Buccaneers: 3 moves to right the ship after a shaky start to 2021
By Rob Leeds
The Buccaneers may be 3-1, but improvements are still needed.
Shaky start? The Buccaneers are 3-1, about to be 4-1, and are in the top spot in the division. How is that a shaky start? Well, wins and losses aren’t the only way to evaluate games, but it makes perfect sense that such a schism exists in Tampa.
The Buccaneer fanbase is an interesting one. Years of losing have created two very different factions within the community that are equally jaded after watching roster after roster fall short of expectations.
Now that the team is on top of the world with a star-studded roster and Super Bowl rings to boot, reactions to success or a lack thereof vary wildly.
One side of the argument says you should trust the Bucs, even on the bad days, as they’ve earned the slack. Sloppy games against bad teams happen to everyone, so there is no need to ring the alarm after each bad game. 3-1 is 3-1; just appreciate the victories.
On the other hand, another group sees this season as one of the best opportunities to win a Super Bowl in franchise history, and slacking off in easy games inspires little confidence in this team’s abilities when they face contenders later in the season. The mistakes stick out even in the wins for this group.
Based on the fact that Bruce Arians tends to fall into the second category, and complacency is something this fan wants the team to avoid, “staying the course” is a bad decision in such an important season. The Bucs are 3-1, but it is a weak 3-1. That record could easily be 1-3 with a few different coaching decisions from the opposition.
The Buccaneers don’t need any massive changes, but they do need to make some moves to put this roster in a better position to compete down the stretch against the great teams. Tampa can start with the following moves: