Game Preview: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to get their 2023-24 season underway on Sunday afternoon when they head North for a week one matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Buccaneers finished last season by winning a well-below-average NFC South division before getting bounced by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs to end their season with an 8-9 record.

Out of all the teams in the NFL, the Buccaneers might be the one that has gone through the most changes since the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. Since the end of last season, the Buccaneers saw Tom Brady enter retirement, an abundance of coaching moves, as well as an exodus of veteran players that were hurting the team's cap space.

The Bucs also added others to the mix this season, bringing in starting quarterback Baker Mayfield and other pieces to help fill depth roles. The Buccaneers also seemingly got younger through the draft and are hopeful that some of those players develop faster than expected to make an impact immediately.

The Minnesota Vikings were one of the hottest teams in the league to begin last season. Starting off the year going 8-1 their only loss coming to eventual NFC Champion Eagles team.

The Vikings would only lose three more times on the way to a 14-3 record and the number three-seed in the playoffs. Unfortunately they were upset by the six-seed Giants at home in the Wild Card round - spoiling what was an exhilarating season that saw them go 11-0 in games decided by less than one score in the regular season.

On offense the Vikings will look a whole lot like they did last season, however, they will be without Dalvin Cook who is now with Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets. As well as longtime receiver Adam Thielen, who signed with the Carolina Panthers after being cut in March.

The last time that the Buccaneers and Vikings faced off against one another came in 2020 with the Bucs coming away with a 26-14 victory.

One of the biggest concerns for the Buccaneers in this one will be trying to contain the Vikings high-powered offense that is centered around perhaps the top wide receiver in the league, Justin Jefferson. The Buccaneers will likely decide to put their best corner, Carlton Davis, on Jefferson to start the game, and the ever-so-confident Davis is looking forward to matching up against Jefferson, saying it should be "fun". However, don't expect too much one-on-one action between the two as head coach Todd Bowles likes to call and run zone plays with his defense.

Carlton Davis speaks about facing #Vikings star WR Justin Jefferson on Sunday.

“Does a lot of good things. Explosive, good after the catch. He’s one of the top receivers in the league right now so it’s gonna be fun, real fun.” #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/wEoSJ2qy8A
— Logan B. Robinson (@LogansTwitty) September 7, 2023

Davis and the other Buccaneers' secondary defenders will have their hands full but should be up to the task of slowing down Jefferson. If they are able to slow Jefferson down it will be imperative that they also pay attention to the other weapons Minnesota has on offense such as RB Alexander Mattison, TE T.J. Hockenson, and WRs KJ Osborn and Jordan Addison.

If the Buccaneers' defense can slow down the Minnesota attack they should put themselves in a promising position to make the game competitive and have the potential to come away with an underdog victory.

The biggest question mark for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers heading into their week one matchup against the Vikings will be how will new offensive coordinator Dave Canales and QB Baker Mayfield mesh on the field so that the offense can be free-flowing and consistent - something the Bucs drastically suffered from last season.

One of the major differences that will be seen in Canales' offense is play-action pass. The Bucs ranked near the bottom of the league last year in play-action usage. As the league finished this year's preseason the Buccaneers ran the most play-action amongst all NFL teams - a drastic shift from what we saw last season.

Canales' offense and the style of play that Baker plays should fit hand-in-hand with one another. It will be imperative that the Bucs also get the run game going early to open up the options in play-action, but as we saw last season, the Buccaneers needed improvement from the running game in order to be successful. With the Rachaad White taking over RB1 duties along with the likes of Sean Tucker and Chase Edmonds the Bucs run game should improve on paper, but we will find out early how committed the team is to emphasizing the run.

Last season the Vikings' downfall was in major part due to their porous defense allowing teams to score at will. They couldn't stop anyone which ultimately led to their offense not being able to outscore opponents.

The Vikings have now retooled their defense as at least half of last year's starters are no longer on the team. Even with a somewhat new defense to work with there will be growing pains as they try and figure things out, and even then there is no guarantee that they will be any better than they were last season.

This is where the Bucs need to take advantage.

With the amount of weapons the Buccaneers have on offense they should look to push the ball against a Vikings defense that is unproven entering week one and score early.

A win in week one would go a long way in ensuring comfort for the season amongst the Buccaneer faithful. A close loss probably won't hurt all that much as long as the team shows effort and promise. If the Bucs somehow end up getting blown out of this game the confidence level around the organization could start to dwindle, which is less than ideal for a team who is trying to find their identity.

The game may not be a primetime matchup, but the Buccaneers know the level at which this game will be looked at. They no longer have someone to save them when times are tough, so they will have to dig deep, work as a team, and come prepared for the battle to come out with a victory in Minnesota.

All off-season people have doubted the Buccaneers and what they can do this season. If there is a statement to send to those who doubted, week one against a playoff-contending team like the Vikings will go a way towards changing the narrative that currently sits over Tampa Bay.

You can follow Caleb Skinner on Twitter @chsnole.

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