Had Jameis Winston not thrown an interception on seemingly every one of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ opening drives last season, Bruce Arians might’ve led the Bucs to a winning record and possible playoff berth in his return to the sidelines. Be that as it may, Winston threw an alarming 30 picks last season. Because of it, Tampa Bay was saddled with a 7-9 SU record but lost the tiebreaker to the Atlanta Falcons to finish third in the NFC South. In that respect, things are likely to be much different by the bay this season with the GOAT – Tom Brady – inking a two-year deal to run the offense. No. 12 threw a total of eight interceptions last season, and has amassed a grand total of 29 over his last four seasons. With a rich of spoils at his disposal and a likely major improvement in turnover differential, many predict the Buccaneers to be a major player in 2020-21 and beyond; including linemakers at top rated sportsbooks!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Season Win Total: 9.5
The Buccaneers win total opened at 9.5 -115. Since then, the vig has exploded to -153 so it’s possible those booking the bets will be forced to push the win total up half a game. Should that occur Tampa Bay would then become one of only five teams entering the regular season with a double-digit season win total. Regardless, their current 9.5-game impost is three games richer than it was a year ago when it went off the board at 6.5; a number Arians exceeded even with the turnover prone Winston under center. Most impressive about last year’s team was the dramatic improvement on the defensive side of the ball. The additions of Ndamukong Suh, Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul saw Tampa Bay own one of the nastiest defensive fronts the league had to offer. Each is back which should find Tampa Bay once again ranked amongst the best in the NFL at sacking the quarterback (No. 8) and run defense (No. 1).
Last year’s defensive Achilles Heel lied in the secondary where the unit conceded over 270 yards per game (No. 30) and nearly two passing touchdowns per game (No. 26). Upper management went out and snagged Minnesota safety Antoine Winfield Jr. with the No. 45 pick in the NFL Draft. But before that, they pulled an enormous coups by landing OT Tristan Wirfs with the No. 13 overall pick after the Iowa Hawkeye slid a bit in the first round. The franchise couldn’t have asked for a better result than landing the right tackle of the future to protect their 43-year old QB’s blindside! They then built up some solid depth and complimentary pieces to add to their already loaded offense.
Installing Brady into an offense already makes it that much better. Pairing him up with Gronk is almost laughable. Then he’s got a pair of 1,000 yard wide receivers to sling the pigskin to in the forms of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The latter enters 2020-21 off the biggest campaign of his three-year career after reeling in a team-high 86 receptions and turning them into 1,333 yards and 9 TD. Evans wasn’t too shabby either in racking up another 1,157 yards and 8 TD; he’s now surpassed the 1,000 yard plateau in his six seasons in the league. However, each succumbed to season-ending injuries late in the year to crush the hopes and dreams of their fantasy backers as well as the team. Hopefully the duo is able to stay 100 percent healthy this time around. If so, Brady will be working with the best receiving corps of his career!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Football Schedule
Week 1: Buccaneers at Saints, Sunday, September 13, 4:25 p.m. ET
Week 2: Panthers at Buccaneers, Sunday, September 20, 1 p.m. ET
Week 3: Buccaneers at Broncos, Sunday, September 27, 4:25 p.m. ET
Week 4: Chargers at Buccaneers, Sunday, October 4, 1 p.m. ET
Week 5: Buccaneers at Bears, Thursday, October 8, 8:20 p.m. ET
Week 6: Packers at Buccaneers, Sunday, October 18, 4:25 p.m. ET
Week 7: Buccaneers at Raiders, Sunday, October 25, 8:20 p.m. ET
Week 8: Buccaneers at Giants, Monday, November 2, 8:15 p.m. ET
Week 9: Saints at Buccaneers, Sunday, November 8, 8:20 p.m. ET
Week 10: Buccaneers at Panthers, Sunday, November 15, 1 p.m. ET
Week 11: Rams at Buccaneers, Monday, November 23, 8:15 p.m. ET
Week 12: Chiefs at Buccaneers, Sunday, November 29, 4:25 p.m. ET
Week 13: Bye Week
Week 14: Vikings at Buccaneers, Sunday, December 13, 1 p.m. ET
Week 15: Buccaneers at Falcons, Sunday, December 20, 1 p.m. ET
Week 16: Buccaneers at Lions, Sunday, December 27, 1 p.m. ET
Week 17: Falcons at Buccaneers, Sunday, January 3, 1 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Schedule Analysis
The race to the NFC South title looks to be a two-horse race when taking a gander at the current futures odds to win the division. The Saints are the current -135 frontrunners, but the Bucs aren’t too far behind at +162. The rival’s pair of regular season matchups should be epic, and NFL bettors won’t have to wait long for one of them with Brady set to square off against Brees Week 1 in a late afternoon kick. Wonder what the ratings will look like for that one! Should it come out triumphant in the Superdome, Tampa Bay will have a serious shot of entering its Week 6 home game against the Green Bay Packers undefeated at 5-0. Should it win that game, it’s certainly within the realm of possibility it remains undefeated until the rematch with the Saints in Week 9; provided there is no lookahead or letdown suffered. Things get a bit dicey schedule wise soon after with skirmishes lined up against the Rams, Chiefs and Vikings following what will likely be a well-deserved Week 13 bye. But with the major improvement under center paired with the reinforcements brought in via free agency and the draft, I can’t help but think the Bucs are winning 10+ games this season. Lay the heavy chalk and hit the over!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Season Win Total Prediction: Over 9.5 -153
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