The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been on a slide of late against some of the NFL's toughest teams. They couldn't hang with the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots in the AFC East, and then they suffered their greatest humilitation of the campaign last weekend on Sunday Night Football, getting trounced 34-7 by the Los Angeles Rams.
Chris Godwin is back in action, Baker Mayfield is likely to play on Sunday despite an injury scare, and now Bucky Irving is finally set to return at running back after missing about a month of action since going down with a couple of injuries in a tough loss to an old playoff foe in the Philadelphia Eagles.
Although Irving will be healthy enough to get some touches on Sunday, he has to be staring down the other running backs on the roster who are waiting to take his spot. In particular, Sean Tucker has been highly impressive in Irving's absence, posting one of the best games of the season by a Bucs runnig back with 100 yards and two touchdowns on the ground in an otherwise disappointing team display vs. Buffalo.
The Buccaneers want the hot hand
Ahead of the Week 13 battle with the Arizona Cardinals, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles spoke about the usage the running backs will get, via ESPN's Jenna Laine. He said of Irving, "We'll put him in. Once he gets in, we'll see how he is rolling, and then between him, Rachaad [White] and Sean [Tucker], we'll kind of go with the hot hand."
The "hot hand". That's another way of saying the best man will win. Rachaad White is going to be involved, too, and he's a nice well-rounded backup running back, but with a yards per carry average of 4.0 that is behind Tucker's - and after what Tucker did to the Patriots and Bills defense- the former third stringer is the real worry Irving has to have going forward.
Now, the Bucs have room for multiple running backs to eat in this offense, especially with Mayfield hobbled with his shoulder and not really playing as well under center without the legendary Mike Evans absorbing contested catches - and taking pressure off the other receivers.
But Irving has to understand that anything can change in an instant in the NFL, and even though he's a very good running back in his own right, Tucker has looked like a violent force of nature with the ball in his hands. This is a battle to watch vs. Arizona.