2013 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If you remember from my original NFL preview for this season that I posted about a month ago, I had predicted the Bucs to challenge the Falcons for the NFC South crown. I don’t know what has changed in the past couple of weeks, but I’m not as high on them as I once was. Maybe it’s that I’ve been more optimistic about the Falcons and Panthers, or maybe it’s seeing Josh Freeman absolutely suck this preseason, but either way, even as I’m typing this right now, I don’t know how Tampa Bay will fit into the NFC picture. If you disregard Freeman for a moment, this team has lots of talent. Doug Martin took the NFL by storm last year, bursting onto the scene with a tremendous season. The Buccaneers have two playmaking wide outs in Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, and a very good offensive line now that guards Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph are back and healthy. The defense has made some major improvements, especially in the secondary. Tampa had the fewest rushing yards per game allowed in the entire league because of guys like Mason Foster, Adrian Clayborne, and rookie Lavonte David. However, they consequently had the worst pass defense in the entire league as well, giving up almost 300 yards a game through the air. Safety Mark Barron will be much improved now that he has experience, and will start alongside free agent acquisition Dashon Goldson from San Francisco. And, of course, the Bucs also happened to bring in a pretty good corner named Darrelle Revis, who I watched as a Jet all the time. He really is the best corner in the game, and if he comes back strong from his ACL injury, Tampa could see their pass defense transform from league-worst to above average in one year. So really, the only question mark is Josh Freeman, and that question mark is basically in size 48 font. He has had so many ups and downs, and is still so young, that it is impossible to predict how Freeman will perform this upcoming season. If he maximizes his talents, then Tampa Bay could be looking at a 13-3 season with the top seed in the conference; unfortunately, he also has enough power to drag this team down to 5-11 as well. If he plays poorly, then the Bucs can let him walk after the season, and turn to Mike Glennon as their starting quarterback of the future. They have a pretty navigable schedule and have already proven that they can play with and beat any of their divisional opponents.
Schedule
Tampa Bay was 6-4 through ten games last season, riding a four game winning streak, and was in position to make a run for a wild card spot. They promptly lost their next five games before pulling out a win Week 17 to finish at 7-9, all playoff hopes gone. Let’s see how they will do this year.
Week 1: W at NYJ (Geno Smith, meet Darrelle Revis. 27-3)
Week 2: W vs NO
Week 3: L at NE (changing this pick from the NE preview)
Week 4: W vs ARI
Week 5: Bye
Week 6: W vs PHI (4-1 start, very realistic)
Week 7: L at ATL
Week 8: W vs CAR
Week 9: L at SEA
Week 10: W vs MIA
Week 11: W vs ATL
Week 12: L at DET
Week 13: L at CAR
Week 14: W vs BUF
Week 15: W vs SF
Week 16: L at STL
Week 17: L at NO
What the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season comes down to is I don’t think you can trust Josh Freeman to win one of those last two games on the road to get to ten wins and a probable wild card spot. At 9-7, as it is, the Bucs should be competing with teams like the Cowboys, Lions, Bears, Panthers, and the teams out west for the two wild card spots. I would have given Tampa ten wins, but I changed the Patriots game to a loss, because although preseason stats don’t matter, I trust the eye test, and the Bucs just don’t look like a team that can go into New England and win. Maybe by the time I do my final prediction piece, I’ll make a definitive decision on Tampa Bay, but for right now, they are hovering around playoff position, and the South firmly belongs to Atlanta.
Bold Prediction: Since teams have to throw on Tampa Bay, and they have to at least test out how an ACL is healing, Darrelle Revis will lead the NFL in interceptions this season, including EITHER: two against the Jets in Week One, or one against them that gets returned to the house.
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