Pete Prisco: Bucs Are Good, Maybe Not That Good
September 3rd, 2024
Those who visit practices know.
Power rankings are sort of silly if not stupid, but Joe is passing on the power rankings of prickly Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.
Prisco, who has been to Bucs underwear football practices/training camp a few times this past offseason, is one of the very few national guys around the Bucs since the draft.
(Another guy is Albert Breer of SI.com. Interestingly, he too, like Prisco, sees the Bucs winning the division and he thinks those who are jumping on the Kirk Cousins/Dixie Chicks bandwagon just aren’t paying attention. Wonder what those guys are seeing with their own eyes that is causing them to pick against the grain?)
Prisco likes the Bucs and he is firmly behind the Bucs winning the NFC South. But Prisco isn’t that in love with Tampa Bay. In his initial NFL power rankings, Prisco has the Bucs at No. 13.
They are the team to beat in the NFC South with Baker Mayfield leading the way. The roster skews young, but that’s never a bad thing.
But don’t think for a second Prisco is circling the Dixie Chicks’ bandwagon. He is not. And if the playoffs are based on Prisco’s power rankings, the Dixie Chicks will be watching the Bucs in the playoffs from their couches this January.
Prisco currently has Atlanta as his No. 20 team.
By signing Kirk Cousins, they are the trendy pick in the division. Adding Matt Judon and Justin Simmons will help the defense, but they are behind Tampa Bay in my book.
Joe is bewildered why and/or how so many have fallen in love with Cousins this offseason. The very same people who used to merrily mock him on social media every week and dance in glee at his losses — scoffing at him for not being a big-game quarterback — are the very same people who now think he will magically transform into Aaron Rodgers.
As Joe pointed out, even the great Tom Brady struggled initially flipping teams from the Belicheats to the Bucs and Brady not only played for a veteran, proven winning coach (Bucco Bruce Arians) but also had a significantly better cast to throw to (Mike Evans, Rob Gronkowski, Chris Godwin) than Cousins does now.
Oh, did Joe mention how Cousins is coming off a major leg injury? No? Oh, well, so much for that Achilles.
September 3rd, 2024 at 3:34 pm
Is Cousins going to be better than Ridder? The Falcons had 7 wins with Ridder, so maybe Cousins brings in 2-3 more wins for the Falcons and that might be enough for them to be troublesome.
September 3rd, 2024 at 3:53 pm
I don’t think his injury will be that big of a deal. He’ll be what he’s always been an average quarterback who’s done average things. Can’t have him wasting a playoff spot so we need to take that. He’ll probably be a statue in the pocket for a while though. They’ve got the Steelers week 1 so we’ll get a good look at his offense
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:02 pm
It took a 9-0 win against the 2 win Panthers to win the division and Joe is confused to why the media is picking the Falcons. The Bucs have a lot to prove. We’ll see real soon if they’re contenders.
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:03 pm
It also seems like the media glosses over the fact that the Falcons are changing coaches. Their defense was good last year, but now they have a different coordinator, there is the possibility that the change in scheme doesn’t translate. I see that brought up all the time with the Bucs offense, but never the Falcons.
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:03 pm
That’s the logic they’re using, JimBobBuc. 7 wins with Ridder must mean at least 10 with Cousins.
Does an improved run game from the Bucs, let’s just say it goes from last to 20th – shouldn’t that also be good for 2-3 more wins?
In the end, play the games. Just win, Bucs – baby.
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:07 pm
Baker was on the mend against the Panthers. Well rested, he lit up the Eagles.
Context matters.
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:15 pm
Maybe this will be duplicate… end of season division games, division games in general are tough. Don’t make excuses for the media. They didn’t sink the Pats or Chiefs in rankings after Pats would go to Miami and lose almost every year last 4-5 years of Tom. Chiefs have lost to Raiders and Broncos in recent years.
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:21 pm
I just read the Bucs are #1 ranked in the Moxie ratings ! Who needs power rankings when you have Moxie!!!
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:22 pm
Looking back at last seasons records and games means JACK SQUAT. Whole new teams and whole new schedules. I do not get the love affair with Falcons, even them being desperate having to go out and trade for Defensive Players does not tip the media off. This defensive unit has barely practiced together.
WE WILL SEE.
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:22 pm
Awwwww…poor Devin White has an ankle boo boo!
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:25 pm
For all the talk about the Falcons it would be nice if the Bucs swept them and did so convincingly this year. That would shut them up for the short term at least.
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:54 pm
man its time to raise the expectations for bucs nation
superbowl or bust
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:58 pm
You need to rename this website to “Articles About How the Falcons Should Not Be Rated Above the Bucs” since that is posted at least twice a day here.
