Buccaneers can take advantage of banged up Bengals

With the Bengals dealing with a multitude of injuries, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in a position to steal a win on Sunday.

The initial injury report for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 8 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals came out on Wednesday.

There weren’t many surprises for the Buccaneers.

Vinny Curry and Gerald McCoy sat out of practice after missing last week’s game. They are going to be taken along slowly this week, but it’s too early to tell their status for this week.

Veteran lineman Demar Dotson also sat out.  Hopefully, it’s just veteran’s rest.

The one new addition to the report was running back Peyton Barber who has an ankle injury. It’s not a great sign that Barber was unable to practice, but it’s still early. Keep an eye on his status throughout the week.

The Bengals weren’t so fortunate.

12 Cincinnati players landed on the injury report, and 10 of them didn’t participate in Wednesday’s practice.

Here’s a list of those that didn’t suit up:

RB Giovani Bernard, LB Vontaze Burfict, CB Darqueze Dennard, WR John Ross, LB Nick Vigil TE Tyler Kroft, OT Bobby Hart, CB Dre Kirkpatrick,  OT Jake Fisher, and LS Clark Harris

Ouch.

Key Bengals players on both sides of the ball watched practice from the sidelines. Speedy wideout John Ross likely won’t play this week, and reliable runner Giovani Bernard will be out Sunday as well.

Throw in rookie center Billy Price, who likely won’t play after returning to practice for the first time after missing the past five games. The Bengals are a complete mess on offense. Even their tight end injuries won’t slow down as Tyler Kroft could be out too.

To be clear, all of the players listed above aren’t officially ruled out for Sunday’s game. However, this could be the opening Tampa Bay desperately needs.

Despite Cincinnati’s embarrassing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last week, they still sit right in the middle of the AFC playoff picture.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has played well this season. And the offense still features A.J. Green and Joe Mixon, but the other side of the ball is where their issues will lie.

So far this season, the Bengals rank in the bottom seven in nearly every defensive category. They give up 29 points per game and have allowed 300.7 passing yards per contest.

Slot corner Darqueze Dennard won’t play Sunday, and the Bengals will monitor polarizing linebacker Vontaze Burfict after he missed practice with a hip injury.

With the number of weapons Tampa Bay has on the outside, there should be plenty of opportunities to put points on the board.

The Buccaneers sit at .500 and are in the middle of a pivotal stretch. If they can string together a few wins, the postseason would seem less like a pipe dream and more like a reality.

They may have caught the Bengals at the perfect time. As the injuries pile up in Cincinnati, the Buccaneers can swoop in and steal a win before they travel to face the Carolina Panthers in a crucial division matchup.