Game 8

Dixie Chicks (4-3) at Bucs (4-3) 

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

TV: FOX (WTVT-TV Channel 13 locally) with Adam Amin, Greg Olsen and Pam Oliver.

Streaming: Sunday Ticket, NFL+. (Geographic restrictions apply; subscription may be required).

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network WXTB-FM 97.9 in the Tampa-St. Petersburg region (Transmisiones de radio en español en WTMP-FM 96.1 y WMGG-AM 1470 en Tampa). Additional stations throughout Florida on the Buccaneers Radio Network can be found here. The game also will be broadcast on SiriusXM Channel 228 (Buccaneers Radio Network feed).

Weather: Looks like a pretty awesome day for Creamsicle Sunday. Those white helmets with Bucco Bruce will be shining brightly. Per AccuWeather.com, tailgaters will enjoy mostly sunny skies in the high 60s to start the morning but that will change. By kickoff it will be 81 under bright Florida sun. The temperature will top out at 85 by game’s end. Very slight breeze out of the east-northeast. No rain.

Odds: Per HardRockBet, as of midnight, Bucs +2.5 (-110); over/under 45.5.

Referees: Lawd! Shawn Hochuli and his gang will officiate today’s game. This crew is brutal. They think people watch games to monitor how far they throw flags. Hochuli is a TV hog. Acts like he gets paid by the minute to be on network television. This outfit is everything that is wrong about zebras. Through six games this gang has thrown 82 flags! That’s not the most in the NFL but usually this crew leads the league. While non-gamblers do not care about the point spread, since the Bucs are favored by 2.5 points, the following should interest all Bucs fans: Games in which Hochuli’s outfit have called, home teams are 43-51-3 against the spread.

Injuries: Dixie Chicks —  Out: LB Troy Anderson (knee). Doubtful: S Justin Simmons (hamstring). Questionable: CB Antonio Hamilton (back), OL Ryan Neuzil (knee). Bucs — Out: WR Mike Evans (hamstring), DT Greg Gaines (calf), S Tykee Smith (concussion). Questionable: TE Payne Durham (calf), RB Bucky Irving (toe), WR Rakim Jarrett (knee).

Outlook: Welcome to Creamsicle Sunday! Unless the Bucs backup receivers are way, way, way better than they have shown, or Liam Coen is a magician, Joe doesn’t know how the Bucs don’t go ground-and-pound today. You know that’s what would warm the cockles of Todd Bowles’ heart. And if the Bucs didn’t have Mike Evans or Chris Godwin, that’s just what Bowles would order his offensive coordinator to do: ground-and-pound. Well, guess what? The Bucs don’t have Mike Evans (for maybe a month) and Chris Godwin (for the regular season). And running often gets you field goals; passing gets you touchdowns. So you have to have a good defense. And this just in: the Bucs’ defense stinks. They can’t rush the passer from the edge if their lives depended upon it. The defense is one of the worst defenses against the run, second-worst in yards-per-carry allowed. And the Bucs defense gets lit up on the scoreboard, fifth-worst in points per game allowed. Other than that, how was the parade, Mrs. Kennedy? How does that happen when you have three first-round picks in your front-seven and Pro Bowl players on every level of the defense and your coach is a defensive-minded guy? Four weeks ago, Cousins and the Dixie Chicks absolutely shredded the Bucs defense for 509 yards. There have been 17,773 NFL games played in league history. Of those, only 25 times in the league’s 104-year history has an opposing quarterback thrown for over 500 yards. That’s happened to Bowles as the Bucs’ defensive shot-caller twice in the past six seasons.  All Joe knows is, we’re going to find out in the next month just how good (or not so good) these Bucs coaches are. Can they motivate the team after the carnage of Monday night? Can Bowles fix the defense, or at least get it to play average ball? Time will tell. The season and maybe jobs are on the line. Please Bucs, please do John McKay, Lee Roy Selmon, Jimmy Giles, Ricky Bell, Doug Williams, Charley Hannah, Isaac Hagins, Maurice Owens, Mark Cotney and Batman Wood proud today.

Fun facts: Dixie Chicks QB Kirk Cousins had franchise-record and career-high 509 pass yards and four touchdowns when Cousins last faced a Todd Bowles defense. Cousins has had pretty good success against the Bucs. he has 10 touchdown passes and one pick against the Bucs. Most have come in two games, the Capitol Collapse and the Burning in Atlanta. … RB Bijan Robinson last week against Seattle had a season-high 143 scrimmage yards (103 rushing, 40 receiving). … S Jessie Bates had two forced fumbles in the Burning in Atlanta. He’s looking for his third game in a row against the Bucs with eight or more tackles. … CB A.J. Terrell looks for his third straight game with a pass defensed. He has eight passes defensed in nine career games with the Bucs. …Bucs QB Baker Mayfield had a season-high 370 yards passing and three touchdowns last week. It was his third game this year with at least 360 yards passing and two touchdowns thrown. … RB Rachaad White had a season-high 111 scrimmage yards last week. He’s looking for his third straight game against the Dixie Chicks with 70 rushing yards. … OLB YaYa Diaby had his second sack of the season last week. He also had a tackle for loss. Diaby now has four tackles for loss in the Bucs’ last four games. … NT Vita Vea has six sacks in his last seven games against the Dixie Chicks.

Ira Kaufman Dives Deep Into The Bucs Defense, Another Chris Godwin Angle, Atlanta Matchup & Predictions, Locker Room Vibes And More

Lee Roy Selmon Tribute

Destroyer of Backfields

The #Buccaneers' first-ever draft pick, first sack, first PFHOFer, and first retired number

1979's NFL Defensive Player of the Year and member of the #NFL 100 All-Time Team pic.twitter.com/T9ddtzG8Tl

— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) February 18, 2024

The Creamsicle 808 🥹 pic.twitter.com/DzfjWKzaIZ

— Simon Brokmann / Sybro (@sybro_cg) October 25, 2024