September 3rd, 2024 at 5:06 pm
“…the Dixie Chicks will be watching the Bucs in the playoffs from their couches this January.”
Note to the Joes. No one watches football from a couch anymore. It’s either a barstool or booth (if you’re with your lovely lady friend at Hooters) or a power recliner at your own crib. Dis ain’t the 80’s no more bro. Step yo game up!
September 3rd, 2024 at 5:13 pm
Bucs at 10-13th is fair
September 3rd, 2024 at 5:29 pm
Ridder had no one to throw to. Cousins has no one to throw to. I don’t think there’s 3 wins improvement there, doesn’t matter who’s throwing the ball if no one is catching it. Then factor in coaching and scheme changes. If Bucs improve by just 1 win (very doable) then 3 wins improvement by Falcons only ties the Bucs.
September 3rd, 2024 at 5:54 pm
Agree. They are pretty good. About average.
September 3rd, 2024 at 6:07 pm
LICHT you better hope Atlanta doesn’t win the division!!! All this foolish homegrown talk all offseason but if a new head coach and OC/ QB combo with one draft then sprinkle in a few free agents plus they have their quarterback of the future potentially. In one offseason what does it matter how good licht is on draft day if it can’t get him the division. There is no choice Bucs have to win. Shouldn’t be one single year of drop off
September 3rd, 2024 at 6:08 pm
pete fiasco put us in at the bakers dozen #
personally i think we might be in the top dozen teams…
or low down in the top 10…
13 seems a little low…
if you told me there are about 5 teams in each conference better than us going into the season – i can live with that – for now
September 3rd, 2024 at 6:35 pm
Bee Says:
September 3rd, 2024 at 4:02 pm
It took a 9-0 win against the 2 win Panthers to win the division and Joe is confused to why the media is picking the Falcons. The Bucs have a lot to prove. We’ll see real soon if they’re contenders.
——————————-
While I appreciate the opinion – this is getting a bit tired.
So after that horrible 9-0 game to barely win the division, what did the Bucs do the next two games (in the playoffs)? The exceeded everyone’s expectations and nearly made the NFC Championship game.
Yeah but they only shutout Carolina – and scored on only 9 with an injured QB.
With all due respect on that take – you can do better.
September 3rd, 2024 at 6:43 pm
Thank you 74 Bucs fan, saved me the trouble of saying that.
September 3rd, 2024 at 7:11 pm
Just beat Washington for fork’s sake.
September 3rd, 2024 at 7:25 pm
A lot of people consider Baker Mayfield just average or “meh”. (Not I!) That is why they also downgrade our Bucs. So we should not get too excited about them favoring Atlanta. I cannot wait until Sunday. The journey begins. One game at a time.
Go Bucs!!!
September 3rd, 2024 at 7:46 pm
Enough talk. Time to put a beat down of jayden Daniels on film. Bucs will prove it on the field.
September 3rd, 2024 at 8:19 pm
Bucs finish ahead of the Falcons either by a better division record (tiebreaker) or by 1 game with a better record. It will be close, but the Bucs will come out on top.
September 3rd, 2024 at 8:48 pm
I was pretty surprised when the Bucs and Mayfield outplayed the Vikings and Kirk ,,at Minn,,, it was a good start last year ,,, need that again this year
September 3rd, 2024 at 10:38 pm
74 Bucs Fan Says:
September 3rd, 2024 at 6:35 pm
While I appreciate the opinion – this is getting a bit tired.
So after that horrible 9-0 game to barely win the division, what did the Bucs do the next two games (in the playoffs)? The exceeded everyone’s expectations and nearly made the NFC Championship game.
Yeah but they only shutout Carolina – and scored on only 9 with an injured QB.
With all due respect on that take – you can do better.
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Do better? Ok…
The HC started an injured QB against a 2 win team and risk further injury. So I’m guessing you like ti’s decision making from a HC? To not trust the players he wanted to keep on the team and potentially make a bad situation worse.
You mentioned exceeding expectations as if you know everyone’s expectations. If you’re in the game, then you deserve to be there and you have a chance to win. The Bucs never had the lead in that playoff game and was down 2 scores in the 4th but hey, being there is good enough for you.
This team hasn’t done in anything in mind that makes it a SB contender. I could be wrong and hope I am. Some people say last season doesn’t matter cause that’s last year and this is a different team. Fine.
But we still have the same HC and the same QB from last year. Look at the decisions they made in the 4th quarter of that playoff game. That’s the best we got and I haven’t seen anything that shows that has improved.
We’ll see soon enough.
September 4th, 2024 at 6:40 am
Bee, go take your geritol and go to bed..you have been up to late and can’t think straight.
September 4th, 2024 at 7:42 am
#99
That’s a witty comment to the brainless. But I didn’t see you refute or offer a position to challenge what I said.