The Bucs’ 2023 schedule is now set, which means the team knows the exact path in front of it as it looks for a three-peat as NFC South champions.

Tampa Bay will have a much different look this fall. Byron Leftwich is out as offensive coordinator and Dave Canales is in. Tom Brady is off enjoying retirement — for good this time. It’ll be either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask under center in 2023. Leonard Fournette is gone from the backfield, and the offensive line has been reshuffled to no longer include Donovan Smith and Shaq Mason.

Defensively, there hasn’t been quite as much turnover. The Bucs were able to re-sign Jamel Dean, Lavonte David and Anthony Nelson. In the draft, they added Calijah Kancey, YaYa Diaby, SirVocea Dennis and Josh Hayes. The additions of Greg Gaines and Ryan Neal shouldn’t be overlooked either.

The Bucs aren’t a hot pick for the playoffs right now, even in a weak NFC South. They’re being picked to finish in the bottom five of the league more often than not, but this doesn’t look like a team built to tank.

So, back to the schedule. How does it shape up for Todd Bowles’ team? The Bucs are 22nd in terms of strength of schedule, but let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the slate.

The Good

Panthers QB Bryce Young – Photo by: USA Today

The good for the Bucs is that they don’t face a crazy run of top-tier quarterbacks this season. As Scott Reynolds laid out last week, Tampa Bay will face a slew of young quarterbacks on its 2023 schedule. Now, you could argue that’s not guaranteed to be a good thing, as Bucs defenses under Todd Bowles haven’t always had resounding success against rookies/less-heralded signal-callers.

Despite that spotty track record, it remains true that facing Bryce Young (Panthers), C.J. Stroud (Texans), Anthony Richardson (Colts) and potentially Will Levis (Titans) is better than meeting Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford as the Bucs did in 2022.

Jalen Hurts (Eagles) and Josh Allen (Bills) are the best quarterbacks Tampa Bay will see in 2023, while Justin Fields (Bears) can present some challenges with his dual-threat ability. Kirk Cousins (Vikings), Jared Goff (Lions), Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) and Derek Carr (Saints) are other solid quarterbacks on the schedule, but they won’t scare anyone the same way last year’s opposing quarterbacks did.

The Bad

Bucs LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay got used to some serious primetime action during the Tom Brady era. When the game’s greatest-ever quarterback arrived in 2020, the Bucs had five scheduled primetime games. They went to the Super Bowl and won it that year, which got them another five primetime games in 2021. Brady’s return for a third year in red, white and pewter meant another five nationally televised games last season.

Now, Brady is gone and the Bucs are down to two primetime games in 2023. That might actually be one or two more than anyone expected, so there’s that. And there’s also the argument some pessimists will make that the less eyes on this team, the better. But there’s a real downside to less exposure: Tampa Bay’s younger stars won’t get the same shine they benefitted from during the Brady era.

Before 2020, the Bucs had been nationally irrelevant for well over a decade. That meant players like Lavonte David, Mike Evans, Ali Marpet and Vita Vea didn’t always get the recognition they might’ve deserved. With a smaller presence in primetime this season, the Bucs could easily fall back into that realm and see some of their better players overlooked nationally. That’s already happened to an extent and while winning can solve that to an extent, it’s clear Tampa Bay will take more of a backseat now that Brady is gone.

The Ugly

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There’s no doubt that the biggest downside of the Bucs’ 2023 schedule is the early bye week. Tampa Bay’s off week comes in Week 5, which is the earliest it could possibly be. That means the team will have to play 12 consecutive weeks to close the season, which can be a problem when it comes to injuries and general fatigue.

The Bucs have gotten used to later bye weeks in recent seasons. Last year’s was in Week 11, while it came in Week 9 the year before. In 2020, the team’s bye fell in Week 13. The Week 5 bye in 2023 will be Tampa Bay’s earliest since it had a Week 5 bye in 2018. There will be something of a mini bye after the Bucs’ Thursday Night Football matchup at Buffalo, but even that is only in between Weeks 8 and 9.

If the Bucs are in contention for the NFC South title late in the season, their early bye could potentially come into play. They will have played a lot of football consecutively by the time they close the season with back-to-back divisional matchups against New Orleans and Carolina. The best thing to be said about the Week 5 bye? At least it’s four weeks later than the Week 1 bye Tampa Bay was forced into because of a hurricane in 2017.