Final thoughts on tomorrows Buccaneers game.

October 24, 2015

Tomorrow afternoon the Buccaneers sail into FedExField, in the hopes of defeating, an already wounded, Washington Redskins team. With a win on Sunday, the Buccaneers will become .500 for the first time since 2011 Raheem Morris’ Buccaneers went 4-2.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will seek to establish multiple games winning streak. And hope to assist Washington in their losing streak. This will be a battle by both teams, to stay out of the last place in their divisions.

The bland performances by Kirk Cousins have media and fans calling for the backup quarterback, Colt McCoy. Kirk Cousins has thrown more interceptions than he has thrown touchdowns this season and those interceptions had generated some big losses for the Redskins. For some reason coach Jay Gruden remains to put the team’s fate in the incapable hands of a failing quarterback. But he doesn’t have much of an alternative other than starting backup quarterback Colt McCoy. We could very well see this happen Sunday if Kirk Cousin continues to dance to the turnover jamboree.

Tampa Bay’s defense has to keep Kirk Cousins off balance and force him into turnovers. To do so the defensive front four have to open the offensive line and allow blitzing backs to get to Kirk Cousins. Accomplishing this, would be a key move in exacting an easy win for the Pewter Pirates.

The only real threat in Washington’s arsenal is that of wide receivers Pierre Garcon, Jamison Crowder, Chris Thompson and a questionable Jordan Reed. None of them is forecasted to have any real breakout season. However, the Buccaneers’ secondary, ranked 5th in the NFL, is finding difficult to cover a speedy receiver and has given up some big plays down the field. The possible return of Johnthan Banks will help Tampa maintain tight coverage and limit the number of big plays down the field.

The Buccaneers defense will have to stay on their toes against the Washington Redskins’ quasi-threat at the running back position. Although their running backs have been fairly non-effective this season, they could very well have a breakout game against the Tampa run defense which is ranked 25th in the NFL.

The Washington Redskins have been destroyed by the running game allowing 400 yards in the last two games. Doug Martin should make short work of their run defense and collect another 100-yard game making him the first Buccaneers running back to have three consecutive 100-yard rushing games since Cadillac Williams in 2005. With the rotation of running backs Charles Sims and Doug Martin, this should be an easy feat to accomplish.

In week five against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the offense came together and produced some big yards on the ground. Doug Martin ran the ball like the Tasmanian Devil, scoring two touchdowns and collecting 123 yards. He also had one receiving touchdown. The dual threat, Sims, and Martin took enough pressure off of QB Jameis Winston to allow him to produce his best game of the season. Jameis threw for 209 yards and a touchdown and did not turn the ball over one time, winning him a 122.5 QB rating and rookie of the week.

Mike Evans should wake up this game, steering the minds of most fans away from the dreaded term “Sophomore Slump”. With Jameis Winston admitting that Mike Evans’ lackluster performances should not be put squarely on the shoulders of the second year wide receiver, we should see Evans targeted more in this game. Mike Evans could potentially have a repeat performance of last year’s meeting. When targeted Mike Evans produces some pretty good numbers. Targeted 17 times in the Houston Texans game, Mike Evans caught 7 passes for 101 yards. Keep in mind Mike Evans has only been targeted 15 times outside of that game. If Tampa can get Mike Evans involved in this game, it will open up an offense that has enough talented options that this game could turn into an easy win.