The Athletic: Playoff Chase
September 7th, 2019
Winning.
Joe has maintained for months that for the Bucs to have a prayer of making a postseason run, the team must be 2-1 out of the gate before their brutal road schedule keeps the team away from the Den of Depression for nearly two months and includes two trips to the west coast and one to London.
Greg Auman of The Athletic not only predicts that will happen, but he thinks the Bucs will survive the awful road trip to finish with the team’s third winning season in the post-Chucky era, flirting with a postseason bid.
Auman did a game-by-game analysis of the 2019 season. The team falls to 2-3, Auman believes, but the Bucs rally to close with a winning record of 9-7. It’s all spelled out here.
Auman is also of the mind that the Saints sweep the Bucs in the season series but the Bucs split their division games with the Stinking Panthers and Dixie Chicks.
Also of note, the Bucs, by beating Jacksonville, will finish with the seasons’ best NFL record in the state of Florida.
September 7th, 2019 at 8:20 am
So far my impression of Arians is that he is not going to take losing well at all. I am pretty sure that after a loss if there are people yucking it up in the locker room like we have seen in the past, Arians will be kicking some butt. Even though preseason games mean absolutely nothing, its better psychologically for the team to finish 3-1 rather than 1-3. Especially if your a team that is used to losing. Arians might just be the guy to change the losing culture and maybe end the Den of Depression once and for all.
September 7th, 2019 at 8:27 am
Arians should have been hired when radio got the job but this may be too late
September 7th, 2019 at 8:29 am
“Kangol has done Kobe dirty
It seems BA is convinced this year is not the turn around year
With no linemen in the cuts/waiver pickup, BA knows this team has severe holes in this roster that cant be addressed properly this season
BA needs another Draft and more salary cap amount to bring in FAs needed for playoff roster contention
This team isnt ready
BA knows it”
Kobe Faker
September 7th, 2019 at 8:29 am
Bucs need to prove they can get out of basement before talking playoffs…. this is the time of year that other franchises laugh at bucfan with hope…. glazers could careless about winning or the product on the field. no matter how much BS from BA this team likely will never win a postseason game ever again. Being a fan of the worst franchise in nfl history is tough that being said do yourself a favor and stop with the hope it just makes fans look pathetic when even the most optimistic person understands down deep this roster has zero chance. Bucs will always be the ugly kid that gets ignored by real NFL franchises
September 7th, 2019 at 8:48 am
This team is definitely NOT making the playoffs or even coming close.
The moment this team loses a couple games in a row they will FOLD. Just like last season, that early momentum artificially carried them for awhile until reality set in.
The Salary Cap Hell this team is in PLUS the glaring fact that we have so many holes and weaknesses, is all you need to know that this team isn’t going anywhere. AND is even more likely to HAVE TO not extend Winston to a new contract due to these cap issues barring some miracle season (would have to be his best ever).
September 7th, 2019 at 8:49 am
I hope we sweep them all!
September 7th, 2019 at 8:51 am
My feeling is that the Glazers have no intention of signing Winston to a long-term deal or they would have done it by now.
They’re already preparing for post-Winston life in this organization. They know their salary cap issues, but also know he has underachieved.
September 7th, 2019 at 8:52 am
Shut up T-Max. You’re an idiot. My company was a major sponsor of the Bucs for several years and upper management had a lot of contact with the owners and Bucs management. They desperately want to win as it is more money in their pockets when they do win. They may not know what they are doing, but they definitely want to win. Based on your posts I am sure you have some low paying job that you hate, but smarter people in the business world understand that winning increases attendance, merchandise, and corporate spending. I know you are just a troll, but guys living in their mom’s basement shouldn’t spout off things they know nothing about.
September 7th, 2019 at 9:07 am
TDTampaBay, the NFL is set up so you cannot suck for decades the bucs are the top nfl franchise at being mismanaged at the highest levels, so for the owners to line their pockets with a losing team whats the incentive to build a winner? The glazers are not jerry jones, kraft, blank, or even the browns owner, that want to win at every thing they do all the time
September 7th, 2019 at 9:12 am
TouchDownTampaBay
You can’t be this bad for this long without trying to be this bad. The only idiots are those who believe in the glazers pal…. the actual on field results render your cute little feel good story laughable….
September 7th, 2019 at 9:47 am
Jameis decisions will determine team’s success
Will he continue to be turnover and sack machine? or will he execute the offense with good, quick decisions?
