Hate to say I told you so. But I told you so. And to all you so called experts at ESPN and the NFL network who did absolutely no scouting on this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team this off-season, shame on you.
I have been writing for weeks now how prolific I think this offense will be this season and today just validated that opinion.
The Bucs offense set a few records in their 48 point win today. This is the most points scored by a Buccaneer offense since that magical night in Oakland when they were winning the Super Bowl against the Oakland Raiders. The 48 points ties a franchise record.
The 31 points scored in the first half also ties a Buccaneer record for most points scored in the first half.
This was also a record setting performance by Ryan Fitzpatrick with his 417 yards passing and 4 TD‘s through the air. Fitzpatrick also did a lot of damage with his legs running for 36 yards on 12 carries and a TD.
Fitzpatrick finished with a 156.3 rating which is darn near perfect. In the first half Fitzpatrick finished with a 158.3 rating which is the best rating that you can get. It truly was a special afternoon for the Bucs offense and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson each had just shy of 150 yards receiving with Evans snagging a TD, and Jackson 2 TD‘s.
It was very satisfying to see Fitzpatrick have the timing down with Evans and Jackson on the long ball. This was an element of the offense that was sorely missing last year. OJ Howard and Chris Godwin were also targeted downfield and made key catches at critical points in the game.
This OL is the real deal. All it took was signing Ryan Jensen from the Baltimore Ravens making him the highest paid center in the NFL, and moving Ali Marpet back to his natural position left guard.
All afternoon this line opened big gaping holes for Peyton Barber as he ran for 69 yards on 19 carries. As a team The Bucs ran for 112 yards and a 3.3 average per carry.
As happy as I am to get the 48-40 win, there is still a lot of work on the defensive side of the ball that needs to be done. I will address that in another column later this week.
I hate to even mention this but Chandler Catanzaro missing a 38 yard FG late in the 4th quarter added more stress to this game then there needed to be. That Catanzaro FG would have put the Bucs up 51-32 and made it a 3 possession game for Drew Brees and company. We all could have exhaled a little bit ha that FG been good.
What makes the win even more satisfying is that the Bucs were 10 point underdogs to the Saints and I can’t think of anyone besides myself and a few loyal Buccareer Fans to go on record and believe that this texam would take down the Saints.
For one day, let’s just enjoy this Bucs win. It has been a long tIme since the Bucs had such a dominant offensive showing, and I think this will be the first of many more to come this season.
