This week will feature a Super Bowl 37 rematch. Can Tampa duplicate their championship performance?
Undefeated off the bye, the Bucs are riding high with a two-game win streak. Making it to three will require the Bucs to handle their business against the Las Vegas Raiders this week. With a victory, the Tampa Bay Bucs would have finally erased the hole they dug for themselves and push their record above .500, so—
How can the Bucs win this game?
Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images
Keep scoring points. Last week, against the Carolina Panthers, the Bucs had to win ugly. Even still, in a game where their quarterback struggled, pass protection was anything but a highlight, and Liam Coen couldn’t find his running game until the second half, the team put up 26 points. Tampa’s offense has scored at least 24 points in eight of their last nine outings— Despite having minimal team success across that stretch.
This week, the Bucs will welcome the Raiders into Raymond James Stadium and Baker Mayfield and co. will be battling against a less than stellar defense. Antonio Pierce’s group did play well last week against Kansas City, however, they remain a bottom-five unit in the league (27.8 points per game allowed).
If the Bucs can maintain their pace and grind out 24+ points, they would be nearly assured a victory. The Raiders have only scored more than 24 points in one game this season.
How can the Bucs lose this game?
Allow Baker Mayfield to remain in his current stall pattern. Last week, Tampa’s passer was sacked four times and sustained an injury as a result. Two interceptions and his worst passer rating of the season accompanied those sacks.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
The Bucs won, as previously mentioned they were able to put a good amount of points on the scoreboard but, Mayfield’s performance was the antithesis of pretty and it’s dangerously close to checking the box of a trend.
While he was able to muster up enough to engineer serveral late-fourth quarter/overtime drives— which included a masterclass thirty-second game-tying drive to end regulation— Mayfield’s explosively dominant start to the season feels like eons ago. A season-ending injury to what was, at the time, his most productive receiver (Chris Godwin) certainly provides a legitmate reason without exclusively being an excuse. Still, Mayfield hasn’t treated Bucs’ fans to a top-flight performance where he placed the team firmly on his back for 60 minutes, in quite a few calendar weeks.
Can Tampa most likely defeat the Raiders this week without Baker Mayfield’s A-game? Yes.
Will it get Tampa anywhere near their long-term goals for the season? No.
With Mike Evans needing yardage like Todd Bowles needs an edge-rusher, week 14 against a poris Raiders’ defense might be a good time for Mayfield to get back into something that resembles his early-season rhythm.
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