The PewterReport.com Roundtable features the opinions of the PR staff as it tackles a topic each week that involves the Bucs.

This week’s topic: What Christmas Present Would You Give The Bucs?

Scott Reynolds: Fewer INTs From Winston In 2020

Hmm. If I could play Santa Claus and get the Bucs one thing for Christmas it would be a dominant defense. I’ve always been a defensive-minded guy, and really miss the glory days when Hall of Famers like Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and Hall of Fame-caliber players like John Lynch, Ronde Barber and Simeon Rice routinely generated sacks and turnovers, and shut down opposing offenses en route to winning playoff games and eventually a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay.

But I think that this latest draft class by general manager Jason Licht and the coaching of Todd Bowles and the defensive staff have the defense pointed in the right direction back towards those glory days. I think the Bucs will have a playoff-caliber defense next year but what they need is to stop beating themselves and focus on beating their opponents. The chief culprit in terms of turnovers for Tampa Bay, of course, is quarterback Jameis Winston.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The talented Winston has shown this year that he’s capable of being a 5,000-yard passer and putting up over 30 touchdowns (a franchise-record 31) through the air. What he hasn’t shown is the ability to reduce his amount of turnovers, as he could become the first player in NFL history to have 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season. Winston leads the league with 28 INTs and has thrown a career-high six pick-sixes this season. The next-highest amount of interceptions is 18 from Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield and L.A.’s Philip Rivers.

So my Christmas wish for the Bucs would be to reduce Winston’s number of turnovers by at least half next year. I think that’s a reasonable gift – one that’s not too far-fetched as Winston has always been prone to throwing interceptions. If half of Winston‘s interceptions were gone this year, as well as half of his pick-sixes, the 2019 Buccaneers would be getting ready for the playoffs and not the end of the season this Sunday when the Atlanta Falcons come to town.

Winston returning to the Buccaneers on at least a one year deal likely the franchise tag seems inevitable. So let’s unwrap the present that Winston throws far fewer interceptions in 2020 and watch this Tampa Bay team make a long-awaited return to the playoffs next year. That would truly be a special gift all Bucs fans would cherish.

Mark Cook: The Gift Of Good Officiating

“And behold from heaven came a great light, and with it delivered a miracle for the Buccaneers, the NFL and all humanity. All NFL officials now will see clearly, and judgment calls will all be uniform and without prejudice.” – The Book of Goodell 4:18

Well we can dream, can’t we? Every NFL team, and really all sports teams deal with bad calls from time to time. Referees, umpires, linesmen and anyone wearing stripes are humans and can’t get every call correct. We all understand that. But in the age of technology where several HD cameras are spreads throughout NFL stadiums, sometimes even in the goal line pylons, how has officiating gotten worse? And how does it seem that this year in particular the Buccaneers were on the wrong end of so many major calls?

The thing that is even more frustrating is, the NFL took action this year to correct terrible calls like we saw in the NFC championship game last season that essentially costs the Saints a spot in the Super Bowl. And even then, they still can’t get the calls right in most cases, even allowing coaches to challenge pass interference. There wasn’t a fan in Raymond James Stadium who didn’t know that the deep ball that went incomplete to Breshad Perriman should have been pass interference. Heck, probably 99 percent of Texans fans knew they got a away with one there.

Bucs WR Breshad Perriman – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

But that play was just one of many that have went against Tampa Bay this year. Remember Antony Auclair’s fumble recovery on a muffed punt at New Orleans? The referees said there was no clear recovery. Yet replay after replay showed Auclair come up and out of the pile with the football. And how about the silly early whistle at Tennessee that cost the Buccaneers a touchdown return by Andrew Adams after Devin White’s big hit after the Titans attempted a fake field goal?

And last week it wasn’t just the blatant missed pass interference call on the pass to Perriman, it was also the obvious facemask on Cam Brate that went uncalled and another quick whistle on a Lavonte Davis forced fumble and fumble recovery. We’re talking about big plays that result in drives continuing and also possessions possibly changing.

We are six days away from 2020.  I am not asking for flying cars and robot servants like on the Jetsons, but please NFL, find a way to get the calls right. The type of calls that can sometime cost coaches and players their jobs.

Trevor Sikkema: Retaining Todd Bowles 

As I thought about tangible presents the Bucs could receive, I thought about a few things.

This team could certainly use a new offensive tackle. I think the line’s pass protection has been good this year, but its run blocking obviously needs some work. Right tackle Demar Dotson is to the point where he is having to make veteran days off every week just because he’s getting up there in age. So with all that, this team could use a new offensive lineman, preferably in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

This team could also use help at running back and somewhere along the defensive line. Running back Ronald Jones II has shown the flashes of improvement this season, including his career-high 49-yard run last week. So though RoJo isn’t the solidified RB1 this team wanted him to be, he has at least shown signs that he still might be. But as we know, rushing attacks in today’s NFL are rarely built on one guy, and for that a shiny new back via the draft would be welcomed.

As far as the defensive front, defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Beau Allen, and outside linebackers Shaq Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul and Carl Nassib are all up for unrestricted free agency this offseason. Though the Bucs would like to bring more than one back, it’s likely they need at least one replacement level player.

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

But if you ask me, the gift I would give this Buccaneers team is retaining defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. There are three teams who we know will be looking for new head coaches: Dallas, Carolina and Washington. Then there are teams like the Giants, the Jaguars, the Jets, the Browns and the Falcons who could all be looking for head coaches, too. Bowles was a head coach once before for four years with the New York Jets. With that experience under his belt, you have to think he’ll be called in for interviews.

