Seems like most of the talking heads on ESPN are already handing the 2024 NFCS title to Captain Kirk and the Dirty Birds! However, Stephen A added a bit of a reality check by pointing out that Dak Prescott has more playoff victories than Captain Kirk LOL. The Bucs are the NFCS Champs until they are dethroned! What say you?
Agreed.
cousins is a massive upgrade at qb. No doubt.
he’s also no spring chicken coming off of a major injury.
that contract is a big risk but the falcons are loaded no question.
whichever team doesn’t win the south should be right there for a wild card spot however.
Schedule benefits them. They get Pittsburgh, Seattle and Minnesota versus our Baltimore, 49ers and Detroit
If cousins rebounds and doesn’t fall victim to Father Time, they will be tough competition
we will compete but wouldn’t say I’m confident we’d win division how roster currently is constructed
but I’m also saying cousins is 50/50 much like Carr whether he works out or not.
cousins is no Tom Brady so it’s not like it made them clear cut favorites
Cousins is 1-2 against the Bucs, and I wouldn't expect more from him his first year than the Bucs are gonna get outta The Baker Man in his second year. The Bucs defense has gotten better already getting rid of Davis and bringing back Whitehead. A few more pieces and I'll crown the Bucs NFCS CHAMPS myself 🤣🤣🤣
Cousins is 1-2 against the Bucs, and I wouldn't expect more from him his first year than the Bucs are gonna get outta The Baker Man in his second year. The Bucs defense has gotten better already getting rid of Davis and bringing back Whitehead. A few more pieces and I'll crown the Bucs NFCS CHAMPS myself 🤣🤣🤣
Awfully confident given the Bucs had a 3-1 stretch and 5-1 stretch in the same season and still only won the division because of a tie breaker in a do or die game game against a 2 win team 9 to 0!!
I love the enthusiasm, 4 playoff seasons in a row. Just saying, nothing is going to be easy as a Bucs fan
Saw an article yesterday about easiest 2024 schedules. All NFC South teams are in the top ten easiest schedules mainly due to the weakness of the division. According to the article, the Bucs have the 7th easiest 2024 schedule. Sure, the Bucs play six division games, but the rest of the schedule is daunting. Not sure how someone can reach the conclusion that the Bucs have the 7th easiest 2024 schedule?
Non-division home opponents: Ravens (AFC Championship playoff loss), Eagles (wild card playoff loss), 49ers (NFC Champions), Broncos, Raiders, and Commanders (missed playoffs).
Non-division away opponents: Cowboys (wild card playoff loss), Lions (NFC Championship playoff loss), Chiefs (Super Bowl Champions), Chargers and Giants (missed playoffs).
The Bucs are playing the Final Four from last season.
Its going to take some major improvements to repeat 3 times. A pass rush, a run game, and more consistent good QB play to win. I think we're in a good position to fix 2/3 things if we are able to upgrade the iOL.
Nfc in general is much weaker than the afc at the quarterback position.
that makes a big difference & helps us a lot.
I dont think we are that far off from competing with the Big Boys of the NFC. We are a generally solid team, but we obviosly have some room for improvement, namely interior Oline, pass rush, and CB. We can address some, or most of that through the draft. I think we can pick up some quality starters along the oline, possibly CB as well....leaving edge as a bit of a hole. My hope is that some of the talent that we've drafted thus far starts paying dividends. JTS and Yaya's performance will be Key. JTS played much better after he got "benched," so the potential is there, he just needs to live up to it. If he can and Yaya can....itll be a beautiful season indeed.
Many good teams dominate a weak division. It allows for the best opportunity for a team that has done the work to build success. The whole point, then, is not to just build their team to dominate the division (with the goal of getting to the playoffs), but also does the most things to keep your conference rivals from also building their teams to become successful.
It’s what Carolina attempted to do to the Bucs, by hiring a one year wonder OC, away from their rival. It looked like a great move to derail our progress while they developed their own. It was a brilliant move for a successful team - they weren’t - so ultimately it could only delay success.
Depends on whether Liam Coen is able to continue momentum. At this point it certainly looks like our organization pivoted. Ultimately, it may have hindered us somewhat, while accidentally Atlanta to strengthen. That remains to be seen. I don’t think Cousins will be healed enough to be a force-multiplier they think he’ll be - but their weaker schedule gives them a bit more rope.
It may just be that the Bucs got young, quickly, and still have enough competent veterans to maximize the opportunity. Our strength of schedule works against - but Carolina won’t challenge this year, and all bets are off on New Orleans.
We may just have seized the opportunity to be really good, at just the right time, in order to successfully compete against our non-conference schedule. That’s what I’m watching to see - yes we need to be better, but we also need ATL, CAR & NO to keep struggling with their development.
i think we may struggle to win 9 or 10 games this season, but it will help us in the 2025 season. It’s why I think we have a longer-term plan.
if we hit it a year early, I won’t complain!
