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Buccaneers Round Table: Which Bucs team is the real one?

By David Harrison

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 24: Tampa Bay Buccaneers players link arms on the sidelines during the national anthem before the game against the Minnesota Vikings on September 24, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 24: Tampa Bay Buccaneers players link arms on the sidelines during the national anthem before the game against the Minnesota Vikings on September 24, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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TAMPA, FL – JANUARY 01: Noah Spence #57 and Lavonte David #54 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrate after a failed two-point conversion attempt by the Carolina Panthers in the fourth quarter of the game at Raymond James Stadium on January 1, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Panthers 17-16. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL – JANUARY 01: Noah Spence #57 and Lavonte David #54 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrate after a failed two-point conversion attempt by the Carolina Panthers in the fourth quarter of the game at Raymond James Stadium on January 1, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Panthers 17-16. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

David Harrison

When the Buccaneers took on, and beat up, the Chicago Bears in Week 2 I had some reservation about the level of excitement I allowed to build up.

For all the NFL caliber talent the Bucs faced at home that week, it wasn’t exactly the top shelf as far as rosters are concerned.

I really wanted to see what the offense would do against the Vikings’ stout defense, and was curious to see how the defense would follow-up such a dominant performance.

Of course, as the week went on, it got worse and worse for the guys on defense. Missing Chris Baker, Kwon Alexander, Brent Grimes, and Jacquies Smith who also missed Week 2 was absolutely debilitating.

Next: Hopes for the Buccaneers are still Alive

The injuries suffered by Lavonte David, T.J. Ward, Vernon Hargreaves and Gerald McCoy during the game, just added salt to a unit already experiencing plenty of sting.

To the question at hand though: Which Buccaneers team is the real one?

Well, it’s both.

The Buccaneers offense honestly didn’t look all that different in Week 3 than they did in Week 2. The difference was the defense.

Minnesota was able to get into pure pass coverage as Jameis Winston had to go into full-time passing mode trying to come back from a large deficit.

Any quarterback is more likely to throw interceptions against the odds he was facing, and a gunslinger like Winston is even more likely.

As far as the defense, what we saw in Week 2 was a unit which is built to play from ahead.

They’re athletic, and play fast when able to. However, when the offense is grinding the clock down and controlling the sticks, this is a unit suffering from a lack of depth which makes fatigue an even bigger factor than normal.

For this team, this season, time of possession is going to be even more important to them than perhaps any other team in the league.

This is what we saw in both weeks, just opposite examples of it in each.

This wraps up The Pewter Plank staff thoughts on who the Buccaneers really are.

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