The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are back in Florida after a miserable couple of days in southwestern Ohio. No one likes to be in Cincinnati, not at least voluntarily.
The Bucs might be done with the Bengals, but they are not done with the AFC North. After giving the Bengals a tied-for-first-place win last week, they are going to give the Bengals another game up on their division rivals when Baker Mayfield beats his former team in Week 2.
On NFL.com, five writers released their Week 2 predictions for every NFL game, and the Buccaneers are getting a lot of love. All five predict the Buccaneers to win, and they do not believe it will be close.
Baker Mayfield's thirst for revenge will keep Tampa Bay Buccaneers from overlooking lowly Cleveland Browns
Fans are far more superstitious when it comes to seeing their favorite teams getting an across-the-board vote for victory. That's what is happening this week as the Browns limp into Tampa Bay after a horrific first week of their own.
Bobby Kownack has them winning 27-13, the closest margin of victory. Gennaro Filice has them winning 36-9.
"The doctor ordered a nice prescription for the Buccaneers after last week's turnover fest in the form of the Browns"Brooke Cersosimo
This will be only the second time that Mayfield has faced his former team, but more interesting is the fact that this is the first time he will face the Browns against the QB they traded for to replace him.
In 2022, the Browns pulled off a massive blockbuster trade for Watson. That created too much friction between Mayfield and the Browns, leaving Cleveland without options. In July, they traded him to the Panthers for $10.5 million.
Mayfield would lead the Panthers against the Browns only a couple of months later, as Carolina opened the 2022 season against them. Watson did not play the first 11 games of the season. The rematch was Mayfield against Jacoby Brissett, and the Browns won by two points.
Later this year, Mayfield will get two shots to take down Kevin Stefanski, the coach involved in trading him. He is the HC for the Falcons.
This week's game has to be more than just an opportunity for Mayfield to exact years-long revenge and pay the Browns back. He has to turn in a much better performance than he did last week. The entire team does.
The Bengals didn't beat the Buccaneers as much as the Buccaneers beat themselves. Regardless of who they are playing, if they can't overcome self-inflicted issues, they won't be the Browns either.
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