Buccaneers vs. Seahawks: 5 key matchups to watch closely

Bruce Arians vs. Pete Carroll

The ultimate chess match: Super Bowl champion Pete Carroll, the head coach of the Seahawks, versus the NFL coach of the year in Bruce Arians. While the first year of the Arians era has been a bit underwhelming, there is no doubt that he has the prestige around the league and the wits to bring the Bucs back to their former glory.

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His first year, however, Arians has made plenty of questionable calls, such as punting on fourth-and-one on the right side of the 50 despite data and analytics stating otherwise. On multiple occasions, Arians has also challenged pass interference calls, a decision that has proven to be a donation of both a challenge and a timeout.

If the Bucs want any chance of beating the high-powered Seahawks, then Arians needs to bring his A-game and wear his thinking cap. While the Buccaneers were almost able to squeak out a win against the Tennessee Titans last week (barring another terrible call from NFL officials), he will be putting his team greatly behind the 8-ball if he goes brain-neutral in this matchup.

Going up against Carroll and the Seahawks is never an easy task, and Arians must make sure that he does not make those odds of a victory even harder.