Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Seattle Seahawks: Inside the chess match

David and Goliath, Seattle’s dynamic duo

Both backs are big (5-11, 222 pounds, and 5-10 220 pounds respectively) and their physicality is something that Seattle offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer will likely to try to use to force the Bucs to respect the Hawks run game.  One of the key match ups to watch this week is Carson and Penny’s ability to break tackles within two yards of the line of scrimmage.  Bowles likes to dial up blitzes, and if they can force missed tackles (either through physicality or elusiveness), Seattle could break some long runs.

Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf are as physically different from one another as you any pair of wide receivers that the Bucs will face this season.  At 5-10 and 182 pounds, Lockett is proof that good things come in small packages.  He’s experienced, a solid route runner an explosive in the open field.  He can win with quickness and savvy, and has been around long enough that complicated coverages might not have the same effect as a younger player.

Metcalf is just the opposite; he’s in his first year and coming from a system at Ole Miss where he wasn’t asked to run a lot of pro routes.  At 6-4 and 230 pounds, he didn’t really have to.  Much of the time, he used his elite size and speed (he ran 4.33 at the combine earlier this year) to simply ‘out athlete’ guys at the college level.  It’s almost unfair that a human that big can move that fast.

Look for Wilson to favour Locket’s experience with more targets, but if I were the Bowles, I would be wary of Metcalf’s ability to ‘bully’ smaller corners, especially in the red zone. If Bowles and the defense can limit Seattle to 20 points or less (which is six points under their season average), the Tampa offense should be able to score enough to come away with a victory.

Speaking of which, let’s look at the ‘chess pieces’ that offensive coordinator Bryon Leftwich is going to have to content with on the offensive side of things.