Tampa Bay’s young defense got off to a rough start this season. Despite being No. 1 in the league in rush defense, the Bucs were dead last for a few weeks in pass defense. Whatever the ranks on either side, it was not enough to win, as the team fell to 2-6 and then 3-7. But since the middle of the season Bowles has really turned this group around. The Bucs defense is no longer seen a massive liability but rather, in cases like this past Sunday, as potential catalysts for why the team was having success.

This defense is still young, and if they add a few more rookies to that side of the ball in this upcoming draft class, it will get younger. They need Bowles. They need a voice who knows what he’s talking about, and has proven success connecting and growing these players. The Bucs won’t hold onto Bowles forever, but one more year could be massive for the future of this defense.

Matt Matera: New Contracts For OLBs Barrett And Pierre-Paul

Outside of deciding the future of Jameis Winston, outside linebackers Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul are the next two most important pending free agents for the Bucs. At a minimum, the Bucs need to at least bring back Barrett next season, but securing another year of both Barrett and Pierre-Paul would be very big for the Bucs.

Barrett could go down as the NFL’s best free agent signing in 2019, as he’s had a breakout season with 16.5 sacks on the year along with 51 tackles, six forced fumbles and an interception. Those 16.5 sacks have tied a Bucs’ franchise record for sacks in a single season, which is held by Warren Sapp. Barrett bet on himself with a one-year, $4 million deal and will soon reap the rewards, becoming one of the top pass rushers in the NFL. Barrett is going to see a significant pay raise, but the Bucs still need to find a way to bring him back, whether it’d be the franchise tag or signing him to a long-term deal.

Barrett has been Tampa Bay’s best pass rusher this season, and the type of talent and competitive drive that he brings is the kind of player that you can’t let walk out the door. Barrett has been on record that he wants to return to Tampa Bay and that his family likes it here, which makes it sound like that – though he’ll get a big pay day – he won’t exactly hold the Bucs’ feet over the fire in contract negotiations. Bruce Arians said that Barrett won’t be going anywhere, so it seems like it wouldn’t be shocking down the road if a deal gets done between both parties. Barrett has the type of motor that you won’t have to worry if his play will change after a big contract.

Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Pierre-Paul’s situation is a little different than Barrett’s. At 30 years old, Pierre-Paul is in the latter half of career but still a productive player. Above all else, Pierre-Paul wants to win. The question becomes, does Pierre-Paul believe that the Bucs can be a playoff contender next season? Money always plays a factor, but as a free agent, Pierre-Paul is going to be looking to put himself in the best situation to win another Super Bowl. He does have ties to Tampa Bay, as he went to college at USF, which helps the Bucs’ cause, but they also have to balance how much and for how long are they willing to pay a soon-to-be 31-year old veteran.

In 2018, Pierre-Paul led Tampa Bay with 12.5 sacks, which made him the first Buccaneer to record double-digit sacks in a season in over a decade. Pierre-Paul suffered a fractured vertebrae from a car accident during the offseason in 2019, and yet was still able to persevere and come back in Week 8. As far as getting into game shape, Pierre-Paul had one week of practice before returning to the lineup, and in that time has played nine games and notched 6.5 sacks with 23 tackles and a forced fumble. Pierre-Paul’s leadership in Tampa Bay is also something that can’t be overlooked. You can’t help but think that his presence would have changed the outcome of at least one of the Bucs’ losses without him this year, particularly Week 3 against the Giants.

Getting a full 16 games to fully see the damage that Barrett and Pierre-Paul can do together next season would bode well for the Bucs. We’ve seen good growth from the defense over the couple of weeks and that can carry over into next season should they get the right deals for their two best pass rushers. When you factor in Barrett and Pierre-Paul at outside linebacker and add in defensive lineman Vita Vea in his third season, that’s a pass rush that can bring the Bucs to a playoff-caliber level.

Taylor Jenkins: A Productive Run Game

For years the narrative has been the same, the Bucs offense is high-flying, high-scoring, and racks up yardage in bunches. On the flip side was a defense that nearly broke records with the points and yards they allowed themselves and a run game that fails to hold up its end of the bargain.

But now the defense is improving, significantly as of late, while the offense remains turnover-prone yet productive. If I was in charge of getting a gift for the Buccaneers this year, it would be a significant improvement to their running game.

Tampa Bay ranks 25th in the league with just 92.3 rushing yards per game while their tandem of Ronald Jones II and Peyton Barber average just a paltry 3.9 and 3.1 yards per carry, respectively. Now some of that production falls on the shoulders of the backs themselves, but producing a consistent output in the run game is a complete effort from the running backs to the offensive line to the tight ends and receivers tasked with blocking.

Bucs RB Peyton Barber – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

Moving on to the offensive line, according to Football Outsiders, the Bucs’ running backs are hit at or behind the line on 23 percent of their carries, good for 30th in the league and just a slight improvement from their 24.7 percent clip in 2018.

Tampa Bay has held a league rank of 25th or worse in rushing yards per game each of the past three seasons and hasn’t seen a running back eclipse the 100-yard mark since Doug Martin in 2015. It’s not just the lack of total success, but the lack of consistency that needs significant improvement, as Bruce Arians said himself this past week.

Too many 1- and 2-yard runs often force Tampa Bay to move away from the run game early, making its offense predictable and significantly hindering the Bucs’ ability to run time off of the clock and hold a late lead efficiently, as shown in their games against Jacksonville and Detroit this season.

So while the Bucs are in need of a few gifts this holiday season, if I was in charge of providing the presents it would come in the form of a productive and, at worst, a serviceable run game.