Buccaneers Observer

The Buccaneers have a good showing against our division rivals. The offense played great, particularly Chris Godwin who broke his own personal record for receptions in a game and topped Mark Carrier for third-most in franchise history.   

Leonard Fournette has emerged as a workhorse running back, a feat no back has achieved in a Bruce Arians offense.  

The defense demolished the Falcons. The interior defensive line deserves some recognition for this. Ndamukong Suh clocked two sacks on Matt Ryan, Vita Vea had two, and Cam Gill at outside linebacker had the fifth.   

Aside from Tom Brady's pick six to a defensive lineman, we have no complaints from this game. Great team win. Now it's on to Buffalo!

The Falcons have changed since we saw them last Week 2: Cordarelle Patterson has proved to be a threat both in the run and passing games; and, their defense is starting to gel. Nevertheless, Tom Brady's streak will increase to 10-0 against the Falcons tomorrow. Matt Ryan will not be able to withstand the Bucs pass rush, and there aren't enough quick dump off passes in the world to lead them to victory.   

Their defense, while improving, will be no match for Brady. They are playing a similar scheme to ours, which will not work in their favor as Brady sees it every week in practice.  

The Falcons are still in the playoff hunt, and in fact are second in the NFC South with the Saints loss Thursday to Dallas.

The NFL and NFLPA agreed to a suspension of three games without pay for both Mike Edwards and Antonio Brown for misleading the league with regards to their vaccination status. As we predicted at the start of the season, the NFL's protocols are meant to punish dissenters rather than stop the spread of coronavirus.  

Ralph goes through the game film from Indianapolis, which showed the Buccaneers played much more physical. The refs had a C performance. The Buccaneers receivers were solid, dropping only one pass, compared to the Colts' four drops.

THAT was an entertaining game. The Bucs should have been up by 20 to be sure, but they couldn't get it together in the first half.   

While our expectations are high for the team, we have to remember that last season was not all sunshine and rainbows. We went through a lot of pain to get to the Super Bowl, and that made the victory that much sweeter.  

It feels like the team is coming together again this year. You wouldn't think we'd have growing pains when we're the same players as last year. But every season is different. Hell, every week is different.  

Our playmakers came to play Sunday against the Colts, never quitting and showing up when it mattered. Antoine Winfield Jr., Shaquil Barrett and Leonard Fournette all came to play. The Colts are a solid team that could be dangerous in the years to come should the team stay together, but this week they weren't 'with it' enough to topple the reigning champs. Better luck next time.

The Colts put a whooping on the Bills last week, but what does it actually mean? After watching the game, it was clear the Bills lost that game. The Colts simply capitalized on their mistakes. There's something to be said for that, to be sure, but what are the chances of a repeat this week against the Buccaneers? We both agree it's slim.   

Tom Brady has said football starts after Thanksgiving, and here we are. The Colts lead the league in rushing, while the Bucs have the best rushing defense. The Colts defense allowed the most passing touchdowns in the league, and the Bucs offense has scored the most passing touchdowns in the league. It seems like the stats are in our favor.  

Additionally, the Colts, while on a win streak, have played some of the worst teams in the league during that streak, including Jacksonville and the Jets. So their win-loss record may be misleading.  

Ralph thinks this game will be a blowout, but Molly's not so sure.

The Buccaneers got a much-needed victory against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. We won't lie... we were worried about the team after last week's loss to Washington. But the way the Bucs beat up on the Giants has quelled any doubt we had. Ralph repents!  

Who should get the game ball? Steve McLendon for his first career interception? Tom Brady for his offensive prowess? Gronk for the energy he brings? The defense for its domination? There's really no wrong answer.  

The Giants fired Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett today for last night's debacle. How you put that on him is beyond me.  We're in great shape in the division - now two games up on everyone else after they all lost this week.  

Ralph delves deeper into Rick Stroud's "reporting" on the Antonio Brown situation. Stroud made it clear in his podcast that Antonio Brown should be punished heavily for his indiscretion against the Covid decrees.

Tom Brady was OFF this week. Missed 10 wide open receivers. TEN. That's 1/3 of his pass plays. It was like what happened in New Orleans: everyone was in a fog. But the offensive line played well. We had 10 receivers WIDE OPEN. Their defense was bad. But Tom checked down instead of throwing to those guys.  

And then it came out: the TBT received allegations from a disgruntled employee that AB's girlfriend had asked the employee to obtain fake vaccine cards for AB. The disgruntled employee, a chef, believes he is owed $10,000 from AB, it should be noted.  

Tom's personal trainer, business partner and best friend Alex Guerrero is also named in the article. He is alleged to have come to AB's house to photograph his vaccine card, which the team authorized him to do along with others to make collecting required documentation faster ahead of training camp.   

Could this situation have contributed to what went wrong at Washington?? Tom looked uncharacteristic. We should have been up 50 on WFT right off the bat. But he just seemed like he was in a fog, along with the defense. 

Some of our veterans are not showing up. Just not even trying. I have never seen these guys play with so much malaise. JPP, Suh, and Lavonte have to step it up. If they are, indeed, saving up energy for the end of the season as we've theorized before, then now would be the time to get it together.   

Ralph's worried.

What in the heck happened??? We spitball. The offense lacked energy and cohesion. The defense couldn't get a stop when we needed it most. The game plan was too rigid and was apparent it wasn't working there was no adjustment.   

The good that came out of this week: Vita wasn't seriously hurt. The Cardinals lost to the Panthers, which may help us down the road with seeding. The Saints lost. Atlanta was embarrassed by the Cowboys.  

The Buccaneers certainly have some kinks to work out but the loss wasn't as devastating as it felt in the long run.

The Buccaneers return from the bye to travel to Fedex field, where they will take on the Football Team. This should go much differently than when we saw them in the playoffs. First and foremost, we are prepared for running quarterback Taylor Heinicke. Secondly, there no one on the offense, with the exception of the offensive line, that stands out. The defense has slipped dramatically this season, ranking 27th in both points and yards allowed, and 18th in sack rate.  

The Buccaneers will be without Antonio Brown and Gronk, but will see TE Darren Fells and WR Breshad Perriman take the field. Both have played in an Arians offense, Fells with the Cardinals and Perriman with the Buccaneers in 2019.  

We cover the lawsuit filed by Jon Gruden against Roger Goodell and the NFL, as well as news that not only has the NFL doubled down on the controversial call against Chicago LB Cassius Marsh, announcing they affirm the call, but are also fining Marsh for the infraction.