Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New York Giants: Three Keys to the Game
Looking to avoid a third straight loss, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers return to Raymond James Stadium for a Monday Night Football matchup with the New York Giants.
The Bucs haven't won in almost a month since they beat the Chicago Bears at home on Oct. 24. Two losses on opposite ends of a bye week have Tampa Bay in need of a win in Week 11.
Here are three keys to the game so that the Bucs get back on the right track against the Giants:
1. Avoid turnovers
Bucs quarterback Tom Brady has thrown 4 interceptions combined in the past two games. Brady knows he needs to play better moving forward.
Although the Giants enter Monday night with just 3 wins under their belt, only one coming on the road, New York's defense has a +3 turnover margin, which is tied with Tampa Bay for the 8th best in the league.
New York has forced 14 turnovers, including 9 interceptions which is the 9th most in the NFL. Despite the high amount of takeaways, the Giants still sit at No. 22 in the league in passing defense allowing just under 250 yards a game
Simply put, Brady needs to play better and avoid turning the ball over vs. New York and this could be a good chance to improve in the passing game.
2. Get the ball to Rob Gronkowski, if he plays
Tampa Bay's top tight end hasn't played since Week 3 due to a rib injury. He's been a full participant in practice twice this week which is a good sign he'll likely be back on Monday.
Obviously, no one expected Cameron Brate to fully fill the gap left but Gronkowski, but he's been less than exciting on offense. In the past three games, Brate only has 3 catches for 21 yards on 11 targets.
Gronk hasn't played in over 7 weeks and has more touchdowns, more catches, and more yardage in the 3 games he's played in this season. Likely having Gronk back will be a big boost for Brady and could open up space for Mike Evans at wide receiver.
3. Play disciplined football
While they're certainly not the main factor that has led to back-to-back losses for the Bucs, penalties have been a contributing one.
In the two losses, Tampa Bay has racked up 17 penalties for 142 yards.
These penalties have helped opposing teams stay on the field on offense, take advantage of costly mistakes made by the Bucs, and sometimes have given short-yardage situations to opponents.
This entire season Tampa Bay has not played disciplined football. In 9 games, the team is 3rd in the NFL with 65 flags thrown against them for 623 yards. The Bucs need to clean it up if they want to win on Monday night.
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