Well, week 2 is in the books and with it comes the 2nd installment of BritBuc’s Hero’s and Villains.

A feel-good win in Carolina is always great, but I’m not here to be carried away by emotion. Let’s see who deserves boon and who needs a-floggin’!

First, the Hero’s who deserve special mention for helping bring home that first W of the season.

HERO’S

Shaq Barrett – This was a standout, multi-sack game from Barrett. When Barrett left Denver he stated he wanted to prove that he deserved some of the snaps being taken by Von Miller. Whilst I’m not saying number 58 is as good, I am saying he is making a case that he was right. 3 sacks on the night and a consistent problem for the Panthers offense, Barrett was the star player on defense.

Chris Godwin – A career game from the wideout would come from 8 receptions for 121 yards. It wasn’t just the stat line, Godwin made great catches at clutch times and kept the Buccaneers offense moving down the field. Taking advantage of the Panthers over covering Evans shows how dynamic this offense can be. Last night also showed why Godwin will be a star in this league.

Anthony Nelson – Yeah I said it! The Rookie defensive lineman had a great game. Utilizing his size and strength to bat down a pass from Newton and force a fumble from the Panthers QB. Nelson will be given time to develop and from limited exposure looks like a great pickup in the draft.

Vernon Hargreaves III – VH3 has been much maligned by this fan base. Many here at BLN said that with proper coaches he will show why he was valued as a 1st round pick. Hargreaves was again a solid player and his game-saving tackle capped an excellent performance.

Honourable mentions:

The whole defense put in a stellar game and forced the Panthers to become 1 dimensional, keeping Christian McCaffrey to just 36 yards.
Jameis Winston – The 5th year QB played well and made some great throws. He isn’t yet a hero as he often held the ball too long and took unnecessary sacks. His decision making is definitely improving and he definitely benefited from an established running game.
Now to the Villains. In a victory these are hard, but some people didn’t contribute and sometimes a win comes in spite of these things. Without further ado, let’s get on with throwing these overboard.

The officials – To say that this crew was incompetent would be doing them a favour. Too often missed calls happened and this included blown calls and phantom penalties. New York had to get involved and correct misapplied rules and on national television on a prime time game this is simply embarrassing. The crew looked clueless and clearly were not communicating with each other. Also on several occasions, the ball was picked up and spotted two yards further than it was down. The NFL must surely be shaking their collective heads as this was a very poor advertisement for officiating at the pro level.

Demar Dotson – Once again this guy appears here. Clearly out of his depth at the NFL level; should Arians be planning a winning season it must start with finding Dotson’s replacement before the trade deadline. Unable to cope with any kind of rush, the right side of the line will be exploited by defensive coordinators. Until this is changed the Bucs have a glaring weakness on offense.

Dishonourable mentions:

Breshad Perriman – Dropped passes and often wasn’t where he was supposed to be despite being targeted by Winston. Seems to be lacking in confidence or not in key with Jameis. Unless he figures this out soon he could be replaced with one of the young Bucs who are hungry to prove themselves.

The entire offensive line – I honestly cannot go into much detail as it wouldn’t be suitable for print. This unit needs to improve and improve fast. Too often assignments were missed and Jameis was left out to dry. Too many penalties which kill momentum. At this point, traffic cones might be more effective.

That’ll do for week 2:  A great win against a division rival and the Bucs sit at .500 before playing the Giants at home in Week 3. The longer week and a home game will hopefully allow players to rest up and coaches to either fix or hide glaring weaknesses in the team.

Do you agree with my picks? Did I miss a hero? Does someone else deserve to walk the plank?

Let me know in the comments.