Five Reasons The Buccaneers Will Defeat The Rams
After the Cardinals pummeled the Buccaneers, fans found themselves with a few restless nights. However, come Sunday, the Buccaneers will be giving the fan base plenty of reason to believe.
This past Sunday was ugly. It had fans angry, upset, and left saying to themselves “I wish I were blind.” It was a half-hearted, pitiful performance that Buccaneers fans would rather soon forget. Well, finally, after months of waiting on a sunny day to fill up Raymond James Stadium with pewter and red, fans have their first opportunity to see this Bucs team rebound from such a poor showing.
But why should they?
For starters, because this team is dying to play in front of their fans, in their house, and – surprise, surprise – they’re going to win. It’s difficult to be so confident after what we saw Sunday, or at least it should be. Yet, I find myself as confident as I was about this team heading into week one. It’s not like the Buccaneers showed me something special on Sunday to make me think they’re better than before. Call it optimistic, call it a leap of faith, call it what ever you want, I just see no reason the Buccaneers walk into RayJay Sunday and let the Rams beat them up as they did last season.
This is a different team than it was then. Yes, it didn’t look like it last week, but this team has done a lot of growing up under Koetter. After an embarrassment like that and a week of preparations, you can bet Koetter and Jameis Winston aren’t going to allow that to happen again.
Sep 11, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Charles Sims (34) reacts with quarterback Jameis Winston (3) after scoring a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons during the first half at the Georgia Dome. The Buccaneers won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Charles Sims
Charles Sims is going to be a huge x-factor in Sunday’s game. No, he wasn’t born to run the way Doug Martin was, but his skill-set will make him an effective weapon against Los Angeles. So far this season, the Rams are ranked 19th against the run and ninth against the pass. Sims will play a big role in both parts of the Bucs’ offense -their Jack of all trades so to speak – and must set the tone.
Sims is a great ball carrier out in space, but isn’t likely going to break many – if any – tackles at the line of scrimmage. His creativity and quickness on short passes from Jameis is where Sims is going to become a thundercrack for this offense and help establish both the run and quick passing game.
Jacquizz Rodgers is going to get his fair share of work this Sunday and he looked good in a small sample size against the Cardinals. That being said, the running game and backfield threat will come primarily from Sims. With his breakaway speed, Sims has the talent to turn nothing into a game changing play at any moment. The Bucs are going to have to rely on him to do just that against the Rams.
Aug 26, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Lavonte David (54) and middle linebacker Kwon Alexander (58) get pumped up prior to the game against the Cleveland Browns at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
LaKwonte
Kwon Alexander had his best career game on opening weekend against the Falcons. Lavonte David had the NFL’s longest active streak with five or more tackles in a game.
Then the Cardinals game happened.
Lavonte David had zero tackles for the first time in his career and Kwon looked like the lost rookie from the beginning of last season that couldn’t figure it out. Well, it’s time we see them both return to being a human wrecking ball.
It’s up to these two men to eliminate the one threat the Rams’ offense has to offer: Todd Gurley. Send a clear message from carry number one: you cross the line, you’re going to feel the hurt. That’s the price you pay for trying to run at us. Through two games, the Buccaneers are ranked eighth in the league against the run and they certainly haven’t faced slouches at running back. Devonta Freeman and David Johnson are two of the best in the business, but against the Bucs their best was never good enough. A big reason for that has been the play of “LaKwonte”.
Todd Gurley is a special talent that can easily rise to the top of the running back list with Adrian Peterson gone for the majority of the season, yet thus far he’s been somewhat missing. Gurley has carried the ball 36 times on the season yet still hasn’t eclipsed 100 yards through two games. In order to control the game, the Bucs’ dynamic duo at linebacker need to control the production of Todd Gurley.
Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Alterraun Verner (21) breaks up a pass intended for Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd (15) during the first quarter at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Buccaneers’ Cornerbacks vs. Rams’ Receivers
Honestly, which one of the Rams wideouts scares you? Which player can line up, look across the field to the defense and say “cover me, I dare you,” and then back it up? Kenny Britt? Tavon Austin? This receiving corps doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of defenses and neither does the quarterback. There’s a reason this team hasn’t scored a touchdown on the season, that they rank dead last in passing offense, and were shut out in San Francisco: they aren’t good.
With as bad as the Bucs’ secondary has been – 27th ranked pass defense – Mike Smith has to have them fired up for this game. He has to have these corners ready, light a fire under them, and bait Keenum into walking straight in to the lion’s den. This is a defense that still hasn’t created a turnover this season and are chomping at the bit to end that streak in their house.
