The Carolina Panthers aren’t the best team in the NFL, and there is one strategy the Buccaneers should use to guarantee a win in their second game.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are facing a must-win scenario in their second game of the 2020 NFL season. The first game left something to be desired, and some sweeping changes need to occur if the Bucs want to right the ship for the remainder of the season.
Tampa Bay’s high-powered offense looked lack-luster outside of one drive during the first game, and a large part of that is attributed to the play calling.
If the Buccaneers want to bring home a win against the Panthers, they have to throw the football. This may seem like an easy concept to understand, especially when looking at the weapons on the offense, but the Bucs only threw the ball an abysmal 12 times in the first half last week.
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Twelve total passes in one half is one of the biggest travesties involving the Buccaneer organization in the past decade. This offensive strategy is absolutely inexcusable, and making a complete overhaul of the play calling is needed for this game to end differently.
Even without Chris Godwin, the Bucs have one of the best pass-catching units in the entire NFL. Tom Brady‘s arm looked sharp in the first game, and continuing to sideline him by relying on the run is impossible to understand.
The Buccaneers have the talent to shred the Carolina secondary, even with the injuries taken into account, but the run will still struggle against the Panther defensive front. If Tampa Bay goes into this game and runs the ball continuously on first down, the hopes for the playoffs could go down the drain, and deservedly so.
The NFL is all about the pass in the modern era, and the Bucs still have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Failing to throw the football is not just inexcusable, but it will completely extinguish any hopes the Bucs have of playing at their peak.
Tampa Bay can easily win the matchup today, but throwing the ball any amount fewer than 35-40 times could rule that opportunity out.