Buccaneers Market Correction Continues
August 15th, 2024
The Buccaneers’ disrespect train officially is derailed and being serviced by non-union technicians outside of Atlanta.
This week, Sports Illustrated national NFL insider Albert Breer picked the Bucs to win the NFC South this season without a shred of hesitation or waver.
Today, the CBS HQ expert panel of Prickly Pete Prisco and Ryan Wilson, the longtime NFL writers, were very authoritative with their expectations of the Bucs winning the NFC South.
Wilson said the Bucs are a 10-7 team and Prisco, who has been at Bucs training camp this offseason talking to players and staff, is all in.
“I love this team,” Prisco said. “… They are the team to beat in that division and they know it.”
That was rather noteworthy for Joe because Prickly Pete is, well, prickly. Joe was hanging out at the NFL Scouting Combine in February when a famous NFL personality talked to Prisco alongside Joe and said goodbye as follows, “Stay angry, Pete.”
Most enjoyable to Joe was Wilson picking the Falcons to finish 7-10 and Prisco piling on in agreement. Prisco is very skeptical of the Falcons defense — and their quarterback.
“This team is being a little overrated because of Kirk Cousins,” Prisco said.
Joe’s intrigued by the shift in the national media because Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht has said the Bucs being fueled by low outside expectations has become part of their DNA.
What happens if the tables turn and these Bucs become the favorite?
August 15th, 2024 at 2:28 pm
If we are or were the favorite the gap has closed dramatically with the Judon signing. I can see him causing havoc in our backfield.
August 15th, 2024 at 2:31 pm
More reason for optimism this season. I think they will be fine.
August 15th, 2024 at 2:41 pm
Welp Falcons just upgraded their pass rush by trading for Matt Judon. While the Bucs have done little to nothing with upgrading their pass rush this offseason. Chris Braswell, is a rookie and expectations have to be tempered when it comes to a rookie. Braswell probably will not turn a corner in his progression until late this regular season. Till then Bucs need more juice coming from the Rush. If Kancey can stay healthy, “if” then he will definitely bring it. But Bucs need more than that. Licht and management need to bring someone else in. Reddick is just sitting there available??
August 15th, 2024 at 2:41 pm
How many super bowl champions on this team? How many on the others? Bucs are favorites to win in my mind
August 15th, 2024 at 2:46 pm
Does being the “favorite” help you win games or no? That’s what I thought. If you want to use the word “useless” in a more correct context, use it when writing about the talking heads forecasts, projections and prognostications.
August 15th, 2024 at 2:49 pm
I don’t really care. We were 2nd favourites to get the first overall pick last year. Let favourites be favourites, I’d rather just show up in the regular season.
I do think the Falcons are comparable (NOT clear favourites), but they are also dealing with a lot of changes. Completely new staff, we nitpick about our install, the Falcons had to do it on both sides of the Ball. In addition Kirko doesn’t really match up great with NFC South defenses (7 turnovers in 2 games last year) and even Tom Brady had his adjustment period start of 2020 if you guys remember correctly. So personally, the ball is still in out court by experience.
And Harold, pick up a mirror.
August 15th, 2024 at 3:04 pm
The falcons trading for Judon and having Jessie Bates publicly comment to lure Justin Simmons sure seems like the Falcons believe they are a SB contender this season. Especially given they had virtually zero salary cap space before trading for Judon (the lowest in the league).
It’ll be interesting how the season develops. With all these injuries and many players missing time the Bucs might start slow before pulling it together the second half of the season as long as they can stay healthy.
August 15th, 2024 at 3:18 pm
Go Bucs
August 15th, 2024 at 3:32 pm
Seeing is believing! LFG!
August 15th, 2024 at 3:41 pm
Not everyone is jumping on the new bandwagon. I was listening to Airing it Out on the NFL Sirius Channel this morning and Justin Pugh was a guest host. He thinks the Falcons are a clear favorite to win the Division. He said something to the effect that Brady is no longer with the Bucs, so they’re toast. What? Did you not pay attention to last year? Aside from what appears to be another great draft class, the only major changes (I don’t consider White’s departure a major loss) from last year are the acquisition of Whitehead and the departure of Dean. So that’s probably a wash on defense. Why would you not expect the Bucs to contend again this year?
August 15th, 2024 at 3:44 pm
Didn’t give me warm and fuzzies to hear the team came off the bus in JAX and couldn’t focus. Didn’t make it any better hearing Bowles saying they need to toughen up. If these dudes aren’t all in it doesn’t matter how talented they are. Hopefully their heads are right. Or a combination of leaders talks with authority to the ones that are having a hard time with the long bus ride. The NFL season is a long damn bus ride and it seems teams hardly have a smooth time of it.
