Tampa Bay failed to move the ball efficiently, failed to score, and they really failed to manage the clock at the end of the game.
But that’s all in the past, right? I’m trying to remain optimistic, because it’s been painful having to deal with this pitiful Bucs team all while rumors about Tom Brady heading back to New England float around and the defense has a group dinner to try and build camaraderie.
There’s just a lot of negative energy surrounding this team, and while I absolutely love hating on a bunch of millionaires getting paid to play a stupid game, it’s time to accept this team for what it is.This Bucs squad is a borderline playoff team (only because of how putrid the NFC South is) that could possibly squeak out a Wild Card victory.
And that’s OK for the Bucs; this team has been so bad for so long that it’s futile to try and bang your head against the wall driving yourself crazy trying to force this front office to make a coaching change.
New leadership unfortunately is not going to happen; much to the detriment of the organization and its success for this season, they are sticking with Todd Bowles.
He was safe after losses to the Steelers and Panthers, and remains so after admitting that he was playing to protect Tom Brady from throwing an interception by not calling a timeout. The Bucs front office is going to give him the season.
This is who the Bucs are, and it’s just going to have to be something we sit back and enjoy. Because they won’t be very good for a while after this season.
Which brings us to the Saints, who come into Raymond James on Monday night at 4-8.
New Orleans is an awful team that turns the ball over way too much for its own good (running back Alvin Kamara even got in on the fun by fumbling twice Sunday against the 49ers). In fact, the Saints are the worst team in the NFL in the turnover differential department.
The Bucs, in sharp contrast, take care of the football incredibly well. In fact, one could venture to say that they are too safe with the ball.
But the Bucs are going to win Monday 24-13.
They need to, right? I mean, they could lose and still win the division, but it’s tough to imagine Brady not coming out firing after such an embarrassing loss Sunday.
Hopefully I’m right, but I wouldn’t be completely shocked if the Bucs managed to screw this game up too, and that’s OK, because they’ll still probably be in first place in the worst division in football.
This article appears in Dec 1-7, 2022.
