The 2017 NFL schedule was released today and if you are a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers you have every reason to be excited. The Bucs will be featured twice at home in prime time.
The Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots will visit Raymond James on Thursday Oct 5th for a prime time game. Then on Monday night December 18th, the Bucs will host the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons. Kind of cool the Bucs get both teams that played in the Super Bowl in prime time and both at home.
The Bucs will open up the season Sept 10 in Miami against the Dolphins. The Bucs will then have their home opener one week later Sept. 17 against the Chicago Bears. The Bucs will then travel to Minnesota the following week before coming back home to play the New York Giants in a nationally televised game on Oct. 1 at 4 PM.
The Month of October will kick off with the Patriots on Thursday the 5th. this will wrap up a tough stretch for the Bucs playing 3 games in 10 days. The Bucs will then return to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Cardinals on the 15th. Tampa will then head north to Buffalo for a game on the 22nd, before returning home to play the Carolina Panther on the 29th.
The Bucs will spend most of November on the road as they will be in New Orleans to play the Saints on the 5th and wrap up the month on the 26th in Atlanta. In between The Bucs will host the New York Jets at on the 12th and will have their bye week on the 19th.
The Bucs begin December in Green Bay on the 3rd followed by a pair of home games against the Detroit Lions on the 10th and then the Monday night game against Atlanta on the 18th. The Bucs will head to Carolina for Christmas Eve, before hosting the New Orleans Saints on New Years Eve to wrap up the 2017 season.
It will be a challenging schedule for the Bucs, The games against the Giants, Patriots and the Packer will be a good measuring stick for this team. Remember, to be the best, you must first beat the best. It is nice to get two out of those three at home. The Division schedule is never easy as the NFC South has become one of the best divisions in football.
The Bucs will also be the featured team on NFL Hard Knocks on HBO this season. The series will premiere on Aug 1 and will give fans across the country an inside look at Jameis Winston and this Buccaneers team. I think Winston is still very underrated as an NFL quaterback but that will all change with the exposure that he and the Bucs will get on Hard Knocks.
Can’t wait for September. Go Bucs.