September 7th, 2019 at 9:51 am
The aints sweep the Bucs this season with a declining brees yea right. They could accomplish that when the team was coached by the Klueless one. Wouldn’t surprise at all if we swept the division. There is no film on this current team.
September 7th, 2019 at 10:47 am
Great point about hiring BA when Raheem took over. If Raheem was a DC for BA they would have excelled. Raheem could have learned a lot from BA and would likely be a head coach now on his 3’rd or 4’th season. Rarely ever a good thing to promote someone before they’re ready. Raheem needed more seasoning but I hope he gets another shot at being a HC soon. I miss Rah and his pressers.
September 7th, 2019 at 10:56 am
I am expecting a much improved, competitive team this year. This team is gonna ball out for the old man and give it their all until the last second of the last game. All these doomsayers in here make me sick.
September 7th, 2019 at 11:50 am
DEFENSE will determine the team success.
September 7th, 2019 at 11:56 am
What???? I hate this idiot fan base. Teams all over the league suck for many years not just the bucs. The jets, lions, bills, dolphins, jags, raiders etc. Sure one year they might have snuck in the playoffs since the last time the bucs have been in but on a whole they suck year in and year out. The glazers want to win. Thats why they are constantly firing coaches and paying for free agents. I mean you cant say the browns owner wants to win more than the bucs when they have not made the playoffs since 2000. Sure there is a lot of hype for them this year but that means nothing. The bucs had a lot of hype 2 years ago and went 5-11.
September 7th, 2019 at 12:29 pm
Touchdowntampabay
No need to disparage tmaxcon like that. If you really are an astute businessman, then you know the first step towards true success is being extremely realistic and honest about the status quo. The Bucs are 10 years removed from a playoff appearance and 17 years removed from a playoff victory. Those are inarguable facts.
The Glazers, since Malcolm died, have repeated the exact same business practices with the Bucs year and year out without change and have gotten the exact same results year in and year out without change.
They stick to known quantities with coaches when it comes to hires and when they do take a “risk” – they only do so in house with known quantities like Raheem Morris. Yet – they take the opposite approach with GMs over the past decade – hiring guys with zero experience like Dom and Licht.
It’s rinse and repeat, over and over and over – whether they even realize it or not.
In my humble opinion, they’ve got the equation backwards. You pick a GM/architect with a proven track record at building winning rosters and combine that with innovative risk in the coaching ranks to give your team a potential scheme advanatge in a parity driven league.
I like Arians. I like the hire. He may just buck their results trend with hiring known quantities over and over at HC. But when they doubled down on Licht this offseason – without having to – well, I’ve seen that decision from them before.
September 7th, 2019 at 2:00 pm
TB Tony ? So would any astute business man realize that Brees, Brady and Roethlisberger were pressured the least amount last year and Jameis or any qb taking 50 percent more hits year in and year out just isn’t going to lend itself towards success and a healthy career !! There has to be a brain above meathead GM s and coaches !! The Glazers are not that ownership nor football savy !!
Meathead coaches and GM s do great things but Arians outlook on protection will ruin and drastically shorten a career and the teams benefit from the said QB !!!
Bad Bad Bad qb management !!! BTW Andrew Lucks protection got better last here and so did his game but it was too little to late !!! Tim couch wasn’t a bad player, he had piss poor protection and lots of big injuries. B A Coached both these guys and yet BA only knows that K Holcomb looked good ( 400 plus yards) when Counch went down with a broken leg ( Meat Head) !!! Not – WoW maybe we should have protected Couch better and perhaps his career would be doubled ……..50 percent more hits is allot to overcome !!! If Winston is only pressured at the rate of the above three QBs were in 2018 , he will prob be in the ProBowl??? This Sht ain’t hard folks , Jason Licht makes it hard and the Glazers Know no differently !!!
September 7th, 2019 at 6:19 pm
I never liked Auman all that much at the fake news St Pete Times, but since he’s moved over to the Athletic he does a much better job. I’m guessing it’s due to not getting orders from an editor – or maybe it’s just more detail because he can just write longer articles, but his writing is much improved and more interesting.
September 7th, 2019 at 8:36 pm
Bucs winning the Super Bowl. We get ourselves a name brand coach and you know we do. We hoist trophies!
September 7th, 2019 at 8:42 pm
Suh-per bowl, baby!!!!
September 7th, 2019 at 10:14 pm
Tired of all the “brutal” schedule talk. Professionals on chartered aircraft staying at lux hotels should not fade. This isn’t 1952 and they have to ride through the dust in an old bus and avoid food poisoning from the highway diner.