5 Best matchups to watch for the Buccaneers 2020 season

Week 7, at Las Vegas

This starts a very difficult stretch for the Buccaneers this is game 1 of a set of 3 prime time games in a row two of which are on the road.

It is crucial for the Buccaneers to start off this stretch on the right foot and what other way to do it than marching into Las Vegas and beat the promising Raiders in their own stadium.

Jon Gruden is one of the great offensive minded head coaches in the NFL. He led the Buccaneers to a super bowl ring in 2003 and this will be the first time Tampa Bay will face him as a head coach since being inducted into their own ring of honor.

The Raiders in 2019 finished the season 7-9 and there performance was quite surprising the defense learned how to play without Khalil Mack and had emerging offensive stars.

Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller burst onto the scene in 2019, Jacobs ran for over 1000 yards for his rookie season with multiple 100 yard rushing games showing he has a bright future.

Waller found his groove with Derek Carr easily becoming his favorite target as a 6’6” tight end with good speed and he did end up with 1145 yards receiving which was second among tight ends.

The Raiders also added the speedy Henry Ruggs III from Alabama in the 2020 draft.

Gruden has all the pieces he needs for his offense and if the Buccaneers want to take control of this matchup Todd Bowles defense is going to have to step up and shut down the Raiders.

This will be one of the bigger tests for the Buccaneers young secondary.