FAB 2. Bucs Poised For Playoff Berth In 2020?

The Buccaneers’ 2020 season is a week away and it’s time for me to make my annual game-by-game predictions for Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay. I usually wait until the end of the preseason to make these predictions, but there wasn’t a preseason due to COVID-19, so let’s get right to it now that training camp has concluded.

After years of underachieving, do the Bucs finally break through and end their 12-year playoff drought? Let’s go week-by-week to find out.

Week 1 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints – LOSS

Tom Brady and Drew Brees – Photo by: Getty Images

Can the Bucs travel to the Big Easy and get a win in Week 1? Absolutely, especially since the Superdome will be empty – except for the piped-in crowd noise. The Bucs upset the Saints in the 2018 season opener thanks to Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 400-yard passing game. But the Saints are 13-3 over the past two seasons and are the two-time defending NFC South champions for a reason, and it’s more than just Drew Brees. The Saints are a well-rounded team that has been together for years. It will be a tough challenge for a Tampa Bay team with a new quarterback in Brady, and a new right tackle in Tristan Wirfs, who will have his hands full with Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Jordan, who is coming off a 15.5-sack season. The Bucs lose by a field goal to start the 2020 season.
Bucs Record: 0-1

Week 2 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers – WIN

The Bucs bounce back the following week in their home opener against a brand new Panthers squad that is in rebuilding mode. Teddy Bridgewater and Christian McCaffery make Carolina dangerous, but a young and inexperienced Panthers defense is no match for Brady and his weapons. The Bucs light up the scoreboard and run roughshod over the Panthers for their first win of the season. It’s going to be a long first season for Matt Rhule in Carolina.
Bucs’ Record: 1-1

Week 3 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Denver Broncos – WIN

Tampa Bay travels to the Mile High City to take on Drew Lock and a Denver team that is in transition. The Broncos started the season 3-8, but finished 7-9 last year, winning four out of the last five games, including an impressive win at Houston. Lock got better as the year went on, and the defense should have Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, who was lost to a torn ACL last year, back at full strength. Brady and Rob Gronkowski have experience playing in the altitude in Denver, which should help, and this will be a homecoming for former Bronco pass rusher, Shaquil Barrett, who should tee off on Lock. Look for the Bucs to start a winning streak with back-to-back wins.
Bucs’ Record: 2-1

Week 4 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Los Angeles Chargers – WIN

The Chargers defense will test the Bucs at home, especially L.A.’s dangerous front seven. Ronald Jones II and Leonard Fournette will have a rough day running the ball, and edge rushers Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram will get to Brady more than Tampa Bay would like. Tight ends Gronkowski, O.J. Howard and Cam Brate come through big for Brady, and linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White corral Austin Ekeler in a low-scoring victory.
Bucs’ Record: 3-1

Week 5 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears – LOSS

Bucs OLB Jason Pierre-Paul – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

Tampa Bays starts the first of five prime time games on the road in Chicago on Thursday Night Football with a loss. Chicago’s defensive front, which consists of Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks and Robert Quinn beats the Bucs’ offensive line to get to Brady, while Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith shut down the ground game. Points are hard to come by in this defensive struggle. The Bucs lose the turnover possession and Nick Foles upsets Brady once again.
Bucs’ Record: 3-2

Week 6 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Green Bay Packers – LOSS

In one of the most eagerly awaited games of the year, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers square off against Brady and the Bucs. In a battle with two all-time greats under center with very good weaponry on offense and two very good defenses, this is a marquee match-up. It’s surprising it’s not in prime time, but it will be the Fox matinee game of the week, and Bucs fans across the country won’t like the outcome. People forget that the Packers were 13-3 last year, losing to San Francisco, 37-23, in the playoffs. Green Bay is more battle-tested and it shows in a close shootout win for the Packers in Tampa Bay.
Bucs’ Record: 3-3

Week 7 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Las Vegas Raiders – WIN

The Bucs bounce back in prime time in Las Vegas with a victory over former Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden on Sunday Night Football. Everything clicks for the Bucs, who beat the Raiders in every facet of the game. Tampa Bay’s defense is turned loose against Derek Carr and both Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul get to him multiple times. The Bucs’ secondary puts the clamps on the Raiders’ young receiving corps in a blowout win in Sin City to avoid a losing record.
Bucs’ Record: 4-3

Week 8 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New York Giants – WIN

Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay finds success once again in prime time, this time in New York over the Giants on Monday Night Football. Although Saquon Barkley isn’t completely shut down like he was a year ago in Tampa Bay when the teams met last year, he doesn’t run wild against the stingy Bucs run defense, and there are no second-half heroics for Daniel Jones this time around, either. Barrett and Pierre-Paul take advantage of rookie tackles Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart to tee off on Jones multiple times in a big win.
Bucs’ Record: 5-3

