Buccaneers Observer

Please bear with us as we get our audio issues worked out!  

One of our favorite long-time Buccaneers had a god awful game against the Chiefs. Lavonte David looked out of sorts, and frankly we're a little concerned. The defensive line, however, held it down for the rest of the defense, and was largely responsible for our holding Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs to just seven points in the second half. The defensive line and Todd Bowles adjustments, that is. Tom Brady had a great game aside from his two interceptions. The team is incorporating more of the plays Tom likes. The announcers were awful in their analysis of the Buccaneers during the game. 

 The Buccaneers return from their long-needed bye week to face the Minnesota Vikings at home. While they've won five of their last six, the Vikings have beat only one winning team all season - division foe Green Bay Packers. In fact, their one loss in the last six games came against the abysmal Dallas Cowboys. Jaguars quarterback (and former Buccaneer) Mike Glennon made the Vikings defense look like a wet paper bag in the first quarter. The 1-11 Jags nearly beat the Vikings, and the game went into overtime. While Buccaneers fans suffer PTSD from games we lost that we should have won, this one will not get away from the Bucs - Molly is confident of that.

The Chiefs game set the media narrative surrounding the Buccaneers into a frenzy, with criticism about BA and the coaching staff's decision-making leading the headlines. We take a trip down memory lane to the start of our podcast. We've seen this before, and Bucs fans should be wary. Plus, we discuss roster moves and the current playoff situation.

Follow us on Instagram: @buccaneersobserver

In an unsurprising outcome, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The Buccaneers were inconsistent at times, but rallied to within three points. The defense's inability to get a stop at the end of the game allowed the Chiefs to run out the clock. However, the defense had done its part earlier in the game to give the offense opportunities that it just couldn't capitalize on. The loss was unsurprising and we were just thankful the score wasn't more lopsided. The Buccaneers need the upcoming bye week to rest and focus on righting the ship. It should be relatively smooth sailing from here on out.

Despite a very close loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are still in serious playoff contention. The fundamentals were again an issue, with missed tackles and dropped passes galore. There were also flashes of brilliance, like JPP's second interception in two weeks and Mike Evans hard-won touchdown. Once this team is firing on all cylinders, we will be unstoppable.

The game film analysis largely revolved around Donovan Smith - both good and bad. Tom Brady played nearly flawlessly, as did Ronald Jones. We initially were concerned about the upcoming primetime game against the Rams, having seen them dominate the Seattle Seahawks. But upon closer inspection, we think the Buccaneers have a good shot at victory.

The Buccaneers pulled off another impressive victory this week, putting us on a clear path to the playoffs. Ronald Jones' 98-yard TD run in the third quarter was a franchise record. The play set the tone for the rest of the game, starting the team's turnaround after finishing the half tied 17-17. The defense started slow but playmakers like JPP helped hold the Panthers to 23 points. Looking forward, we have a challenging matchup against the Las Angeles Rams, which will require our defense to shore up fundamentals like tackling and communication. For its part, the Buccaneers offense will have to stave off a physical Rams defense.

There are some games where everything just goes wrong. The Bucs Week 9 game against the Saints was one of those games. It seemed as though everyone on the team was just off. The game film was interesting to say the least. In our Week 10 game against the Panthers, we definitely need to clean it up in order to be successful. It could be a make-or-break game this season. We're optimistic in any case, believing we'll put a hurtin' on the kitties.

The Saints game was not what we expected. The schellacking on national television added extra misery to a humiliating defeat. The Saints outdid us on time of possession by a whopping 10 minutes, and put up 31 of their 38 points prior to halftime. While this was not what we anticipated, there are reasons to believe this isn't the end of our season.

The Giants all-22 was - unremarkable. The Buccaneers were undoubtedly the better team, but seemed like they held back against the Giants. The offensive line played well, and aside from some inaccuracy, Tom Brady played outstanding. But maybe they were holding back in order to save their energy for the Week 9 matchup against the Saints. The game has huge playoff implications as victory would put us up a game and a half in the division standings. We'd also even the score in the head-to-head tiebreaker. Michael Thomas will be returning from injury. The Bucs will have their own addition to the receiving corps as Antonio Brown makes his debut.

Our main takeaways from the game: The defensive line is really feeling Vita Vea's absence. Tom Brady looked inaccurate, but otherwise played a solid game. The refs gave us at least three calls that should not have gone our way. The calls sustained drives that otherwise would have stalled, and the non-call that ended the game. Shaq Barrett forces two inceptions and the secondary feasted. We underestimated the Giants' offensive line and defense in our predictions.