Buccaneers schedule 2023: Predictions for every game

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers schedule is finally here, so let’s run through it with some early knee-jerk predictions for how things might go. 

It’s finally here, the NFL schedule release happened on Thursday night and we found out what teams the Buccaneers will be matching up against this season.

Well, technically Thursday was all about when the Buccaneers play. We’ve known since the end of the season what opponents the Bucs will have but the NFL locked in dates and times for this upcoming year of games.

The results already look a bit shaky for Tampa Bay.

Of course, this is to be expected as the Buccaneers are entering a weird transitional period in the first year without Tom Brady. When he retired in February, Brady took with him the bright spotlight of national attention but also left behind a team that needs to figure out its identity now that he’s gone.

Baker Mayfield was signed to compete for the starting job — and in all likelihood win it — against Kyle Trask. How the Bucs season goes really begins with the result of that battle, and could dictate how well things go.

Keep in mind this is all knee-jerk, which is really the only way we can approach this. Feelings will change, as will expectations, once training camp begins and everyone gets a better look at things.

With that said, let’s dive in and discuss how right or wrong we think these predictions will end up being.

Week 1

It’s easy to make fun of Kirk Cousins, but there are two things in the Vikings offense that should send chills up the spines of defenses everywhere.

Justin Jefferson was already a dominant force on his own, but now he has rookie Jordan Addison alongside him to make life hard on every secondary they face. Good thing the Bucs brought back Jamel Dean this offseason, otherwise this matchup would be even tougher than it already is.

While the Bucs might not win the game, what could end up being a victory is the offense waking up right out of the gate. After what we were subjected to last year, picture a world where Baker Mayfield and the offense put up some points and find the endzone more than a few times.

Don’t count out a win, either. Strange things happen in Week 1 and it’s not unbelievable to think that the Bucs could follow up an offseason of getting counted out by starting the year 1-0.

Buccaneers record: 1-0