2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Team Preview/Predictions
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2009 Record: 3-13
ATS: 6-10
The 2009 season was one prolonged path of misery for the people of the pirate ship. A franchise that regularly contended for playoff spots in the Jon Gruden years has become a bottom-rung franchise in the NFL.
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Tampa Bay plummeted to a 3-13 record last year, losing 12 of its first 13 games before finding a small finishing kick in December.
The Bucs didn’t win their first game until week nine of the 2009 season, and their 0-7 start buried them before the calendar turned to November. That’s how horrible their season really was.[soliloquy id=”82219″]
The main problem for Tampa Bay was its offense. Head coach Raheem Morris looked on with a distinctly chagrined expression as his charges failed to put points on the board. Tampa Bay was held to a single-digit point total in five of its games, or roughly one third of the time. The Bucs also tallied just 10 points in a season-ending game against the Falcons.
It was a brutal season for strong-armed but lead-footed quarterback Josh Freeman, who didn’t have the skill position people or the offensive lineman who could protect his weaknesses and limitations. Tampa Bay’s offense was regularly a step behind the curve all season long, with only a precious few exceptions. Even in the team’s most impressive wins, it was the defense that did much of the heavy lifting.
Tampa’s “D” sacked Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers six times in the 38-28 win over the Packers. In a 20-17 victory over the eventual NFC and Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, the Bucs thoroughly contained Drew Brees and the rest of a New Orleans offense that had its way with the NFC for most of 2009.
As the calendar turns to the 2010 campaign, there’s really not much that can be said about the Bucs’ chances. Perhaps this team will improve by a game or two. No. 1 draft pick Gerald McCoy will fill the middle of the defensive front and provide a substantially increased run-stuffing presence, but the offense still appears to be alarmingly limp and underequipped.
The Bucs will need their defense to stand on its head several times in 2010, but that includes turnovers which either set up or directly score touchdowns.
As long as the Bucs have to move the ball 70 or more yards to score seven points, they’re going to be in big trouble. Freeman is not the answer at quarterback…at least not now. In a division with Brees and Atlanta Falcon signal caller Matt Ryan, the Bucs don’t own a top-shelf gunslinger, to say the least.
If things break just right for this team, it might finish in third place in the NFC South, ahead of the Carolina Panthers.
However, Tampa Bay is not about to outpace the Saints or the Falcons. A playoff berth is pretty much out of the question.
Buccaneers 2010 Outlook
All this team can do is lean on its defense, shorten the field for its offense, and try to pull out a boatload of close games in the fourth quarter. Tampa Bay will only be on the receiving end of blowouts, not the giving end.
Buccaneers 2010 Futures
Super Bowl Odds: +12850
Conference Odds: +6550
NFC South Odds: +605
2010 Buccaneers Predictions
Place they’ll finish in NFC South: 4th
Place they’ll finish in NFC Conference: 15th
Over/Under Season Wins Prediction: UNDER 5.5 Wins
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Dave Golokhov has written for BETUS Sportsbook, Sportsfanmagazine.com, FOX, Askmen.com, Sports-central.org, and the FOXSports.com Funhouse.
