Buccaneers Season Record Prediction
3 min read
It’s that time of year again, time for the always popular and always guaranteed to bite you on the backside predicting of the season record. It’s never easy to predict a game two months out, as anything can change by the time that game rolls around, such as Antonio Brown being on his 4th team of the season, or a franchise quarterback simply walking away from the game. Rookies could prove they’re not quite up to speed yet, or they could prove they’re going to dominate the way Darius Leonard did last season for the Colts. Star players could suffer season-ending injuries, or they could return from what was thought to be season-ending injuries, the possibilities and unknowns are just too vast to predict an entire season with any certainty. However, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to do it, so let’s break it down.
While we hope the Buccaneers go 16-0, and will always pull for them to Eat A W, we also realize it’s one of the hardest feats to accomplish in all of professional sports and have taken a more cautious approach to the first season under Bruce Arians.
Week 1 – vs San Francisco 49ers
The Bucs should win the home opener and start the season the right way, by going 1-0
Week 2 – @ Carolina Panthers
Just a week into the season and the Bucs hit a hiccup and record their first loss, 1-1
Week 3 – vs NY Giants
The Buccaneers bounce back from their 1st loss of the season and pick up win #2, 2-1
Week 4 – @ Los Angeles Rams
The Rams proved to already be playoff-ready and drop the Buccaneers to 2-2
Week 5 – @ New Orleans Saints
Facing two powerhouse teams in back to back weeks will prove to be too much, 2-3
Week 6 – vs Carolina Panthers in London
Merry Old England will welcome the Buccaneers and then send them home at 3-3
Week 7 – BYE
Week 8 – @ Tennessee Titans
The bye week will give the Bucs the rest they need to overcome the Titans defense 4-3
Week 9 – @ Seattle Seahawks
Back to back road games will take their toll and the Bucs drop back to .500, 4-4
Week 10 – vs Arizona Cardinals
Head Coach Bruce Arians knocks off his old team and the Bucs move to 5-4
Week 11 – vs New Orleans Saints
The Saints simply have the Buccaneers’ number this year and drop them to 5-5
Week 12 – @ Atlanta Falcons
Dropping back to back division games isn’t ideal, but unfortunately, it happens, 5-6
Week 13 – @ Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars don’t prove to be any easier of an opponent and the Bucs drop to 5-7
Week 14 – vs Indianapolis Colts
The loss of Andrew Luck proves to be too much for the Colts to overcome, 6-7
Week 15 – @ Detroit Lions
Matt Patricia still hasn’t managed to turn the Lions around, 7-7
Week 16 – vs Houston Texans
This is the game that can go either way, but home-field is too much to overcome, 7-8
Week 17 – vs Atlanta Falcons
The Buccaneers finish out the season with a win at home against a Divisional rival and end with a record of 8-8, giving them the 2nd best record they’ve had in the past 9 seasons and setting up the Bucs for an even better season next year.
If the Buccaneers can manage to swing the Houston game their way or split the season with the Saints, it is entirely possible they could finish at 9-7 or even 10-6, but given that it’s just year one under Arians, we’re going to hedge our bets and sit comfortably at 8-8 while hoping we’re a few wins off the final season record.
