Buccaneers: How Bruce Arians Showed Team’s “Identity”

As a long-time Buccaneers fan, it’s great to know head coach Bruce Arians forged what “identity” the 2020 team is. During his post-game press conference in the 26-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, Arians told reporters, “When asked early this week about our identity, I think we just showed our identity. We can do any damn thing we want to do.”

Buccaneers Need To Win, Doesn’t Matter Pretty Or Ugly

“Do any damn thing we want to do” implies not having slow starts. It’s also not depending on the opposing kicker in the Vikings’ Dan Bailey leaving off 10 points from missed field goals and extra points. Yes, the offense did enough with quarterback Tom Brady tossing two touchdowns and no interceptions. The offense produced 107 yards on the ground with Ronald Jones II’s 80 yards and score with LeSean McCoy’s 32 yards.

Going into the final three weeks, there’s still much to work to be done to look like a playoff team. The Bucs’ league-leading rushing defense surrendered 162 yards primarily from Dalvin Cook and quarterback Kirk Cousins. While the Bucs’ six sacks of Cousins was impressive in its own right, the defense still gets torched way too often in time of possession, first downs, and 80 percent 4th down conversions. There’s still work to do because the Atlanta Falcons are still a dangerous threat. The Bucs don’t have to win pretty to keep their sixth seed.

Obviously, the NFC South crown is likely beyond their reach. They don’t have to dominate, but they have to win at least two out of three to clinch a postseason berth. First thing’s first: win against the Falcons and claim that third winning season since 2010 then everything else is gravy. Yes, it’s a low bar, but this franchise has been bottoming out since the days of Jon Gruden. The ONLY identity that’s important to this team in the coming weeks is a “playoff” team.