Each Friday this NFL season, we’re taking a quick look at the league’s most interesting team in action that weekend. This week, we’re going with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Why the Bucs? Because rather quietly, Tampa Bay has won five consecutive games in order to move into a first-place tie with Atlanta in the NFC South. But even if the Buccaneers fall short in the division, they’re a wild-card contender. That says a lot, because this is a team that won just eight total games in 2014 and 2015 but has already won that many in 2016. Second-year quarterback Jameis Winston has 15 touchdowns and just four interceptions in his last nine games, and Tampa has won seven of those affairs. Plus, a suddenly stout defense led by veterans Gerald McCoy, Robert Ayers and Brent Grimes has surrendered a league-low 12.8 points per game since Week 10.
Why this week? Because Tampa has yet to play a high-pressure, prime-time game during this hot streak, but that’ll change Sunday night when it faces the conference-leading Dallas Cowboys on NBC. With the Falcons drawing lowly San Francisco and controlling the tiebreaker over the Bucs, this could be a must-win road game on national television. No pressure.
What should we expect? To find out if Winston is ready to take this team to the next level at an earlier juncture than many expected, and if this defense truly is as good as it has played the last five weeks. Dallas provides the ultimate test, with everybody watching.
Put it all together and for at least one weekend, the Buccaneers are America’s most interesting football team.
