Buccaneers vs Patriots: Five game-changing players for Week 5

Vernon Hargreaves 

Things haven’t been the easiest for Vernon Hargreaves in the last two weeks. In a loss to Minnesota, he was picked on all day. It led to a very rough day, but it was always going to be tough with Brent Grimes out. But even with Grimes back this past Sunday, Hargreaves still had his fair share of struggles. Coming into the year, the Buccaneer secondary was looked at as somewhat of an unknown. When it came to the cornerback position, that didn’t seem fair. But through three games, maybe it was.

Grimes is a baller. He is the best defender in the secondary by far, but he still needs some help. VH3, for the most part, had a good rookie year. He is off to a rough start this year, and he needs to be able to step up to keep the Buccaneer defense in top shape. The fact that the defensive line isn’t doing much to wreak havoc in the backfield certainly isn’t helping him, but there are still some areas where he needs to put it all together to give Tampa Bay two very solid corners. As it stands, he is obviously not a poor defender. He has a whole lot of talent. But if he can’t bounce back from a couple of rough games, the Patriots offense will take advantage of him.

The New England receivers are a talented group, to put it simply. Brandin Cooks hasn’t quite burst onto the scene as expected, but he certainly can and will come into his own soon enough. Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola are productive and have a great connection with Tom Brady. And of course, Rob Gronkowski is the best tight end in football. Brady has a lot of weapons at his disposal, which means Hargreaves absolutely needs to do his part to keep them in line. We can be sure that Grimes will. If VH3 can, it will give the Bucs a much better chance to win the game.