Bad injury luck has followed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers around like a Dementor in Harry Potter, and it has once again struck before another big game. On Friday is seemed as though the Bucs were going to avoid any major setbacks due to injury, outside of Antoine Winfield Jr. being ruled out due ot a knee injury he suffered in the win over Las Vegas two weeks ago.
Winfield isn’t the only player who will now miss the Sunday Night Football showdown against the Dallas Cowboys.
It initially looked like Cade Otton was going to try and tough it out and play on Sunday night but that changed just over 24 hours before kickoff. He went from a game-time decision to being ruled out, which means the Bucs will be without one of their top pass catching options against the Cowboys.
Bucs say tight end Cade Otton is now out for Sunday’s game at Dallas due to his knee injury.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) December 21, 2024
Cade Otton being ruled out makes Sunday night even more of a trap game for the Buccaneers
Something that gnawed at everyone over the three “easy” games out of the bye week was how each one presented all the making of a classic trap game. Tampa Bay was the superior team in each matchup but those are exactly the sort of games where a team takes its eye off the ball and chaos ensues.
That almost happened in Carolina where the Bucs needed overtime to beat a bad Panthers team and keep their season on track. Dallas isn’t a top team in the league but they’re hardly an opponent the Bucs can take lightly and could easily get caught napping against.
Of course, that would go against everything we saw out of the team last week against the Chargers. Tampa Bay thumped the No. 1 scoring defense in the league, hanging 40 points on Los Angeles in a blowout win. The same can’t be expected two weeks in a row, but we’ve seen on multiple occasions this season how explosive the Bucs’ offense can be when everything is firing on all cylinders.
Cade Otton is a key piece of the machine, and not having him means even more attention will be paid to Mike Evans. Rookie Devin Culp will likely see some action with Otton out, and Payne Durham has a chance to shine, but Baker Mayfield will be without a guy he’s loved to target so far this season.
When Mike Evans was out, Otton stepped up and proved his worth and it’s going to sting not having him healthy. However, Liam Coen has shown more than once that he’s capable of making up for the loss of key players, something he’s done at various times with guys like Evans and Chris Godwin missing from the lineup.
Sunday night is still a game the Bucs should win, but it’s a matchup that got a little harder thanks to another bad injury break.
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