Week 9 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints – LOSS

The eagerly awaited rematch between the Bucs and the Saints happens on Sunday Night Football in Tampa Bay, but the Pewter Pirates can’t make it three wins in a row in prime time. The NFC South title is on the line and New Orleans isn’t quite ready to surrender it. The Bucs and the Saints light up the scoreboard as the defenses struggle, but Tampa Bay’s kicking game falters and allows New Orleans to edge the Bucs and retain NFC South supremacy.
Bucs’ Record: 5-4

Week 10 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers – WIN

For the second time this year, Carolina is the perfect tonic following a tough Tampa Bay loss to New Orleans. The Bucs have far more talent than the Panthers and that continues to show in the rematch in Carolina. The Bucs’ running game gets rolling and Jones has a career day in a victory that evens up Tampa Bay’s record in the division at 2-2. The Bucs are just one more win away from tying last year’s seven-win mark with six games to play.
Bucs’ Record: 6-4

Week 11 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Los Angeles Rams – WIN

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Getty Images

Tampa Bay finishes up its prime time schedule with a rematch of last year’s shootout against the Rams out in Los Angeles. The Bucs won in grand fashion, 55-40, and although both teams don’t combine for 95 points this season like they did a year ago, Tampa Bay scores in the 40s and wins by 10 points. Both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have 100-yard days as Brady tops 400 yards for the first time this season in Tampa Bay’s seventh win of the year.
Bucs’ Record: 7-4

Week 12 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Kansas City Chiefs – LOSS

Although it’s not in prime time, the Bucs vs. Chiefs game is the late game on Sunday afternoon and the nation will be watching as Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champions take on Brady and Co. Another shootout is expected and that’s what both high-powered offenses deliver in Tampa Bay with K.C. prevailing due to a late touchdown pass and some fourth quarter heroics from Mahomes. The Bucs are weary after 12 straight weeks of football and the bye week comes at the right time, as Tampa Bay needs a strong December for a playoff push.
Bucs’ Record: 7-5

Week 13 – BYE WEEK

Week 14 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings – LOSS

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Coming out of a bye week with a loss is never ideal, but the Vikings are just a really good, complete team, and score an upset at Raymond James Stadium. Edge rushers Yannick Ngakoue and Danielle Hunter give Wirfs, Brady and left tackle Donovan Smith fits all day, while running back Dalvin Cook has a surprisingly good day running the ball against Tampa Bay’s front. It’s just not the Bucs’ day at the office and the loss puts the team in crisis mode when it comes to potentially making the playoffs.
Bucs’ Record: 7-6

Week 15 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons – WIN

The Bucs get a much-needed victory at Atlanta against a mediocre Falcons team, but it’s a nail-biter with a last-second field goal giving Tampa Bay the winning edge. The Bucs are up 3-2 in the NFC South thanks to a monster game from Brady, Gronkowksi, Evans and Godwin, who takes advantage of the Falcons’ weak secondary. With eight wins on the year, the Bucs show improvement in Brady’s first year in Tampa Bay, and the team is guaranteed to finish no worse than 8-8.
Bucs’ Record: 8-6

Week 16 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions – WIN

A return trip to Detroit in late December has a familiar outcome: a win for Tampa Bay. This time it’s Matthew Stafford versus Brady, and the six-time Super Bowl champion prevails, as Evans, Godwin and Scotty Miller light up the Lions’ secondary, while Fournette runs wild. Detroit is no match for Tampa Bay, and this blowout Bucs victory is exactly what the team needed to continue its playoff push. Tampa Bay gets to nine wins to ensure itself of a winning record in 2020.
Bucs’ Record: 9-6

Week 17 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons – WIN

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It’s the season finale and a playoff spot is on the line in Tampa Bay. The Bucs need a win to secure a Wild Card playoff spot, especially with losses to NFC playoff contenders Green Bay and Minnesota earlier in the season. Whereas the earlier match-up with the Falcons was a close call, the Bucs take control from the start as Brady plays a near flawless game to allow Tampa Bay to cruise to victory and a 4-2 record in the NFC South with a sweep of Atlanta. A 10-6 record is enough to get the Bucs in the playoffs as a Wild Card team with the NFL expanding the number of playoff teams this year to 14 – seven in each conference. Mission accomplished for B.A., Brady and the Bucs.
Bucs’ Record: 10-6

What do you think, Pewter Nation? Is my 10-6 prediction for the Bucs off the mark or on target? Which games do you have Tampa Bay winning and losing? Let me know what you think in the article comments below.