Why the Buccaneers could potentially lose this Sunday against the Rams

Despite all the hype surrounding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season, especially regarding the performances of players such as Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, who have begun the 2021 campaign with electric numbers, the Bucs are perfectly poised to lose come their Week 3 matchup against the L.A. Rams for one reason; defense.

Although the Bucs are 2-0 to start the season, both games were far too close for a team that has just won a Super Bowl and returned the same entire team. Even worse still, you could make a case that the Dallas Cowboys are a playoff team, though barely, but the Atlanta Falcons are an objectively bad team, yet both of those team’s offenses looked fantastic against the Bucs.

Keep in mind, in Week one, the Falcons could only scrounge up a measly six points against the Eagles’ defense, which isn’t exactly a powerhouse of talent. Additionally, in the Cowboys’ week two matchup against the L.A. Chargers, the Cowboys barely broke 20 points, yet both of these teams were able to dominate the Bucs’ defense for the better part of their respective games.

Since the personal hasn’t changed, and obviously defensive coordinator Todd Bowles knows what he’s doing, as evidenced by their consistently great performances week after week last year, one has to wonder what the missing piece is so far this season.

Regardless of the diagnosis of how it started, the defense is the Buc’s Achilles heel at the moment, and the Rams are about to take full advantage of that come Sunday. With a team as talented as the Rams, even if the Bucs’ offense continues to perform as well as it has, it simply won’t be enough if the defense doesn’t show up from the first to the last whistle. Any late game heroics like the two pick sixes in Week 2 should not be expected to save the game against as good a team as the Rams.

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