Bucs Nation
Bucsnation, your Tampa Bay Buccaneers are undefeated heading into week four. Tracing Tampa’s path to 3-0 is like reading three movie scripts. Baker Mayfield’s heroics have given Buccaneers’ fans the last-second finishes the team was known for during Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay tenure. In week four, the Bucs will be facing stacked odds as they will be pitted up against the defending Super Bowl champions. The Buccaneers have been one of the few teams to have decent success against Philadelphia in recent matchups. Baker Mayfield has actually beaten the Eagles twice in the last two seasons— Can he do it again?
Keep the officials out of the game. The Buccaneers cannot have another undisciplined performance that mirrors the one from a week ago. The Buccaneers had 15 penalties last Sunday— Twice as many as their opponent, a notoriously undisciplined franchise.
the Buccaneers, against the Jets can skate by with 124 yards in penalties, however, against a higher level of competition that will not be enough. The Eagles are coming off a momentous victory against the LA Rams and will be Tampa’s toughest test of the season. For the Bucs, penalties have not been an issue all year, the team actually had less penalties across the first two weeks than in their contest with the Jets. The Buccaneers’ offense will need to sustain drives and make sure that they can get Philadelphia’s offense off the field. Penalty flags flying through the air will fly right in the face of that objective.
Getting outclassed in the trenches. A healthy Buccaneers team has offensive line depth and defensive line play designed for trench warfare. The key word in that phrase ‘healthy.’ Health has not been a friend of the Buccaneers this season— a mere three games in and it feels like it’s easier to keep track of lyrics in a Busta Rhymes’ song than who is/isn’t in the starting lineup.
To their credit, Tampa Bay has managed to limp through their opening three games. It’s been part ingenious strategy, Baker Mayfield stamping himself as an elite clutch player and part mirage. No mirage will see victory against a Philadelphia Eagles team that is built on trench play. The ‘Tush Push’ will soak up the attention, but it’s going to an every-down battle for the Buccaneers. Both sides of the line of scrimmage will be tested and need to have the answers. Asking Baker Mayfield to take this team, on his back, to victory again feels almost unfair. Sunday’s game will be won in front of Baker and on the back of hand-in-dirt players— At the line of scrimmage.
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