5 Best matchups to watch for the Buccaneers 2020 season
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been at the center of all of the offseason buzz.
Acquiring Tom Brady in free agency and then trading for Rob Gronkowski who decided he had enough of retirement. Analysts in the past haven’t taken the Bucs seriously with Jameis Winston at the helm and often don’t talk about Mike Evans and now recently Chris Godwin.
Both Evans and Godwin had extremely successful campaigns in 2019 but there was still a lack of national coverage because of the Buccaneers status in the standings. Now after the addition of Tom Brady the Buccaneers are being recognized and being taken very seriously. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are being talked about as a top wide receiver duo in the league now.
The Buccaneers now have five scheduled prime-time games for the 2020 season which is tied for the most with other top teams across the league. The Buccaneers went from the bottom of the NFC south to immediate super bowl contenders.
Tampa Bay is going to see some of the highest level of competition in the NFL making this one of the most intriguing seasons to date. The Buccaneers have big names that are ready to compete, so what teams give them the most interesting match ups for the year?
Week 1, at New Orleans
The Buccaneers first matchup of the year is not an easy task the Saints will be one of the Buccaneers top competitors throughout the year.
Going into New Orleans fans will finally get to see the product of the offseason hype they have been feeding into.
More importantly most players on this roster are going to have to live up to the high expectations set for the season, most of who have never experienced this.
Of course, what makes this week 1 battle so exciting is the first round of a season long fight between Tom Brady and Drew Brees two future hall of fame quarterbacks.
With Brady being in the AFC for the entirety of his career he and Brees have only faced off five times.
Brees holds a 3-2 record over Brady, surely the new Buccaneers quarterback will want to swing that record in his favor.
On top of the great quarterback battle we get to see the always enjoyable Mike Evans and Marshon Lattimore feud.
This is a type of matchup that can set the tone for an entire season, regardless of the outcome this game will come down to the wire in the fourth quarter.
Finally, with the arrival of week 1 we get to watch Tom Brady navigate this Buccaneers offense with a plethora of offensive weapons.
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.
Week 11, VS. L.A. Rams
This is the second year in a row facing off against the Rams and if it’s anything like last years matchup fans are in for a treat.
2019 saw the Buccaneers and Rams in an absolute slugfest with the Buccaneers coming out victorious 55-40.
Winston and Goff were airing it out all day long everyone was touching the ball a total offensive showing.
Since the Buccaneers last visit with the Rams they have acquired Jalen Ramsey, one of the premier cornerbacks in todays game. And in a shocking move released Todd Gurley III.
But not to celebrate too quickly Gurley is now in Atlanta and the Buccaneers will still have to face a talented rookie running back in Cam Akers.
Tampa Bay’s defense is going to have to be ready to shut down Sean McVay’s creative offense and surely a fired up Jared Goff with a season that didn’t live up to expectations.
There is another great test embedded in this game, this time it’s for the Buccaneers offensive line going up against Aaron Donald.
We can see if the new and improved offensive line can handle the task of shutting down one of the most elite defensive ends in the game.
Week 12, VS. Kansas City
The moment the 2020 opponents were released this became an immediate must see game even prior to the Buccaneers signing Tom Brady.
The defending Super Bowl champions are coming into Tampa Bay for a possible sneak peek at Super Bowl LV
This matchup comes at a crucial time during the Buccaneers season, it is week 12 and players have to be feeling fatigued at this point having not had their bye week yet.
The last time Patrick Mahomes faced off against Tom Brady was in the 2019 AFC championship round, a season in which Mahomes was named league MVP.
Unfortunately for Mahomes Brady got the best of him so expect an added level of compete for this chiefs squad.
This game comes on 6 days of preparation after having faced the Rams on Monday Night Football.
Dependent on the result against the Rams we will get to see how the Buccaneers are able to respond especially with a shorter preparation for the defending champs.
The key to this game could be Ronald Jones, hopefully his legs are fresh enough because the Buccaneers are going to need all facets of the offense working.
Kansas city is going to be an extreme test not only because of the high performance needed from every individual player but to test how the Buccaneers can power through and stay mentally focused.
Week 14, VS. Minnesota
The Buccaneers will be coming off of a much needed by Bye week after 12 straight weeks of play.
This gives Tampa Bay plenty of time to rest and prepare for this well rounded Vikings team.
Minnesota has one of the league’s premier running backs in Dalvin Cook an extremely explosive runner who can make you hurt in the passing game as well this guy can do it all.
Dalvin cook is going to be the Buccaneers main focus coming into this game shut him down and Kirk cousins becomes a very predictable passer.
The Buccaneers front defense is going to have to show up to shutdown cook and put pressure in cousins face
Look towards Vita Vea, Ndamukong Suh, and Shaquil Barrret being the difference makers to stop the Vikings.
This matchup so late in the season also has playoff implications attached to it.
Although the playoff format has been expanded to 14 teams instead of 12 a win could be the difference between a first round bye , being a top seed or becoming a 6 or 7 seed.
The Buccaneers will take any advantage they can get especially if it means knocking down the Saints in the playoff seeding.