Hey everybody, my name is Chris Carlson and throughout my entire life I have been a New Orleans Saints fan. In all honesty this past season was rough. Despite back handing the Bucs in the season opener 34-23. Then Stomping them in week nine 34-3. The Saints were mowed down by the Buccaneers in their Divisional Round matchup. Tampa Bay went on to defeat Green Bay in the NFC Championship game. Then they went on to (yuck) win the Super Bowl! Making a statement by suplexing the Kansas City Chiefs at home in Tampa Bay So enough of last season. It’s over and done.
Looking forward to this season. Tampa Bay seems very likely to take over the division. With the retirement of Drew Brees and uncertainty at the QB position for New Orleans. All I can do is hope for the best and I’m not sure what is the best I can hope for. Taysom Hill is unproven as a starter. Jameis Winston is a retread who was cast away from the hated Buccaneers. No matter who starts it is going to take a while to gel. The Carolina Panthers have a 1st year head coach. Matt Rhule. A new QB in Sam Darnold who was run out of New York. Despite having a very good running back in Christian McCaffrey they have no chance at winning the division. The Atlanta Falcons, with the trading of Julio Jones, may have regressed even further into non contention. Meanwhile Tampa Bay is returning with all 22 of their starters from last season. They are likely to pick up where they left off. On a roll.
However, I feel that they may have some trouble in the postseason, more than they did last year. Talent around the league is only getting stronger. Many teams built their rosters with the idea of competing with the reigning champions in 2021. Though the Buccaneers still have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time in Tom Brady. His age must be a concerning factor moving forward. He must last the whole 17 game season. None of the Bucs backup QBs can fill his shoes. I can see this roster making their way into the postseason, honestly even obtaining that number one seed, and grabbing a first round bye. This is going to be the second straight year all together as a team so the chemistry issues that plagued them early on last season won’t be a factor this time around. I could see them having some trouble with a couple of NFC teams but none of them are surefire better teams all around when compared to the Buccaneers. The Los Angeles Rams are probably the closest possible contender in the conference, but we haven’t gotten to see Mathew Stafford on a winning team yet, which makes them wholly unpredictable.
Flipping over into the AFC. I see the Kansas City Chiefs as more motivated. The embarrassment they suffered in the Super Bowl is going will force them to raise the level of their game even higher. Revenge has got to be on their minds throughout the season. If both teams return to the Super Bowl. Kansas City, with the excellence of Mahomes and an improved offensive line, could challenge the Buccaneers
Overall, this Buccaneers team has championship aspirations that they could seriously fulfill for the second consecutive year. BUT, In my opinion, I see this team being knocked out in either the Divisional Round or the NFC Championship. Though that may be more of a hope than rational thinking.