers and Licht doing what was expected of them instead of taking a chance, going out on a limb and doing something risky. I do appreciate them hiring Schiano and going on a spending spree in 2013 off season. But other than that, it was always aiming for mediocrity only to end up with ineptitude.
October 11th, 2023 at 4:01 pm
I can’t hate on Cam for that pic. He’s just giving an honest assessment. The Lions are very good team and we can’t have a bunch of penalties and we can’t turn the ball over against them. We are going to need to get some turnovers on them and hold them to field goals. If we do all of that we can win. If we don’t it will be a long game.
October 11th, 2023 at 6:05 pm
God, the people who need other people to think just like them is nauseating. Brate even said he hates picking the Lions, but he’s telling you what he honestly thinks. I have no issue with that, he wasn’t ‘dunking’ on the Bucs, just giving an opinion.
Also, unfortunately, I agree with him – at least in terms of picking the Lions. As far as lock of the week goes, I don’t know about that. The Bucs have played well enough not to fall into that category, and the Lions are the Lions, so they’ll completely disappoint their awful city and fans at some point. But they always win in Tampa, and this is no exception. If this game was on the road however, I’d absolutely pick the Bucs. It’s just the way this series goes.
October 11th, 2023 at 6:29 pm
Lions are good. But they are far from unbeatable. Pressure Goff and give Baker time. Those are the keys. If I were a betting man, I’d give the Lons the edge. But a lock? No way.
October 11th, 2023 at 6:38 pm
2 weeks to prepare should help
October 11th, 2023 at 9:27 pm
“lock of the week”
People can agree with picking the Lions to win but “Lock of the week”?
A bigger lock than the Niners versus the Browns? The Giants and Bills?
The Eagles and Jets?
Perhaps he’s figuring in the spread? But as far as simply winning or losing using the term “lock of the week” is truly overstated.
Let’s see what the smart money in Vegas says. Last time I checked the Lions are giving 3-3.5 points.
The Niners are giving six to the Browns! According to Vegas Brate is wrong!
But what do the smart guys in Vegas know right?
The Eagles are giving the Jets 6.5 points. Again disagreeing with Brate.
October 11th, 2023 at 9:50 pm
“Lions are the Lions, so they’ll completely disappoint their awful city and fans at some point”.
I would give that statement some value if it had come from any teams fan base other than the Buccaneers or maybe the (S)aints.
Someone seems to forget how terrible and for how long the Bucs were before they eventually turned the corner to success. You’d be a fool to think the Lions aren’t turning that same corner.
October 11th, 2023 at 10:23 pm
this one is going to be a little bit of a tough matchup for them.”
Brate did you see us play the Eagles? That was tough and unless you truly think they are elite then they shouldn’t have been beat by Seattle who run an offense like us. They are not in the same class as the eagles Buddy they are not elite
October 11th, 2023 at 11:46 pm
Not all former players are fanatics. And not many outside of bucs fans think they’ll win. Not a surprise and no big deal.
October 11th, 2023 at 11:48 pm
Vegas is big and glamorous due to road favorite locks…
GO Bucs!
October 12th, 2023 at 1:11 am
Love Cam!
Can’t stand prognosticators.
Go Bucs!
October 12th, 2023 at 8:11 am
He could be right…he could also be high off of glue stuck in his cookie duster/di**broom.
October 12th, 2023 at 10:14 am
Break their legs!
October 12th, 2023 at 10:20 am
Go Bucs!
October 12th, 2023 at 11:25 am
A Bucs win against the Lions will be fantastic. A loss by the Bucs is more than likely expected. Who knows? I think the game will be closer than some expect. Go Bucs!
October 12th, 2023 at 2:00 pm
They’re playing in Tampa, and isn’t that usually worth three points, a home game? If Cameron Brate is picking the Lions by three, then it’s pretty much a wash. I think the Buccaneers have faced better competition in this early going, so I have to give a slight nod to the Buccaneers
October 12th, 2023 at 2:57 pm
Sounds like someone’s mad he’s no longer employed…I call a curb stomping from the guys in the Creamsicle jerseys…with no Mike Evans possibly I still like our chances
October 14th, 2023 at 6:53 am
Bucs fans. Get ready. Let’s show them that wrong ain’t never right. This is football for a reason. Imma let the bucs choose their fate while I watch them bond and be the storm teams learn to fear. And respect again Go bucs. Lynch Derrick Sapp Rondo is gone, but Vita white Winfield and my Batman (David) got our back. We don’t need hope we just need execution.