Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Studs and duds from Week 14 vs. Vikings
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up a key win coming off of their bye week.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers stayed in control of their playoff fate with a 26-14 win over the visiting Minnesota Vikings in Week 14. The win keeps the Buccaneers in the top wild-card playoff spot. It was also a great way to return from the team’s bye week.
Although the game was not always pretty, the Buccaneers did have impressive moments and eventually took over late in the first half. The team put the Vikings away in the second half and coasted to victory.
The Buccaneers came into Sunday’s game with a two-game losing streak. The team had been in the middle of a bad stretch of games resulting in four losses out of five games. All of the losses were against playoff teams and mostly division leaders.
The Vikings came into the game as the holder of the last wild card spot but the loss now puts them out of the playoffs. Nevertheless, it was important for the Buccaneers to win against another playoff contender.
With the win, the Buccaneers are now 4-3 at home. This was another important factor in today’s game. Leaving today’s game with a losing home record could have been devastating. For a team fighting to get into the playoffs, the Bucs need to defend home field. As one of the few teams with fans at home games, the Bucs needed the win against an inferior team.
The Buccaneers were not perfect on Sunday. They left the game with some positive takeaways, but also with some things that they will need to improve upon. At this point in the season wins are important, but how the team plays is just as important. If the team is going to win in the playoffs, they will need to execute better throughout the entire game.
Stud: Pass protection
The Buccaneers’ offensive line has been faced a lot of criticism in the team’s most recent games, but they played well on Sunday. Despite facing many blitzes throughout the game, the line stayed solid.
The team only officially gave up three quarterback hits and zero sacks. Although Tom Brady looked like he felt pressure at times, it always wasn’t there. He did speed up his processing at times, but he didn’t have to.
Brady often had a clean pocket for plays to develop down the field. If you watched him, he looked surprised with the amount of time he had to make throws. He was not untouched in the game but it was a great improvement from the last two games. There were much fewer throws under duress.
Dud: Slow start
Slow starts have plagued the Buccaneers all season and this game was not any different. The team can partially thank Vikings kicker Dan Bailey for taking momentum away from Minnesota. Bailey’s missed extra point and field goal kept the score close until the Buccaneers finally woke up.
Defensively, the Buccaneers were carved up in the first quarter by Dalvin Cook. The Vikings scored first on a 14 play drive that went 84 yards. The Vikings could have had a 10-0 lead early, but Bailey’s missed kicks resulted in the 6-0 lead instead. Most of Minnesota’s 162 yards rushing came in the first half.
The Buccaneers’ offensive unit was not much better to start the game. Tom Brady and the offense punted on its first two possessions. This has become common and in the team’s previous two games it put them into holes they could not dig out of.
Fortunately for the Buccaneers, Minnesota was not able to run away with their fast start. The slow starts are still a concern. Not every team will let the Buccaneers stay in the game as the Vikings did.