Buccaneers Observer

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers in a week 18 beat down, securing the 2nd seed in the playoffs. Mike Evans and Gronkowski balled out. Evans posted his 8th straight year with 1,000+ yard season, a new NFL record. The Philadelphia Eagles, a hated rival, are up next for the Bucs. 

Antonio Brown's career is more notable for his bullshit than his skill. While his skill is up there with the best, the bullshit is unparalleled. He showed that again this week. Let's recap:  

The week before the Jets game, his people go to the Bucs front office and ask for his incentives to be guaranteed. The team says no, most obviously because AB was on pace to hit them.  

The Friday before the game, BA texts him to say we aren't resting in the final two weeks and will need him if he can play. AB says he tweaked his ankle but he should be good.  

Saturday before the game, he texts an OnlyFans model, famous for toilet licking during Covid, to watch what he's going to do tomorrow. He sneaks her into the team hotel and films a porno. She also records the team space in the hotel. In the subsequent days, she posts a picture of a positive Covid test on Instagram and @s the Buccaneers saying they need to get the team tested.  

Sunday - we know what happens there. During halftime, it's been revealed, Antonio lost it in the locker room at halftime because Gronk was getting all the targets.  

The next week is filled with bizarre interviews, release of an album, text messages released by AB that contradict his own version of events, and so on.   

When we signed AB, Molly warned that his ass was crazy and was adamantly against the signing. But we did what we always do: support the Buccaneers. Now that he's gone, we'll say it: It's clear AB is toxic and we don't need that shit, especially right now.

Molly is thankful for the distraction as the Jets were WAAAY too close to beating the Bucs in that one. A two-minute drive from the GOAT sealed the W for the Bucs. Cyril Grayson came in clutch again, causing Ralph to consider retiring the "Doink" nickname.  

What happened with Antonio Brown? We're getting bits and pieces from the media but nothing definitive. Bruce Arians may or may not have benched him after he refused to go in because his ankle was hurting him. Bruce Arians then may or may not have told him to leave. If only there were an institution whose purpose was to gather information and report to the public what they found. At this rate, we'll never know.  

It's on to Carolina again. We still have the #2 seed to fight for, and BA has said we're not laying down. A playoff berth isn't good enough.

To be fair, the Panthers came out with no energy and it showed. But it appeared the Bucs were feeding off their lackluster. A few guys had some oomph - Whitehead, Gholston, Stuard. But otherwise, we could have used some juice. Ralph hopes we're just saving our energy for the playoffs.  

Our next matchup on the way to playoffs is against the Jets. We've seen teams like the Jets before, and they were wearing red and pewter. Molly watched the matchup between the Jets and the Jags from last week and all Ralph could hear from the other room were intermittent cackles and "Oh. My. God. Are you serious?!" QB Zac Wilson is just Sam Darnold 2.0. He's a little faster. The Bucs shouldn't have a problem with them, but half of our starters are out or injured.  

Bruce Arians is out with Covid, and it appears the couch fainting over Antonio Brown's vaccination status (but what if he gives it to BA or Tom Moore?!) was for naught as Bruce Arians not only caught Covid from someone other than AB but he's also decidedly not dead. I'm sure the media will have an apology ready for AB at the next press conference.

The #2 seed is still up for grabs in the NFC. The Bucs can get it by winning out and a Rams loss. The Bucs would beat Dallas in a head-to-head tie.

Happy New Year, Bucs Nation!

This Victory Monday is a hat-and-t-shirt Victory Monday as the Buccaneers come away with the NFC South title. The Panthers didn't put up much of a fight, even against our second and third stringers.  

Jordan Whitehead had an outstanding game, earning the recognition of the announcers during the game.  

Antonio Brown was looking fresh on his return, playing 79 percent of the snaps and getting the bulk of the targets from Brady. He was targeted 15 times, which was more than the rest of the receivers combined.  

Cyril Grayson stood out for his blocking, but also had a good day receiving.  

Our run game was strong as well, with both Ke'shawn Vaughn and Ronald Jones having good days.   

