Raises game.

Joe still tries to wrap his mind around how the Bucs can bounce back from the loss of Chris Godwin.

He was likely having not just his best season for the Bucs this year (which is saying something), but Godwin was arguably the team’s MVP.

Why does Joe say that? The Bucs haven’t won since he got hurt for the season against Baltimore. Talk about a gut punch.

If there is any silver lining to that awful injury, it’s been the play of tight end Cade Otton. He’s become Baker Mayfield’s favorite target with Mike Evans and Godwin out and Otton has really raised his game.

How much? Well, you could make an argument that in the past three weeks since Godwin got hurt, Otton has morphed into one of the better tight ends in the game.

But wait, that’s not all! Whoever thought Otton had wheels? Well, he’s finding a way to get open.

Who says? The PFF tribe says.

Per the tribe, on each of Otton’s targets against San Francisco, he got separation from his nearest defender.

What is left unsaid is if the 49ers got cute and tried to cover Otton with a defensive tackle.

Now Joe has to throw in a disclaimer here. The tribe claims Otton had six “opportunities,” whatever that means. Per the offensive NFL gamebook, Otton was targeted eight times, catching five passes.

Pardon Joe if he puts significantly more merit into the official NFL gamebook than some dude in an Irish dorm following some predetermined “metric.”

Still, the point here is that Otton is getting open. Often. And his development this year has been a very bright spot in an otherwise depressing season through 10 games.