I don't think Kirk Cousins is anything better than a midlevel QB, but the Falcons QB situation was so bad that Cousins will seem like Bart Starr in comparison. I think the Falcons and the Bucs will both be challenging for a playoff spot and one of them may actually qualify for a wild card. The Saints still have the same head coach and cap problems. They should blow that up sooner than later. The Panthers will probably be better than expected which means about six or seven wins.
So at this early stage I'll put the Bucs and Falcons in a tiebreaker at 10-7, Panthers 7-10, Saints 4-13.
If we can get a bit more aggressive at the CB position, no more giving up short to medium passes like candy to prevent the bigger plays….And find some production in pass rush, I don't fear Kirk Cousins, especially coming after an injury. Press him and contest the “nickle and dime” passing games, and then it's up to them to stop an offense that should be better “crafted.” I think White will be a better runner this year with some help along the oline, the pass game will get better with familiarity between Baker and the pass catchers tendencies (seeing things the same way) and an offense more tailored to individual players strengths. We have an opportunity this year to better “click on all cylinders” sooner and be overall a more dominant team. I would be surprised if we don't win at least 10 games this year and at least 1 or 2 playoff games. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic…but that's just me.
If Cousins is actually healthy, then Atlanta has the best QB in the division. He has some weapons as well with London, Mooney, Pitts, and Robinson.
That being said, if Baker finally shows some consistency, and with our corp; I like our chances to win the division.
Draft will be important for both.
If Cousins is actually healthy, then Atlanta has the best QB in the division. He has some weapons as well with London, Mooney, Pitts, and Robinson.
That being said, if Baker finally shows some consistency, and with our corp; I like our chances to win the division.
Draft will be important for both.
Agreed, what gives me pause about Cousins is his age, he's 35 and while QBs have a much longer shelf life than most, he's coming off an injury and is gonna learn a new system. I think we're safe this year, the following might be rough if he overcomes his injury….and I hope he does, I don't wish harm on anyone, but I just have a feeling we are the team to beat in our division until Proven otherwise. Vea and CK are going to collapse the pocket, he's gonna have to move a bit and if our corners can disrupt his short to intermediate passing game by playing aggressive, I suspect he will struggle…we just need an edge rush to really make him sweat.
I still think we are the favorite even if Vegas doesn't say so. When I watched our week 2 game I knew we had a chance to win the division, because we looked like a solid team defensively, gaps were filled guys were in the right spot, and if we hang around for long enough we can steal a couple close ones, which we did. Our defense still made qbs looked uncomfortable and some timing from qbs were thrown off. Hard to describe it other than you can feel the game.
Now Atlanta has a new defense transitioning to a 3-4 and Jimmy lake taking over. I dont necessarily think we will see the same strong Atlanta defense or the same weak atlanta offense. Cousins is being banked on that his achillies is completely healed, but due to the rear leg being affected which will be his pushoff leg we won't be able to see him make the same throws he made in previous seasons throws outside the numbers and deep balls/tightwindows may lack that extra oomph. Will atlanta offense be improved most likely but I feel they will have a yards offense instead of a touchdown offense until they can really get the chemistry down, and will be pressured from the hype because as of this moment we don't know how the new atl O and D will look like, just like NO. Cousins is a good qb but this is the same defense that made him feel uncomfortable week 1 with Jefferson, hockenson, addison, osborn.
In our situation we need Baker to make strides in throwing the ball over the middle and still get a gage on his risk reward. The positives is he gets another year with the same guys hes been throwing too so trust and chemistry is there and has been built. If we find a stud center in this draft we will improve in the win column because of how much of our offense was affected by interior pressure. That Lions game in the throwback where we had Mike run down the seam for a td around our 20 was batted down because of interior pressure, and there was many more instances where baker felt uncomfortable from interior pressure. The worse feeling is interior pressure for a qb because it shutdowns the passing lanes in the middle of the field, and you adjust the throw or have to rollout instead of making a nice step up from an edge rusher.
Imo we will have a better team because of a more confident mayfield and future stronger interior play. Not to mention less coverage bust because of Whitehead over Neal. I say we are a still slept on team who can make large strides from interior line which is easier solved than finding a stud pass rusher as there is a more hit rate on early round centers. The moves arent splash/sexy moves but our issues were interior line play and safety coverage bust along with (i appreicate white) avg MLB play, I still remember when Minter came in and felt he was more assignment sound and playing faster than white his early years due to experience. We have a glaring need at pass rusher but we won the division without a stud pass rusher, and do think the whoever is taking Barretts snaps will have more quality pass rushing snaps as he was falling a lot due to what i believe was not trying to stress the achillies with reactive balance. Davis has lingering turf toe(a lot of guys arent the same with turf toe) may be why he played so poorly against houston
Imo we (will)Upgrade center, upgraded at safety upgraded at MLB, push at Cb, push Olb, push LG
So in all I say we got better