Jason Pierre-Paul sat this game, and Shaq Barrett sustained a minor injury that will likely sideline him the rest of the regular season. This gives Cam Gill and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka more opportunities in the coming weeks and will let our starters rest for playoffs.

What we lacked in pass protection, we also lacked in the ability to catch passes and run without falling. The game film was worse than the initial viewing, as if that was possible. The young guys failed to show up once they were called up.   

The defense played well.  

The refs missed some calls. The play where Patrick O'Connor was injured was particularly egregious given that Grant Stuard was flagged for hitting the kicker RIGHT BESIDE O'Connor, who was being held.  

The Carolina game will hopefully being a rebound. The Panthers are in shambles. Both Sam Darnold and Cam Newton will play. To what extent is still unknown. But the team is on a four-game lose streak, and haven't won at home game in five matchups.

Could this have gone any worse? The Buccaneers shot themselves in the foot repeatedly with dropped passes, lost key players to injury and got shut out at home. The young guys failed to step up when we needed them most. To add insult to injury, the last came to division rivals.  

I hate everything.

The Buccaneers looked nearly flawless against the Bills, with the exception of the first offensive play and the first defensive play. After that, we made few mistakes.  

Leonard Fournette has taken over the bell-cow role in large part because of his pass protection. The man is a phenomenal blocker, often sacrificing his body to keep his quarterback upright. It's no wonder Brady trusts him the way he does. Fournette deserves the game ball for the offense.  

We got away with some holding. Fournette's first big touchdown probably should have been called back for a hold by Tyler Johnson.  

Shaq Barrett deserves the game ball for the defense. He was no match for anyone on the Bills offensive line.  

Ralph has lamented about the defense's lack of man coverage. That all changed this game... on the last drive where the Bills tied it up.   

The Bills use QB Josh Allen for designed runs where he receives the ball and immediately bolts. It is challenging to defend. Teams are getting the ball out so fast against our defense. It's frustrating that the defensive line doesn't have time to make bigs plays because the plays happen so fast.

What. A. Game. They say all good teams win one they should have lost. When the season's over and we have another Super Bowl ring, we can point to this victory as that game. The Buccaneers, both offense and defense, were stellar in the first half. But the Bills made a run at a comeback, tying the game with 25 seconds left on the clock and taking the Bucs to overtime. The Buccaneers defense, while they let the Bills drive down the field, at least held them to a field goal and gave the offense a chance. Then, once overtime started, they stopped the Bills' offense on the first possession. Tom Brady and the boys did the rest.  

It's smooth sailing from here. With the Cardinals loss to the Rams last night, the Bucs have moved up to second seed in the playoff picture. All we need is to win out and Green Bay to lose one and we are top dogs in the NFC and get a first round bye. Green Bay has to get through Baltimore this week, so that scenario could play out. Our schedule is relatively easy, with us still to face the Jets, Saints and Panthers twice.

It turns out the Falcons' offensive line isn't that bad. Shaq Barrett had a hard time against OL Kaleb McGary, and I daresay Barrett got beat for the first time since I've watched him. Others on the defensive line, like Ndamukong Suh and Will Gholston had good performances against the division foe.  

Our offensive line just dominated. Donovan Smith played hard the first half, but then just looked exhausted the second half. Nevertheless, he played an aggressive game. Both teams looked spent at the end, and it appears they don't like each other too much.  

The Buccaneers will face the Buffalo Bills at home this weekend. This game will have playoff implications for both teams. Should the Buccaneers win, they come that much closer to securing the division. If the Falcons beat the Panthers and the Saints lose to the Jets, it's a done deal. The Bills need a win desperately after falling to the Patriots on Monday Night Football, bringing their record to 7-5 and putting them in the 7th seed in the AFC. The Patriots rose to the #1 spot, and they're looking to hold it. The Bills can make up some lost ground by beating the Bucs and then beating the Patriots when they rematch in three weeks.  

The Bills offense has some weapons in Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. They can be dangerous with the long ball. But Josh Allen, like all running quarterbacks, is prone to bad decisions and it's cost the team in the past.  In our opinion, this will be a close game with the Bucs coming out on top.