Midseason May Make Or Break Bucs
July 1st, 2024
Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
By the time the sun rises on Veterans Day, fans should have a good idea if the Bucs are playoff contenders or pretenders.
If the Bucs have a bad record, it wouldn’t mean they are dead. Not in the NFC South. But strengths is and weaknesses would be evident.
Matt Verderame of SI.com looked at the Bucs schedule and found Weeks 5-10 to be the most harrowing. That six-week stretch includes three division games, a game against a team that was in the AFC title game and both clubs that played in the Super Bowl.
Getting both Super Bowl participants in the span of six days, with three tough divisional games and a date with the reigning MVP in Lamar Jackson preceding them, is brutal.
Well, “brutal” is relative. If the Bucs are a good team, then the Dixie Chicks and slimy Saints shouldn’t keep too many people up at night.
Playing the Chiefs (on the road) and the 49ers at home on a short week is bad news, especially since the 49ers will be coming off a bye week. That should negate how West Coast teams get tripped up playing at 1 p.m. on the East Coast (10 a.m. on their body clocks).
And since that game is in November, it’s unlikely to be scorching hot and humid, not that the Bucs often take advantage of their weather edge (maybe the most overblown “edge” in the NFL).
If the Bucs can come away from those six games 3-3, it wouldn’t be awful. If the Bucs can somehow win four of those six games, that would be fantastic.
At least this time when the Bucs host the Crows in a night game, they won’t have a quitting linebacker on the field.
July 1st, 2024 at 12:53 am
Yea – and we play the Lions and Eagles 2 of the 3 weeks prior to those 6 games.
6-4 after 10 games headed into the bye would put the Bucs in good position because the back end of the schedule is weaker and they have a decent chance to win 5 of the last 7.
Even 5-5 after that 49ers game would still give us a reasonable chance of making a playoff run.
There aren’t very many weak teams on the Bucs schedule this year though. Gonna have to beat a few “good” teams in 2024 to get to 10 or more wins….
Lions, Ravens, Chiefs, 49ers, Cowboys – need to beat at least 2 of those 5 very good teams.
July 1st, 2024 at 1:25 am
There are no easy wins in the NFL. Some are just harder than others.
July 1st, 2024 at 2:36 am
We got this….just watch
July 1st, 2024 at 2:42 am
im throwing another hundred at this…Bucs on the over, the ravens on the under, chicago on the over, 9ers on the under….4 leg parlay
July 1st, 2024 at 3:43 am
Bucs should be able to go 5-2 (possibly even 6-1) after our Week 11 BYE, playing the Giants (away), Panthers (away), Raiders (home), Chargers (away), Cowboys (away), Panthers (home), Saints (home). So IF we can be break-even after the first 10 games, we’ll have a decent chance to hit 10-7, maybe even 11-6.
The key to our season IMO will be the start. We play the Commanders (home), Lions (away), Broncos (home), Eagles (home), Falcons (away), Saints (away) in our first 6 games. 3-3 isn’t good enough; we need to be at least 4-2 or we’ll have an uphill climb, because the following 4 games will be brutal … Ravens (home), Falcons (home), Chiefs (away), 49ers (home). Three of those teams are perennially solid, and the Falcons will very likely be in must-win mode by that point.
July 1st, 2024 at 10:08 am
The Chiefs are going for a three-peat so they are going to be trying as hard as possible to get it. Playing them on their home field can be a hindrance. But you just never know. There are new rules in place this season. What wrong calls will the refs have, what relevant calls will the refs not have, who gets injured/sick, coin toss decisions,… So many other things to think about that happen too.
I agree with all the comments above. We got this, however we do need to win over the Commanders first thing and set the precedent moving forward. I am not worried about the Saints, Panthers, and Falcons quite yet. They are unpredictable with Carr, Young, and Cousins.
July 1st, 2024 at 10:46 am
IN CASE YOU MISSED 2023 (AND 2020)
Both last year and in 2020, the Bucs had midseason dips. Then, they finished hot nad the win streak carried through to the playoffs. Not one playoff team in the last SEVEN games.
This could be a special year for the Bucs.