The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered their Week 16 matchup against the Carolina Panthers banged up and in need of something to go right. Well, they righted the ship on Sunday, soundly defeating the Panthers 32-6. The Buccaneers improved to 11-4 on the season, and clinched the NFC South title.
Despite the win, not all of the news was good for Tampa Bay. Here are the 3 key takeaways from the Buccaneers drubbing of the Panthers Sunday afternoon.
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Buccaneers Week 16 Takeaways
3. The injuries continue to add up for Tampa Bay
The Buccaneers already lost Pro Bowl wide receiver Chris Godwin for the rest of the season. He tore his ACL in last Sunday’s shutout loss to the New Orleans Saints. They also placed All Pro running back Leonard Fournette on short-term injured reserve. The other Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans was also inactive Sunday. Evans is dealing with a hamstring injury. All of those injuries occurred in Week 15.
The offense was not the only phase hit with injury during that game. The Buccaneers also lost Pro Bowl linebacker Lavonte David on injured reserve as well with a foot injury.
Well, the injury bug hit the Bucs defense again. It’s being reported that linebacker Shaq Barrett suffered an MCL sprain. More tests will be done this week, but Tampa Bay might be without Barrett for the rest of the regular season also.
During the Buccaneers magical postseason run last year, their team and particularly their defense was very healthy. This year, it’s the opposite.
If the Buccaneers want to make another deep run, they are going to need some of these bodies back to play with the other NFC’s elite teams.
2. Antonio Brown is fully healthy, hit the ground running
With the injuries to Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, the Buccaneers were short handed at wide receiver. That prompted head coach Bruce Arians to change his tune with regard to Antonio Brown. Arians had initially said that Brown would not receive second chances. But without any wide receiver options of elite status, Arians decided to bring Antonio Brown back.
Brown finished serving his 3-game suspension for breaking COVID protocols. Brown submitted a fake vaccination card prior to the season.
It was perfect timing for Tom Brady. In Sunday’s win, Brady completed only 18 passes. 10 of those completions were caught by Brown. According to ESPN Stats & Info, that is Brown’s 23rd game with 10 or more catches. That’s the most in NFL history.
Brown was previously tied with Andre Johnson for the most such games in league history. Brown turned those 10 catches into 101 receiving yards, leading the team. No other receiver caught more than three passes Sunday. Clearly, Tom Brady is going to be leaning heavily on Brown until he gets some of his other weapons back.
4. The Buccaneers need a lot of help to move up in the standings
Tampa Bay is now 11-4 on the season. They are tied with the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. All three of them are one game behind the Green Bay Packers, who is currently the top seed in the NFC. Remember, only one team earns a first round bye in the playoffs.
Tampa Bay beat Dallas earlier this season back in Week 1. Unfortunately for the Bucs, that’s the only conference loss Dallas has all season. The Rams beat the Buccaneers earlier this year. Because the Cowboys did not play the Rams this year, the first tiebreaker in a 3-way tie is conference record.
Therefore, right now the Buccaneers are the #4 seed behind both Dallas and Los Angeles respectively.
There is a good chance Tampa Bay wins out. Their final two games are against the New York Jets and the same Panthers they played today. But unless they get help, Tampa Bay might be looking at a dangerous matchup against the Arizona Cardinals in the wild card round. If they survive, a trip back to Lambeau Field might be in the works.