Buccaneers: Key return will help against the Giants

The Buccaneers finally have Sean Murphy-Bunting back.

For the first time in over a month, the defense for the Buccaneers at least has the pieces to be successful in a game. This isn’t to say that the Bucs will man-handle the Giants tonight, but they at least aren’t playing with both arms and legs tied behind their backs with injuries tonight.

Injuries have made this season very difficult for Tampa. The unit that was highly touted for bringing back all of the key starters has never received a chance to settle in, and that clearly reflects in many of the results from this season so far.

Injuries aren’t the sole reasons behind the losses, but they do play a huge role. Fortunately for the Bucs, Sean Murphy-Bunting is on his way back and will be able to make a huge impact tonight if he can stay on the field.

The Bucs need to be careful in how they use their star corner tonight, but anything at this point is better than having to rely on practice squad players to provide starting-caliber reps. At least tonight, perhaps every pass thrown to someone not named Jamel Dean won’t have fans groaning as Daniel Jones continues to find open receivers.

By that same token, Buccaneers fans also need to understand that SMB is coming back from a long injury. That much time away from the game is difficult to recover from, so expecting him to return to his playoff levels from last season is far too much.

Regardless, the Bucs will have at least a few more reps from one of their best contributors from last season. It may be a lot to expect Murphy-Bunting to play a mountain of snaps in his first game back, but there is a chance that he plays more than most people suspect after going through recovery in the right way.

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