Hot Mess in Big Easy leads to cold awakening in week one

Entitled to a win?

Maybe the players are swallowing their own hype hook. Expecting the game to come to them now that God, ahem, I mean Brady, is quarterbacking our beloved Buccaneers. Those one-word name types that people just know who you mean; Bono, Elvis, Prince, Pele, Santa, Brady Elmo, and God, not necessarily in that order. But, maybe with all the immensely important free agents that we kept at home on defense, like bringing in The Greatest Of All Time to replace the human turnover. Forgive me, Winston fans. I know not what I say. I’m digressing again, so back to point. The Buccaneers, sometimes known as the Glazers, dug deep down into their Stuart Hughes suit pockets, and have sured this team up for what had better be a run or two at another Lombardi for the big shiny case at One Buc. Actually, I don’t know where they keep the one we have. A whole lot of expectations are very high. Maybe they forgot you have to actually play smart, play hard, and play fast to make a consistently great team. You got to put in the work; no one is going to give you anything.

Lack of a full off-season regiment and no preseason games hurt

It seemed at times that there were a handful of players that were phoning it in. Jamel Dean allowed that first down catch fairly late in the game when they desperately needed a stop; he just let the receiver leave him behind. Mike Evans, when he didn’t finish his route, giving up on it, not knowing Brady was throwing to him on the play. Even Brady on both interceptions seemed to look like he wasn’t giving his best, short arming the passes to some degree. I think there was a little of that going around. I also believe that not playing 3 to 4 preseason games along with a normal offseason schedule of OTA’s, Mini-Camp, and Camp takes away from the product that takes the field for the regular season. Obviously how each team is and isn’t affected by the absence of it varies with each team. I think that when a new quarterback is inserted into a shortened prep situation with no actual live competition with other teams before the real deal is started it can have an even larger impact. In short, I guess I’m just saying that our coaches and players are at a level of talent and maturity that will surely bring them around. It’s just a hiccup on the season. Let’s not forget it was Drew Brees and Sean Payton at home as well as a game against the favored team in our division to win it. So realistically, it wasn’t a game we were expected to win. Should have won, yes, but in Buccaneer fashion, we made sure that wasn’t going to happen. After forcing a quick punt after the opening kick-off, the Buccaneers, with Brady at the helm, drove it right down the field for a Brady rushing touchdown. They made it look easy like there was plenty more of that coming. As the Bucs so often do, they lead us down the Yellow Brick Road, the primrose path. The road paved with good intentions. Somewhere along the way, it deteriorated into “Dead Man Walking.”

Looked a lot like 2019

You probably could have inserted Jameis Winston in a number twelve jersey and not noticed the difference on the field Sunday. Same chapter, different book. Why it even had a couple of badly thrown interceptions thrown in there for good measure to further twinkle the senses back to 2019. Jameis Winston will never be mentioned in the same breath as Tom Brady, but isn’t it nice to know they both began their Tampa Careers with a pick-six in game one? Okay, maybe not. The death of the Buccaneers has been greatly exaggerated. Let’s hope we see some life in them next week against Mr. Bridgewater and the Panthers. Go Bucs!!