Brent Grimes hasn’t played nearly as well as many of us hoped he would so far but he will get ample opportunities to be a play maker on Sunday. Keenum has already thrown two interceptions on the season. It makes the most sense to have Grimes cover Britt, despite the size advantage, and allow Hargreaves to cover Austin. Hargreaves’ speed will allow him a far better opportunity to stop Austin than Grimes would. Despite his glory days being long gone, Grimes still has amazing athleticism and can put up a fight against these bigger receivers.
It seems to me this has all the makings of Hargreaves’ breakout performance. That he’s going to walk into that stadium and be more focused and ready than he’s ever been. He has a favorable matchup and will line up saying “this is my hometown, my friends, my family, my day.” Not only will the Buccaneers get their first turnover of the season Sunday, but it will come off Hargreaves’ first career interception, making him a local hero of sorts.
Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) makes a catch against Arizona Cardinals free safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) and Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (21) during the first half at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Evans
Make no mistake, Mike Evans is a man entering the promised land of elite receivers and he will prove it all night against the Rams. We’ve seen him take on Patrick Peterson and stand toe to toe with him. Had a few more passes – especially the one picked by Peterson – been on the money, we’re having a very different conversation about the level of Evans’ play. The wish of Bucs fans is that Evans fulfills the promise he’s shown in flashes and put it together for a full season and beyond.
At this point, trusting Vincent Jackson is a roll of the dice. We know he has it in him and we’ve seen it time and time again. This stretch to open the season has been discouraging and has been a factor in many fans feeding into this depression they’ve been in since the loss to Arizona.
The Evans/Winston connection has been relatively easy money thus far and is certainly a reason for high hopes for this offense moving forward. Evans’ hands have been more reliable than we’ve seen in his career to this point and there’s a lot of trust there between the two – something we didn’t see last season, causing him to be on some rocky ground with many fans.
Trumaine Johnson seems like the likely candidate to challenge Evans as he is by far the best corner on the team. As we witnessed last week, Winston is not scared to throw against top corners in this league since he believes in his receiver.
Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) rolls out against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeat the Buccaneers 40-7. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jameis Winston
Despite the forgettable performance last week, we’re witnessing the rising of Jameis Winston into a certified superstar. Not just among Bucs fans, but nationwide. He was the talk of the football world after his week one performance, and that is far more indicative as to who Jameis is compared to last week.
Even though most of those turnovers weren’t truly Winston’s fault, with Winston you always have to take the good with the bad. What Winston must do is start fast, using that no huddle and connecting with Evans early so he doesn’t find himself down in a hole like before. If there’s one thing we know about Jameis it’s that there’s no surrender in his game and he’s not going to let this team slip back into old habits and come out flat against these Rams.
Point blank, this is an opportunity for Jameis to get the big payback for what the Rams did to him on a national stage last year and he is going to take advantage. He’s going to work his magic and bring the Bucs their first win in a home opener since 2012.
Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) and quarterback Jameis Winston (3) celebrate a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals won 40-7. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Game Prediction
The way I see this game playing out, is simply this: Bucs fans will be out in the street, Ferg’s will be open all night, and the Buccaneers will bust out their Ram rod to knock Los Angeles around the field. Bucs fans need to fill that stadium with excitement, they gotta get that feeling to emanate from the seats to the team, and allow the team to feed off it.
There’s no need to be counting on a miracle to win. The Bucs are a better team, have favorable matchups, and will have their fans behind them. For years and years it’s been one step up and two steps back with this team. Last week was one step back and it would take an even bigger series of events to create a storm big enough to push them back that second step. It’s time for this team to draw the line in the sand, stand on it, and dare someone to have the nerve to try to push them off it.
Believe in this team this week, Bucs fans. Beleive in Jameis, believe in Koetter. The time has come for the Buccaneers to show everyone – fan or not – that this team is no longer a wreck on the highway that you can’t look away from. This team is no longer just living in the future, waiting for the draft or free agency to roll around to continue to rebuild. This is no longer a team that will fade away into obscurity by November.
Don’t look back to Lovie’s team, Schiano’s team, Raheem’s team. It’s been a long time coming, but this team is ready to turn the corner. They will learn from what happened in Arizona and they will take it out on the Rams. If I’m Dirk Koetter, all I’m thinking about is how to ensure the Bucs do to the Rams what the Cardinals did to him.
Come Sunday, we’ll see exactly how that looks and know exactly how those Cardinals fans felt.
Buccaneers 34 Rams 13
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