Buccaneers next four games will tell us a lot about who they really are

Things have gotten off to a wonderful start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It hasn’t been perfect, but through the first quarter of the season the team is 4-2 and has one of the most explosive offenses in football. The future has never felt brighter for the Bucs, which is why what happens over the next four games is so important.

It’s not hyperbolic to say Tampa Bay’s season will be defined by what happens between now and Week 10. How the team plays will determine what the national perception of them is, but will also give us an idea of who this team really is.

So far we’ve seen both the best and worst verions of the Bucs. The same team that smothered Jayden Daniels, beat the Lions on the road, and nuked both the Eagles and Saints got cooked by Bo Nix at home. Lest we forget the mistake-riddled loss to the Falcons, a game that saw the Bucs snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in one of the most devastating ways fans have been forced to witness.

The next four games are against teams that control top seeds in their respective playoff races, which means the Bucs are about to go toe-to-toe with true heavyweights. It’s going to be a stretch that can either confirm Tampa Bay’s status as contenders or expose their hot start as nothing more than a flash-in-the-pan.

Buccaneers next four games could end up defining the season

It’s impossible to overstate just how important the next stretch of games will be.

Not only are the matchups huge, but the lights will be bright thanks to two of the games happening in primetime. The Bucs are set to play two of their next four games on Monday Night Football with each being a potential Super Bowl preview.

Tampa Bay can consider it a win if it gets through that gauntlet of games with a split, but one of them is a must-win. After letting that Thursday Night Football game slip away, the Bucs can’t afford another loss to Atlanta. Not only would it be devestating for their standing in the playoff race — the Falcons would outright own a tiebreaker over Tampa Bay — but it would rob the Bucs of a chance to punch their rivals back.

Given how things went in Week 5, the rematch with Atlanta is a revenge game where a win would reassert dominance in the NFC South.

Aside from that game, there’s an argument to be made for a win against any of the other three teams. Beating the Ravens on national television would be the perfect chaser to hanging 51-points on the Saints and make it impossible to ignore the Bucs as contenders.

A win over the Chiefs, one of two remaining undefeated teams and the consensus favorite to win the Super Bowl, might cement Tampa Bay’s status as the top team in the league.

Surprisingly, San Francisco might be the second most beatable team in the upcoming stretch of games. WIth Christian McCaffrey out, the 49ers have wobbled through the first quarter of the season, losing three of four games before straightening things out in Week 6. Their defense is a menace, but nothing about the Niners should scare the Bucs based on the way they’re playing.

That’s ultimately what this comes down to and why a show of force in these next four games is critical. Outside of a hiccup against Denver, Tampa Bay’s offense hasn’t been this electric since Tom Brady was vying for MVP three seasons ago. The Bucs have the highest scoring offense in football, tied with the Commanders, and displaying that on national television twice in the next four weeks is the surest way to get everyone to start taking them seriously.

What the Bucs can’t afford to do, in addition to losing, is limp through these games. Reverting back to the worst version of themselves would be a quick way to undo everything the Bucs have started to set up, and would be a regression that might throw everything out of whack.

Last year the team teased how bright future could be, and over the next four games it’s time for them to announce their arrival.

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