Takeaways From the Buccaneers Victory Over Carolina
Finishing the regular season with a 13-4 record, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have locked themselves into the No. 2 seed in the 2021 NFC playoff picture and are one step closer to accomplishing their goal of "going for two" Super Bowl titles in as many years.
Tampa Bay finished its regular season with another dominant victory over their NFC South-rival Carolina Panthers on Sunday, winning by a score of 41-17 two weeks after defeating the Panthers in Charlotte by a score of 32-6.
Similar to more than a handful of wins this year, it was not a perfect performance by the banged-up Bucs. However, after a dominant final 30 minutes of play together to end the regular season, Tampa Bay will carry some momentum into the postseason, finishing the year on a three-game winning streak.
You can find our takeaways from the Week 18 showing below.
A tale of two Buccaneers offenses
As halftime approached, Tampa Bay's offense appeared non-existent. Until a two-minute drill series, the Bucs had compiled only 48 yards offensively across three drives while the Panthers owned a 7-3 lead.
Then, Tom Brady did what Tom Brady does. On the final drive of the half and the first to open the second half, Brady completed 11-of-13 passes for 158 yards, including a touchdown throw to Le'Veon Bell to take a 10-7 lead into the locker room at the end of the second quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay proceeded to score 24 points, in part due to Carolina committing three turnovers including a turnover on downs. Three of the Bucs' five fourth-quarter drives, not including the kneel-down series to end the game, began in Panthers territory, and those resulted in a Ryan Succop field goal and touchdowns scored by Mike Evans (twice) and Scotty Miller near the end of the game.
The Panthers' defense played the Bucs well in the first half and their offense controlled the clock well enough to make the game interesting. This could be a solid formula for Tampa Bay's playoff opponents to follow, but those teams would need far more efficient offensive play to stand a chance.
Anthony Nelson could be an X-factor in the playoffs
It hasn't been Joe Tryon-Shoyinka that has stepped up in place of the injured Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul, at least at the level that is expected for a first-round pick. Instead, it's been third-year edge rusher Anthony Nelson who has filled in and produced for the absent starters, as he's tallied nine tackles, including five for loss, and three sacks over the last three weeks. Nelson put together a sack and two tackles for loss against Carolina on Sunday.
The Bucs surely hope that Tryon-Shoyinka can make a bigger impact in the playoffs and beyond. However, if one of Barrett or Pierre-Paul continue to deal with their current injuries as the postseason begins and goes on, the team can trust Nelson to fill in as needed as he's proven his worth over the final few weeks of the regular season.
Welcome back, Scotty Miller
Many onlookers have wondered if Scotty Miller has a future with the Buccaneers this year. Since he returned to the team in Week 12 following a turf toe injury through Week 17, Miller had only earned 69 offensive snaps in five games, and 84% of those came in Week 15 as the Bucs were without Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Antonio Brown due to injuries and Brown's suspension. In that stretch of games, Miller only caught three passes on five targets for 18 yards.
He didn't do much as a receiver on Sunday, but Miller finally found himself involved in the Buccaneers' offense as the game went on. He took an end-around 33 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, another reserve for ten yards two offensive plays later, and also caught a pass for nine yards.
It isn't likely that Miller will step into a huge role as the playoffs begin with Evans, Rob Gronkowski, Breshad Perriman and Tyler Johnson earning targets ahead of him, but it was good to see Miller become involved in the offense once again. When the team is in need of speed, it can look to Miller, and that could be particularly useful if Cyril Grayson is unavailable to start the playoffs as he deals with a hamstring injury.
From start to finish, injuries plagued the Bucs all regular season-long...
We already mentioned injuries to Barrett, Pierre-Paul, Godwin, Evans, Grayson and Miller above. That doesn't include Gronkowski, the entire starting secondary, linebacker Lavonte David, Vita Vea, running backs Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones II, punter Bradley Pinion, other starters and numerous backups that dealt with wounds throughout the year, as we probably missed a few on this list.
Grayson and cornerback Jamel Dean were the last two Bucs to go down with injuries during the regular season, as each player exited the Carolina game with their own hamstring injury. Head coach Bruce Arians suggested on Monday that their statuses for Sunday's Wild Card matchup with Philadelphia are currently uncertain.
...which makes this week's round of updates extremely important
Fortunately for the Bucs, several injured starters and contributors will make their way back into the lineup just in time for the playoffs. Arians shared on Monday that he expects Fournette, Barrett and Pierre-Paul to return to play against the Eagles, and perhaps David could as well.
We've barely seen this Buccaneers team at full strength this season, if at all, due to injuries. The Bucs won't be at full strength in the playoffs either as Godwin is out for the remainder of the season, but otherwise, the team — or at least, the starting lineup — is trending towards being as healthy as it's been all year long.
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