Bad news though; Chris Godwin exited the game in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury. His status is uncertain for next week, when the Bucs take on the Chargers and their rookie quarterback Justin Herbert, who lost a close one to the Panthers 21-16 Sunday.
Now, back to the good news. TB12 looked really comfortable out there, spreading the ball around to eight different receivers on his way to a three-touchdown, 297-yard game. More importantly though, Brady threw zero interceptions. How many times have the Bucs been able to say that for the past decade?
Rob Gronkowski looked like he was finally getting the hang of playing in a Bucs uniform (maybe it was those dope pewter jerseys they team was rockin’), posting six catches for 48 yards. While that may not sound like a big game, it’s a good step in the right direction for the former Patriot, who had gotten off to an incredibly slow start.
While the offense ran like a well-oiled machine, the defense was the star, getting pressure on both Bronco quarterbacks (Denver switched from backup Jeff Driskle to third-stringer Brett Rypien for a series in the fourth quarter; Rypien ended the series by throwing a pick in the red zone) and getting five sacks. The Bucs' Shaq Barrett looked like the star that he is, with a pair of sacks (one of them resulting in a safety), and rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr. looks like an absolute steal of a second round pick (defensive rookie of the year?), as he got a sack and made several key plays in the secondary.
Speaking of which, the secondary had its moments too, getting an interception off of both quarterbacks (one by Lavonte David, the other by safety Mike Edwards). The defense was helped out by the fact that the Broncos were without their starting quarterback Drew Lock, but Denver had injuries across the board. Von Miller (star pass rusher) is out for the year with an ankle injury, Courtland Sutton (their no. 1 wideout) is out for the year with a torn ACL, and backup running back Phillip Lindsay was out with a toe injury.
So, all of that to say, while it’s nice to see the Bucs execute and get a victory against a bad team, they still have quite a bit of work to do.
Special teams continued to be a bit shaky, as the Bucs had an extra point blocked and committed a costly block-in-the-back penalty that gave up excellent field position following the safety. Ryan Succop did hit both of his other extra points, and an additional two field goals, one from 43 yards.
Now all the Bucs can do is cross their fingers and hope Chris Godwin’s hamstring is OK, because the Chargers defense is not one to underestimate. With Chris Harris and Casey Hayward as their top corners, and Nick Bosa coming off of the edge, they can cause some problems for any offense, but especially one that is missing one of their top receivers. Look for TB12 to exploit the Chargers’ weakness (their linebackers and safeties are not a strength, especially losing Derwin James to a torn meniscus before the season) by targeting the Bucs’ tight ends, OJ Howard and Gronk, who both had solid performances against the Broncos Sunday, combining for nine catches for 97 yards.
The Chargers’ offense is a bit of a question mark. With rookie quarterback Justin Herbert at the helm, the unit has been able to make games competitive (it took the defending champ Chiefs to OT in Week 2), but it has yet to show any kind of consistency or explosiveness.
Regardless, the Bucs are in a very good place in the NFC South (first place, to be specific). The Panthers are 1-2 after defeating the Chargers, the Falcons are 0-3 after blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to Nick Foles (he replaced original starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in the second half) and the Chicago Bears after blowing a 20-point lead to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, and the Saints lost to the Packers 37-30, falling to 1-2, despite star running back (and personal hero) Alvin Kamara gaining 197 yards from scrimmage, catching two TDs, one of which was one of the most amazing runs I’ve ever seen after he caught yet another one of Drew Brees’ 5,000 passes behind the line of scrimmage, and literally being the only source of offense for the pitiful Saints (their game plan seemed to be similar to Will Ferrell’s game plan coaching the Tigers in "Kicking & Screaming" with the two Italian kids; “Get the ball to Kamara!”).
Things are looking up in Tampa Bay. Maybe the Lightning can even close out those pesky Stars in the Stanley Cup this week. Maybe the Rays can knock out the Blue Jays in the first round of the MLB playoffs. Who knows?
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This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2020.