National Football League

Tampa Bay Buccaneers have an advantage as one of the NFL's healthiest teams

Updated Dec. 19, 2021 7:50 p.m. ET

By Dr. Matt Provencher
FOX Sports Injury & Performance Analyst

How "Banged Up" is Tampa Bay, and how have the Buccaneers managed injuries this season?

The Bucs are currently sitting at 10-3, tied with Green Bay and Arizona for the NFL's best record. The reigning Super Bowl champions have their eyes on another title, and as the playoffs approach, that remains a distinct possibility. One of the key reasons? The Buccaneers remain among the league's healthiest teams.

Health will be even more important once the playoffs begin, as it can have a direct influence on the outcome of a game.

We can understand this better through the BUS™ — or Banged Up Score — which is a score from zero to 100 that delineates the health of a team. The score is built on a lot of proprietary data analysis that we have tested for years to help understand how injuries can impact your team. We all know that health matters!

Here is a brief explainer:

What is the "Banged Up Score"? Dr. Matt Provencher explains

Dr. Matt Provencher explains what the "BUS" — or "Banged Up Score" — is and how it affected teams last season in the NFL.

For more analysis of the NFL from Dr. Matt, follow him on Twitter or go to FantasyPredictors.com.

Last season, the Buccaneers had to deal with injuries to a few key players, including Vita Vea’s ankle fracture, O.J. Howard's Achilles rupture, Leonard Fournette’s early-season ankle injury and multiple injuries to Chris Godwin, including his concussion, hamstring and finger.

On a larger scale, they kept themselves relatively healthy as they made their way through the playoffs, and the health of their team really showed when they dominated a banged-up Kansas City team in the Super Bowl.

Of course, every team has to deal with offseason surgeries, players rehabilitating and injuries (especially overuse) such as hamstrings in training camp. But Tampa Bay entered the 2021 season with a relatively healthy team and a BUS of 85.2. Most of their key injuries were on defense, as they had a 97.5 team BUS on offense and an 83.4 BUS on defense.

'Buccaneers have a clear advantage' — Dr. Matt Provencher

Dr. Matt Provencher takes a deep dive into how healthy the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are after losing key players in the beginning of the season. "The Buccaneers are back again and looking for a deep playoff run."

As the season has progressed, the Buccaneers have managed to stay pretty healthy, especially on offense. In Weeks 3-8, they fluctuated in the mid-80s. Injuries to players such as Lavonte David (ankle), Jason Pierre-Paul (shoulder) and Antoine Winfield (concussion) kept them from breaking the 90s during that time.

But with only a few notable injuries on the offensive side of the ball — Rob Gronkowski (ribs, lungs) and Antonio Brown (ankle), to name two — the Bucs have been able to use their depth to continue to win games and show they are a top team to beat this season.

Tampa Bay headed into its bye week with an 81.6 BUS, one of its lowest of the season. The bye was a good time to take a week to recover and give some nagging injuries time to heal, and the Bucs came out of that week having elevated their BUS to an 84.1.

After suffering some injuries that week, the Bucs dropped to a season-low of 75.4 but quickly jumped to their highest score of the season at 94.1, as players such as Gronkowski, Sean Murphy-Bunting and others returned to action. Since then, they have leveled back out to the high 80s/low 90s and continue to position themselves as one of the healthiest teams in the NFL.

Tampa Bay fans can sleep well at night knowing that their team is positioned to use its health as a major advantage as the playoffs approach and the skill gap between teams narrows.

Health matters, and Tampa Bay proved it last season. The Bucs are back again this year looking ready for January’s playoff start. Stay tuned — we will keep the BUS updated and let you know how your team is doing!

Renowned orthopedist Dr. Matt Provencher and his company, Proven Performance Technology (PPT), deliver data-driven injury insights to football fans. In this first-of-a-kind role as Athlete Injury and Performance Analyst for FOX Sports’ digital platforms, Provencher provides important predictive player health and recovery information about post-injury performance, the impact of weather, field conditions and more.