Buccaneers Pick Six: Bucs dominate Bears in opener
By James Yarcho
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played their first meaningful game of 2017 and it was sheer domination in every aspect as they defeated Chicago 29-7.
Oh yes! The triumphant return of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers means the triumphant return of everyone’s favorite Monday morning recap: Pick Six! It was a beat down in every facet of the game as the Bucs welcomed Mike Glennon back to Tampa by beating the snot out of him, getting four turnovers, a defensive touchdown, and were less than two minutes away from a shutout.
We didn’t see too much explosion on offense, but far from anything to panic about. The deep passes were there for DeSean Jackson, but he and Jameis Winston just couldn’t connect. They were literally inches away on both attempts, but they’ll connect sooner than later.
All about that chemistry, folks.
With that, let’s go ahead and dive in to Pick Six!
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Six Topics Suitable For Conversation
1.) This Buccaneers Team Looked Scary Good. The offense missed on a few plays, sure. That said, the offensive line looked solid, the running game was fine, and the defense… oh my goodness, the defense. They finished the day with a sack, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions, and a touchdown. Yes, they were facing the Bears but this was the same Bears team that took the defending NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons to the wire. Once Winston and Jackson begin to connect on those deep passes, Bucs’ opponents are in deep doo-doo.
2.) Mike Evans Is Mike Evans. Not much else to say. He got his receptions, had a stunning catch in the end zone where he dotted the i with his toe – or as Nate Burleson calls it, he had that “Toe Drag Swag”;
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/909471181182451712
It’s time for the NFL community to finally include Evans in that discussion of top-tier, elite receivers. We’ve seen it, we’ve known it. Time for everyone else to give him the credit he deserves.
3.) Pass Rush Still Needs Work. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Bucs’ defensive line had a little trouble getting to the quarterback today. Noah Spence had the lone sack, which resulted in a fumble by Glennon recovered by the Bucs. Early on, the Bears “slanted” all the way down the field until an interception by Kwon Alexander stopped the drive, but the pass rush is still in need of improvement. Not to take away the run defense, where Gerald McCoy was the beast he always is and Lavonte David played out of his mind. After Jordan Howard ran for 100 yards on the Buccaneers last season, he and the new hotness Tarik Cohen combined for 20 rushing yards.
4.) Kendall Beckwith Is A Stud. After Kwon Alexander left the game with a tweaked hamstring, Beckwith stepped in at middle linebacker while Adarius Glanton filled in at strong side. Beckwith – ten months off a torn ACL – showed exactly why Jason Licht traded up to get him. Beckwith is a playmaker and the more he’s on the field, the more Bucs fans are gonna love him.
5.) Charles Sims Is Useless. Enough. Seriously. Charles Sims adds nothing to this team. He got the ball on 3rd-and-1 and was stuffed. Then, with the Buccaneers marching, he caught a dump off, danced around as he always does, then proceeded to fumble the ball for the lone Bucs turnover of the game. Once Martin’s suspension is over, Sims has got to go. That experiment is over.
6.) Are The Bucs Already The Best Team In The NFC South? The Panthers are 2-0, yes. However, they beat the 49ers (ooh-aah) and managed a mere nine points against the Bills. On top of that, they lost Greg Olsen to a broken foot. The Saints are hot garbage. They’ve allowed 777 pass yards in two games. The Falcons looked like a shell of their 2016 selves against a Bears team the Buccaneers took behind the wood shed. If the Bucs don’t get in their own way…
Six Numbers To Consider
28 – Touchdown receptions by Mike Evans, third most in Bucs history
5 – Consecutive home wins by the Buccaneers
20 – Rushing yards allowed by the Bucs, ninth lowest in team history
501 – Career receptions by DeSean Jackson after a three reception debut in Tampa
31 – Touchdown passes Winston needs to become Bucs’ all-time leader
1.000 – Dirk Koetter’s winning percentage as Bucs head coach in week one
Six Best Quotes
“Oh yeah, we definitely can be number one. The talent we have in this room, they work hard and it is everything you need to be a championship defense. You have great players, great talent with their work ethic and then the energy and everything else feeds itself. So, we definitely have championship material in this locker room.”
-Safety T.J. Ward on the composition of the team
“Man, we have to step on their throat. That’s what we have to do. We’re up 26-0 at halftime and we only get 29 points. We’ve got to continue to get better, continue to dominate.”
–Robert Ayers to Jameis Winston after the game
“I can’t say it enough times, it’s an amazing story. The fact that the guy is even out there playing coming off that ACL [injury]. We’re so fortunate that we were able to get him where we got him and the fact that he can play multiple positions. Kwon had to come out there and Kendall stepped up and did a really nice job.”
-Dirk Koetter on rookie Kendell Beckwith
“It was great. Complimentary football at its finest. Defense played phenomenal, offense had great drives. Eliminate the three-and-outs, eliminate the turnovers and played a great football game.”
-Jameis Winston on the win
“I think we did pretty good. There’s a lot left out there still. We feel like we missed some plays down the field, but that’s just part of playing, that’s just part of getting acclimated. It’s the first game of the season. Things are going to happen of that nature. I’m just excited to get back and get back working on Wednesday.”
-DeSean Jackson on the offense
“Once you go inside that building, everything else has to cease. My mind is always on my family, but I even have to put them to the side when we step in that building. I think everybody was able to do that. The crazy part is we didn’t have a great day Wednesday. Guys came back, practice did not go well on Wednesday. We knew we had to fix it and we just built off of that throughout the week and we came out and got a big win today.”
-Gerald McCoy on re-focusing after Hurricane Irma
Six Teams To Have Played Two Games With Fewer Points Scored Than Bucs
1.) Cincinnati Bengals – 9 points
2.) San Francisco 49ers – 12 points
3.) Seattle Seahawks – 21 points
4.) Indianapolis Colts – 22 points
5.) Buffalo Bills – 24 points
6.) Cleveland Browns – 28 points
(These teams combined record – 2-10)
Six Super Bowl Bets
1.) New England Patriots – Don’t let week one fool you. Their dominance of the Saints is more fitting
2.) Oakland Raiders – Pure fire on offense, and Beast Mode is just getting started
3.) Green Bay Packers – Still the class of the NFC
4.) Atlanta Falcons – Maybe week one was a fluke. They are the defending conference champs…
5.) Denver Broncos – Trevor Siemian looks good. That defense is inexplicable
6.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers – More games like this one and we’re in for a hell of a ride
Next: Bucs Winners and Losers vs. Bears