The Bucs had one of the best off-seasons in their history, signing the greatest quarterback of all-time in Tom Brady to a two-year contract.
The Bucs were also then able to trade for tight end Rob Gronkowski who will also be in the Hall of Fame someday.
The Bucs will have five games on national TV and many more in the 4:25 PM time slot which will be the featured game in that time slot.
The Buccaneers will play the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, the LA Rams, and the LA Chargers all at home this season.
The strength of schedule for the Buccaneers is tied for 16th, as opponents have a 128-127-1 record.
We took a look at the five best games for the Buccaneers this season, and here are our selections.
Denver Broncos September 27th at Denver.
Besides dealing with the high altitude, Denver is always a difficult place to play. The crowd is always into it and the Broncos usually play well at home.
The Broncos have committed to Drew Lock as the starting quarterback for the future and were able to add some pieces this off-season to improve on last year’s 7-9 record.
Pat Shurmer was brought in to be the offensive coordinator and Dave Shula will be the quarterback coach.
The Broncos signed running back Melvin Gordon, to a two-year contract and offensive linemen Graham Glasgow to a four-year contract. They also signed tight end Nick Vannett to a one year deal.
The Broncos also upgraded the defense trading for cornerback AJ Bouye, defensive linemen Jerrell Casey.
This will be a much improved Broncos team and will give teams problems especially at home.
Green Bay Packers. The packers the defending NFC champions coming off a 13-3 record should once again be in the playoff picture
The Packers did little to upgrade and give Aaron Rodgers some weapons to work with that he needs to get back to another Super Bowl.
The Packers resigned TE Mercedes Lewis and signed WR Devin Funchess to a two-year contract.
In the draft, the Packers drafted quarterback Jordan Love with their first-round selection instead of looking at running back or wide receiver.
The Packers will be a 10 win team this season, and a wild card playoff team. This will be one of the better games this season on the Bucs schedule.
It will be interesting to see how many cheeseheads make the trip south to see the Packers at Raymond James Stadium in October
Minnesota Vikings. 10-6. The two big moves the Vikings made this off-season involved QB Kirk Cousins and WR Stefon Diggs.
The Vikings signed Cousins to a two-year contract extension, and traded Diggs to the Buffalo Bills. The Vikings then drafted WR John Jefferson from LSU to replace Diggs in the first round.
This will be a tough game for the Bucs. It is at home in December, but there could be a lot on the line in this game as the Vikings are expected to challenge for the division title
Kansas City Chiefs. 12-4, Super Bowl Champions. This will be the best game on the home schedule for the Buccaneers.
The Chiefs are one of the best offensive teams in the league, led by MVP Patrick Mahomes. This will be a big challenge for the Bucs defense keeping Mahomes in check.
The Chiefs return most of the key players from the Super Bowl-winning team including Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.
The Chiefs did sign what I would call some depth signings during free agency on both sides of the ball.
The New Orleans Saints. The defending NFC South champions went 13-2 last season. This is the matchup everyone is wanting to see. Brady vs Brees.
They will start the season in New Orleans on September13th, but the rematch in Tampa on Sunday night November 8th has the potential to be a better matchup.
Brady will have eight games under his belt and should have the Bucs close to the top of the conference standings.
The Saints are the defending division champions and the Bucs and Saints are early favorites to play a third time next season. That would be in the NFC title game for the right to go to the Super Bowl.
This is shaping up to be one of the best seasons in years for Buccaneer football.
Now all the Bucs have to do is live up to the hype, and keep Brady upright and hopefully the football gods will be smiling on Tampa at the end of the season.
