How the Tampa Bay Buccaneers transformed in one season
By Rob Leeds
Buccaneers’ attitude shift
Tom Brady brought with him a complete change for the Buccaneers on the attitude front. A team that has been beaten down for so long tends to lose its identity. Were the Buccaneers an offensive team still? Pass-first or run-first? Who would be the starting quarterback this weekend?
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With so many questions surrounding the roster and the decision-making for a prolonged period of time, the Buccaneers needed a strong, established leader to come in and set everything straight. Brady was the glue that kept the roster together.
The addition of Brady impacted the entire rest of the roster. The Bucs began to play with swagger on both sides of the ball for the first time in years. Even the defense, which had been terrible during the 2010s, emerged as one of the top units in the league at various times. The defensive success was not entirely on Brady, but the two groups helped each other out a sizable amount.
With far fewer turnovers, the defense had way less chances with their back to the end zone at the start of the drive. On the other hand, more forced turnovers by the defense gave the offense better starting field position and took pressure off Brady.
This type of shift doesn’t just come in one season from any player. Even the coaching staff saw their seats cool off due to players performing with a chip on their should. No one would say the Buccaneer coaching staff has been perfect this season, but all can be forgiven when team has accomplished what it has.
Change can be a good thing with the status quo doesn’t cut it. The Buccaneers gambled, but no one can say the gamble hasn’t paid off up until this point.
Tampa Bay still has one game to go, but two things remain clear: the Buccaneers did become a legitimate Super Bowl contender with the addition of one special player, and the Kansas City Chiefs now have a revenge game on their hands against the hottest team in the NFL.