After a strong 3-1 start to the new season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head into what many consider to be the toughest stretch of their season, playing three divisional matchups, two against the Atlanta Falcons and one against the New Orleans Saints, and one game against one of the best teams in the league, the Baltimore Ravens. Each of these games will be crucial in the race for an NFC South division that appears to be one of the toughest divisions in the league after great play from the Buccaneers, Falcons and Saints over the first four weeks of the season.
Here are some predictions for the Bucs’ games through Week 8 of the season.
Predicting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers October Results
Week 5 @ Atlanta: Win
Many experts picked the Falcons to be a dominant force in the NFC South and comfortably walk away with the division title at the end of this season. Through the first few weeks of the season, this hasn’t been the case at all; they sit in second place with a 2-2 record, having dropped games to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers. They also barely scraped by with a one-point win against an injury-riddled Philadelphia Eagles team and a two-point win against the Saints with a field goal in the final seconds of regulation.
On their part, the Buccaneers are coming off a Week 4 blowout win against the same Eagles the Falcons struggled to beat. The passing game has been the highlight of their season so far, with quarterback Baker Mayfield going 91 for 129 with 984 yards and eight touchdowns through four games. Wideout Chris Godwin has excelled in his new role as slot receiver under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen and Bucky Irving has been very effective out of the backfield. While the Eagles’ injuries contributed to their bad showing against the Bucs, Tampa Bay also had their fair share of injuries and still performed well throughout the game. Expect that momentum to carry on to Week 5 resulting in a Bucs win and an improvement to 4-1.
Week 6 @ New Orleans: Win
The Saints are the perfect example of an overperforming team. Through their first two games, they scored a mind-boggling 91 total points and allowed only 29, with quarterback Derek Carr going 30 for 39 with 443 yards and five touchdowns over that stretch. Other players who excelled over those two games are Alvin Kamara, totaling 35 carries for 198 yards and four touchdowns and Rashid Shaheed, hauling in seven receptions for 169 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Since then, they have fallen off. They only scored 36 points through their next two games while also allowing opposing offenses to score 41 on them. Shaheed took the biggest step back, going from an insane 24.1 yards per catch to not getting any receptions in Week 3, although he did bounce back and performed well in Week 4. Carr and Kamara have also been performing decently, but they simply haven’t been doing enough to beat their rivals.
Their Week 6 matchup against Tampa Bay should be no different. The Bucs have already beaten the Eagles, a team the Saints couldn’t beat and have a good chance to beat the Falcons, another team the Saints lost to. Expect this one to be a good win for the Buccos as they extend their winning streak to three.
Week 7 vs Baltimore: Loss
The Ravens started the season 0-2 after a tough loss against the Chiefs in Week 1 and a huge upset loss against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2. After that loss to the Raiders, everyone wondered if they were slated for a mediocre season after being one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl in the preseason polls. But the Ravens bounced back and won two straight; one against the Dallas Cowboys and a huge prime-time blowout win against the then-undefeated Buffalo Bills. Part of the reason why they struggled through their first two games is that they couldn’t figure out the running game: the acquisition of Derrick Henry promised to be their biggest move of the offseason, but they still needed time to figure out how to use him. Now they have and great showings from both Henry and Lamar Jackson against the Bills prove it.
The Buccaneer secondary has struggled to contain the run so far. In their lone loss against the Denver Broncos, the Broncos offense didn’t score a single passing touchdown; all scores came from either running plays or field goals. The Bucs defense has also allowed 526 rushing yards so far, the eleventh-highest in the league. The Ravens have perhaps the best-rushing offense in the league, something that the Bucs are not ready to face. Unless they find a way to contain Baltimore’s run-heavy offense, this one might be out of reach for Tampa Bay.
Week 8 vs Atlanta: Win
The Bucs face the Falcons again in Week 8, this time at home. There is not much more to say about this game that has not been said before. A team’s momentum and morale changes over the weeks, but if everything goes as predicted, the Bucs will have good momentum going into this game despite the Week 7 loss against the Ravens. Expect the Bucs to win this one comfortably, bringing their record to a solid 6-2 heading into November.
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