Tampa Bay Buccaneers opponent preview for 2022 NFL season
By Rob Leeds
The tough opponents for the Buccaneers
The best opponents for the Buccaneers all have one thing in common; excellent quarterback play.
Nothing in the league matters more. Good defensive play helps, having a nice offensive line or run game helps, but none of it is a requirement. We all saw as much when the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl with little more than stellar quarterback play.
The Packers, Chiefs, Bengals, Ravens, Cowboys, Rams, and potentially the Browns have top-ten quarterbacks. These teams are well-constructed, have the potential to make noise in the playoffs this year, and the last three MVP winners are on these teams.
The Bucs are going to have to play their best games of the season against these teams to have a chance, and even that might not be enough with the way the season falls for the team.
Having to play talent like this in the first month is no easy task. The mental strain of having to go week-in and week-out against this type of talent is as much a drain mentally as it is physically.
It would be naive and a bit homerish to assume that Tampa will be close to winning all of these games, but it should be more than fair to assume that they have the talent to split these games if they are the team that we think they are.
One way or another, the regular season is going to show us how good this Bucs team is going to look in the playoffs. There will be no question about Tampa’s strength of schedule during the regular season.