August 15th, 2024 at 3:52 pm
ROTFLMAO!!!
Glad Pugh keeps up with current events.
August 15th, 2024 at 4:00 pm
Speaking of the Falcons, they just signed All-Pro / Pro Bowl Safety Jeffrey Simmons after adding Judon yesterday…
Meanwhile, we don’t even have one starting-caliber OLB / pass rusher who is healthy.
August 15th, 2024 at 4:10 pm
Joe … ‘Jason Licht has said the Bucs being fueled by low outside expectations has become part of their DNA. What happens if the tables turn and these Bucs become the favorite?’
I’m convinced Joe that you just cannot help yourself when it comes to playing the ‘BUT … what if’ game. It’s like at the end of every rainbow you see a porta-potty instead of a pot of gold.
All this Bucs’ team can do is handle 1 game at a time. They’re not in control of how well the other teams do (except when we play them of course). It’s a loooong season, and virtually anything can happen. Hey the Panthers MIGHT go 16-0, win their next 2 playoff games THEN lose in the SB like the Patriots did back in 2007. With Tom Brady at the helm no less. Hey, it happens (OK, that’s an exaggeration; Panthers probably won’t win 16 games this season).
August 15th, 2024 at 4:12 pm
It’s official! Bucs won’t field all their starters this upcoming preseason game again.
August 15th, 2024 at 4:16 pm
Falcons gonna win the division, Go Dirty Birds
August 15th, 2024 at 4:25 pm
Falcons signed Justin Simmons today. Their D has gotten much better in the last 24 hours.
August 15th, 2024 at 4:29 pm
PSL Bob … ‘He (Justin Pugh) thinks the Falcons are a clear favorite to win the Division.’
So do a lot of other people Bob. No biggie; it’s their prerogative to be wrong. Personally however I’m impressed with the last 2 moves that the Falcons have made (trading for DE/OLB Matt Judon & signing All_pro Safety Jeffrey Simmons. Not a clue though how they intend to pay them (Falcons were ranked #32 in Top-51 salary CAP space BEFORE those 2 came onboard with only $139,576 left (gut feel is that they’ll cut somebody making big $$$ in a couple of weeks?).
August 15th, 2024 at 4:34 pm
I will take 10-7 right now.
August 15th, 2024 at 4:53 pm
@DR looks like they already figured it out. They restructured Chris Lindstrom and converted his base salary to free up 9 million in relief this year. They can still restructure Jessie Bates to get around another 7 million to make a total of16 million immediately available. Restructuring both players would pay for Judon (6.5 million) and Simmons (reported 8 million) this year.
August 15th, 2024 at 5:01 pm
They gave Cousins 180 million, then draft a QB they love. They don’t know what the hell they’re doing. Had they drafted Penix, and had that 180 million to spend on players other then just Cousins I’d be worried, but they didn’t. It’s still us, and the Saints.
August 15th, 2024 at 5:20 pm
I know that no one is talking about this but don’t be surprised if the Bucs offense starts out a little slow. Again they are learning a new offense and even though it is similar to last years offense there still are differences including the verbiage. Everyone seems to think the Bucs will pick up where they left off from last year and maybe they will. However, I think it is much more likely they start out a little slow on offense the first few games.
August 15th, 2024 at 5:26 pm
ATL is going ALL IN!!!
It makes their 3rd place finish in the NFCS so much funnier.
August 15th, 2024 at 5:28 pm
Hodad – right on! The Falcons are all over the place. They are flying by the seat of their pants and it may not turn out the way they think it will. Unsure about the Saints either. Go Bucs!
August 15th, 2024 at 5:36 pm
All talk and conjecture at this point. The games must still be played. I am not counting anybody in or out just yet. I hate this time of the year. Everybody is talking..you know what. Nobody knows. IF..we have a pass rush this season, we should be better.
August 15th, 2024 at 5:46 pm
The DNA of this team has changed pretty dramatically over the last 4 or 5 years. It helps to have an adult at the QB position.
August 15th, 2024 at 5:47 pm
Judon is a beast.
August 15th, 2024 at 6:03 pm
The love the Falcons are getting truly amazes me.
National media, as well as front office suits, tend not to learn from historic patterns in Football. There are so many lessons we should have learned by now. And it mesmerizes me how people make the exact same mistakes each year.
1. Teams that build through Free Agency by signing older players at premium positions tend to have incredibly low rates of success. The Bucs and Rams are a statistical outlier.
2. Teams that build through the draft and bet on stability are way more likely to reach and maintain playoff status (see Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots).
Bucs are bound to have a solid year (again)
August 15th, 2024 at 6:08 pm
Prickly Pete Prisco?
I like Prickly Pear.
