Bucs’ Schedule Reason To Be Spooked
August 26th, 2022
Triggered by tough schedule.
Empty cans of Bromosa were thrown around JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters when the Bucs’ schedule was released in May.
One of the Joes thought the first four games were all winnable and believes anything more than one loss in the first four games would be unacceptable. The other Joe thought if the Bucs were 2-2 entering Week 5, that wouldn’t be an awful thing.
And this was before Ryan Jensen and Aaron Stinnie blew out their knees!
In the eyes of the one and only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, hollering on “First Dump” seen on BSPN this week, Russo believes the Bucs schedule could unravel their season, or at least keep them from winning the NFC South.
“Look at their schedule; Stevie A., did you see their schedule?” Russo said. “Look at their schedule! … They’ve got an easy division, but that schedule is a monster!”
Because of the schedule (and injuries to the offensive line and receivers), Russo said he’s pounding the under on the Bucs. This morning, for example, both BetMGM and Bovada have the Bucs’ win total at 11.5.
Screamin’ Stephen A. Smith told Russo to be careful betting against Tom Brady.
“We’re talking about Tom Brady,” SAS said, channeling Allen Iverson. “First of all let’s understand this: I would like to remind you Doggie that this is a man who threw for over 5,000 yards last season, 43 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
“Leonard Fournette is still there. Mike Evans, is still there. They did acquire Julio Jones if I remember correctly. [Chris] Godwin ultimately will be back. Cameron Brate at the tight end position is a familiar target.”
SAS is right and then he won Joe’s heart over. SAS, while mentioning that Bucs offensive line injuries are a fair concern, he said what he worries about is “tackling on the defensive side of the ball.”
AMEN, Brother Stephen, AMEN!
Joe will argue that lousy tackling against the Rams in the playoffs Pearl Harbored a Super Bowl repeat as much if not more than Cooper Kupp catching a bomb to set up the winning field goal.
If the Bucs didn’t ole’ so many tackles for much of the game, it isn’t tied late, the Bucs have the lead and maybe the win. So if a guy like SAS can see how the sorry tackling did the Bucs in, hopefully Bucs coaches have noticed as well.
And it seems they have.
August 26th, 2022 at 12:24 pm
No need to freak out…….we gotta play who we gotta play……Or as BL would say……”It’s the game of football and football players will play”
2-2 would be just fine after 4……
August 26th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
So sad. Please remember that the guy responsible for a fundamental skill like sound tackling and couldn’t deliver is now promoted to your Head Coach.
That’s just great!
August 26th, 2022 at 1:20 pm
This happens every single year. Teams that were trash the year before become good and teams that were good the year before become trash. Some of that is very predictable, some slightly predictable, and the rest comes out of nowhere. Every year the strength of a teams schedule is dramatically different at the end of the year.
August 26th, 2022 at 1:38 pm
We always knew what schedule we had and how tough it was…. Now is not time for tears, is time to play, and I have total confidence the job will be done!!!
LFG!!!
August 26th, 2022 at 1:43 pm
Funny thing about the Bucs, they seem to play to the competition. If the competition is as dangerous as the pundits describe then surely they should be 4-0. It’s almost purposely Designed (Devine)
August 26th, 2022 at 1:47 pm
I’ve seen multiple talking heads saying we won’t make the playoffs, and i am absolutely thrilled. People are hopping off the bandwagon left and right. Doubt is one of Brady’s biggest motivation. You don’t think he’s hearing whispers about how he will wilt away this year with that OL? He kept receipts during our SB journey. Brady is very self aware. As Bowles said, he knows his weaknesses and what the defense is trying to do to him.
I expect the backs to get a lot of work. Gage will see a lot of targets. He can gain separation quickly against man, so that will allow Brady to get the ball off quickly. Gage reminds me so much of Deion Branch. He was so underrated. The guy was cat quick and found a way to get open.
With Julio, Brady seems to be enamored with him. He slid into his DMs urging him to play for us.Brady sees Jones as his Josh Gordon. A strong guy who will attack the ball. Godwin will be Godwin. He’s in Brady’s sacred trust circle. He will see his share of targets. Evans, I believe, will be the odd man out. I see his targets decreasing as we move to more of a quick game intermediate offense. We will take our deep shots with him selectively.
I like White, but will Brady trust him, especially in pass pro? That’s the big question. Brady sees all the pieces on the chessboard. It’s just a matter how involved Leftwich will let him be in the offense. Would love to see more no huddle. Brady controlled the line of scrimmage when we went to no huddle.
August 26th, 2022 at 2:10 pm
It’s certainly not an easy schedule. But, the bucs will not play a team that’s had extra rest. Also, they have one of the easiest three game stretches to end the season. I’m a firm believer that playing a harder schedule is actually a good thing. It forces a team to become battle tested. Historically, Brady lead teams have actually preformed better in the playoffs, when facing a difficult schedule. How many times have we seen No. 1 seeds, who played a cupcake schedule, get bounced in the divisional round. So long as they can win the division, and hopefully avoid a wild card game, it’s one win, and NFC title game. I believe this roster is more than capable of that. Like with any year, health will be a huge factor.
August 26th, 2022 at 3:54 pm
If we beat the aints we will go 4-0.
August 26th, 2022 at 9:56 pm
I may be wrong but pretty sure the rest of our division plays most of the same teams that we do. I haven’t checked any schedules but that’s typically how it goes so I still feel good about a division title. If Alvin gets suspended for 6 games for the ‘Aints it looks even better
August 27th, 2022 at 1:44 pm
This is tough open. We will go 0-4. Oh well. 13-4 ain’t bad.
August 27th, 2022 at 2:14 pm
2 of these teams might not even make the playoffs.