2019 Record - 7-9-0
Head Coach - Bruce Arians
New Players in 2020 - Tom Brady (QB), Rob Gronkowski (TE), LeSean McCoy (RB), Joe Haeg (OL)
Players opting out for 2020 season (COVID-19) - Brad Seaton (OL)
OFFENSE - Playing quarterback for the Buccaneers this season is Tom Brady, who comes over after 20 years with the New England Patriots. The 43-year-old passed for 4,057 yards last season with 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions along with scoring three rushing touchdowns. His backup will be Blaine Gabbert, who is entering his tenth season in the NFL.
Ronald Jones was the team leader last year in rushing with 724 yards (4.2 ypc) and six touchdowns. Jones also had 31 receptions for 309 yards. Also in the backfield are LeSean McCoy (465, 4.6 ypc and four TD and 28 receptions with one touchdown with Kansas City last year) and rookie Ke'Shawn Vaughn (Vanderbilt).
The wide receivers are Mike Evans (67 receptions for 1,157 yards and eight touchdowns) and Chris Godwin, who snared 86 catches for 1,333 yards and nine touchdowns. Scotty Miller and Justin Watson are ready in reserve. Rob Gronkowski, who came out of retirement after playing along with Brady for nine seasons in New England, will be the tight end. The other tight ends are Cameron Brate (36, 311, four TD) and O.J. Howard, who had 34 receptions for 459 yards and one touchdown.
DEFENSE - Up front in Tampa Bay's 3-4 defense are nose tackle Vita Vea (2 1/2 QB sacks) and tackles William Gholston and Ndamukong Suh, who had 2 1/2 sacks in the 2019 season. The linebackers are Shaquil Barrett, who had 19 1/2 sacks to lead the NFL last season, along with Jason Pierre-Paul (8 1/2 sacks), Devin White (2 1/2 sacks) and Lavonte David.
The safeties are Justin Evans and Mike Edwards while Sean Murphy-Bunting (three interceptions, one for a TD) and Carlton Davis play the cornerback spots. Jamel Dean (two INT), Jordan Whitehead, M.J. Stewart and rookie Antoine Winfield, Jr. (Minnesota) are the players who will back up in the secondary.
The Buccaneers defense allowed 28.1 points per game last season while finishing 15th overall, thanks in part to the league's top run defense, which allowed only 74 yards per game. The Bucs gave up 344 YPG in 2019. The pass defense allowed 270 yards a game, which ranked 30th overall. Tampa Bay did get 47 QB sacks (seventh in NFL) and picked off twelve passes.
OUTLOOK FOR 2020 - Tampa Bay is in the mix as far as playoff contenders in the NFC is concerned and that is due to Brady, a six-time Super Bowl winner, coming to the team to pair up with his old teammate Rob Gronkowski and two top notch wide receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godley.
Head Coach Bruce Arians saw the team get better in the second half of last season, especially on the defensive side. The Bucs pass defense did get better and should continue to improve with more experience. It is a young defensive backfield and will have rookie safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. along with them this season. The front seven is solid and the Bucs can stop the run as they showed last year.
The offensive line will have to do better as they allowed 47 sacks last season and the Tampa Bay running game was lagging. Brady is one of the quickest quarterbacks in pro football at getting rid of the ball so that should help, but he can ill afford to end up on his backside too often, especially at his age.
As long as the defense shows the expected progress this season and the running game gets better, this team will score points again. Tampa Bay was third in scoring last season (28.6 points per game) and had the top passing offense in the NFL, averaging 303 yards per game. The running game ranked 24th in the league, averaging 95 yards per game. The team was a minus-13 in turnovers due mostly to former QB Jameis Winston throwing a record 30 interceptions last season.
The future looks bright for the Buccaneers in the hopes that Brady will have a big season as he looks to prove that he can without former coach Bill Belichick, with whom he has been linked since the 2001 season. Tampa Bay should challenge the New Orleans Saints for the NFC South title and at the very least get a wild card berth in this year's playoffs.
TEAM SCHEDULE
Week One - at New Orleans
Week Two -vs. Carolina
Week Three - at Denver
Week Four - vs. L.A. Chargers
Week Five - at Chicago
Week Six - vs. Green Bay
Week Seven - at Las Vegas
Week Eight - at N.Y. Giants
Week Nine - vs. New Orleans
Week Ten - at Carolina
Week Eleven - vs. L.A. Rams
Week Twelve - vs. Kansas City
Week Thirteen - BYE
Week Fourteen - vs. Minnesota
Week Fifteen - at Atlanta
Week Sixteen - at Detroit
Week Seventeen - vs. Atlanta
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