Where’s Dave when you need him?
I have the Bucs ~10-12 wins, mark it down.
Divisional games become even more important this season.
Why? There could easily be 2-3 teams inthe NFCS with the same record (10-7).
As far as pass rush is concerned, more will come from the inside this season IMHO (if they stay healthy).
Look for this trend to continue. Tweeners on the inside is the new thing (see 2024 draft, wannabees)
August 15th, 2024 at 6:11 pm
A Buc Fan … $14.5 mil for BOTH Judon AND Simmons is a steal. Restructuring Chris Lindstrom saved $9 mil & gave them some breathing space, but they’re still a bit short and Judon is gonna want a new contract (that’s the issue he had with the Patriots).
Still, those 2 additions are bound to help their defense be better. Nevertheless, we’ve got a pretty good defense ourselves & I think we can hang with anyone.
August 15th, 2024 at 6:14 pm
Cho, yes & no (hey, Ima poet & didn’t know it)
Depends on how fast you want to win.
Even more so, depends on the FA market, cap space etc, as every year is different, way different.
You have simplified it to a huge degree
August 15th, 2024 at 6:36 pm
8 or 9 wins which won’t be enough.
August 15th, 2024 at 6:51 pm
You sure can tell the people that keep up with Mr Jones. Just because he buys a new car they have to run out and buy one.
August 15th, 2024 at 7:14 pm
@DR as long as Calijah’s and Diaby’s injuries don’t linger I agree about the defense.
On the falcons we will see if it holds true but the report I read there is a chance Judon plays out this year on his current deal.
August 15th, 2024 at 7:20 pm
I think Mayfield plays better when he feels like he needs to prove himself to the “haters”. I’m hoping the Bucs stay underdogs a while!
August 15th, 2024 at 9:20 pm
Trust in A.B. and get your bets in. Sounds like the easiest way to triple your money.
August 15th, 2024 at 9:58 pm
We split games with this squad when they had the worst QB in the league and a mentally challenged HC who actively didn’t use his best players. They now signed a fantastic edge rusher and an all-pro safety. If Cousins comes back healthy, he’s head and shoulders a better QB than Baker.
I still think we have a great shot at the division but completely dismissing the Falcons is absurd.
August 15th, 2024 at 10:05 pm
Keep in mind before anointing the Falcons, Raheem is way unproven as a head coach and new systems for everyone. They have people – do they have a team?
Bucs have a team. Todd may not coach or manage it as well as we’d like but he has the team as tight as an over-torqued lugnut on my car’s front wheels (which happens every damn time I get the tires rotated — grr).
August 15th, 2024 at 11:02 pm
Atlanta is a little scary on paper. Be stupid to deny they could be much better. It’s a matter of confidence/faith that we’ll be that much better better for me !
August 16th, 2024 at 12:29 am
Joe
For the love of god we do not care about winning the nfc south
The bucs own the nfc south
Can we beat the chiefs? The lions? The 49ers? Etc.
What moves can we make to get to that level ?
Can we put pressure on Jason Lit to trade some draft capital for a proven pash rusher (and make him the highest paid)
August 16th, 2024 at 4:21 am
Dave Pear – True, Raheem is still coming into his own as HC. Todd is almost there now. You can tell by the way Todd communicates this season. He has a lot more humor, direction, and confidence.
GoneGator – True about looking good on paper. It’s like hiring a person that looks awesome on paper. Then months after being hired you find they are incompetent in the position. They end up losing the job. Sort of the same scenario in the NFL. The Falcons can keep adding more and more big names, get a lot of hype…, but in the end it’s wasted time for all when they don’t pan out in doing their job.
August 16th, 2024 at 7:36 am
I liked Raheem Morris when he coached here. I wish him the best. He’s ready to be a HC. Dave Canales isn’t even close. At one time, the NFC South was a very tough division; all four teams were good. It’s gradually moving in that direction again. That said, I think the Bucs will have the best team in all 3 parts this season. Go Bucs!
August 16th, 2024 at 8:11 am
imagine the bucs with a creative offense and a running game, they could win some games they are not favored in their tough schedule. bucs running down throats then Baker has no pressure on him- hoping they have a running game this season, sean tucker should run people over
August 16th, 2024 at 3:29 pm
The GOAT made an undeniable, lasting change in culture in Tampa. Cousins is not the GOAT so don’t expect the same results in Atlanta. Sure, they’ll win some games and probably stay out of the cellar, that’s where the Panthers will reside. Go Bucs. And Harold, always knew you were a dirty bird fan.
August 17th, 2024 at 5:19 am
Now i am starting to worry Joe!
Our bulletin board material is gonna dry up! What are we gonna do?
Go Bucs!