The NFL season is finally here and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to open the season at Raymond James Stadium against rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders. Unfortunately for the Bucs, they are already dealing with some significant injury issues just ahead of facing a dual-threat quarterback where they are going to need all hands on deck.
Defensive linemen Calijah Kancey, Logan Hall, and Earnest Brown are all out for Sunday's game and the Bucs have elevated C.J. Brewer and Mike Greene from the practice squad. Losing two of your starting defensive linemen - especially one as impactful as Kancey - is a massive blow to this defense, which already has a big question mark surrounding their young and mostly unproven edge rushers. Kancey, who missed three games in his rookie year and left the week one game against the Minnesota Vikings in the first half due to a calf injury - the same injury keeping him out this week.
Despite the concern and frustration of Kancey and Hall being out, there's still a huge swath of excitement surrounding the Buccaneers this season - most of it revolving around the new offense under offensive coordinator Liam Coen. With the addition of a legitimate third receiving threat and the duo of Rachaad White and Bucky Irving in the backfield, there's a belief that the Tampa offense can be one of the better ones in the NFL, but that will be determined, in large part, by the play of the offensive line. Graham Barton is set to make his NFL debut as the new center and Jason Licht is hopeful he found a Tristan Wirfs type player to anchor the middle of the line for the next decade and beyond. Beside him is Ben Bredeson, the former New York Giants offensive lineman, who by all accounts appears to be an upgrade over Matt Feiler and Aaron Stinnie last season.
Lots of eyes on Sunday will be on wide receiver Mike Evans, who is entering his eleventh NFL season and on a quest to tie Jerry Rice's all-time record for consecutive 1,000 yard seasons - and Evans should get off to a real hot start. In his career, Evans has 26 receptions for 605 yards and four touchdowns against Washington, averaging over 120 receiving yards and over 23 yards per reception when facing Washington. That doesn't seem likely to change this time around as the Commanders' biggest weakness is their secondary, where their starting corners don't match up overly well against the Bucs' receivers.
Defensively, there is going to be a lot of pressure on the Buccaneers' secondary to step up - especially with the issues in the front seven. Zyon McCollum and Jamel Dean make their debut as the new outside corner tandem while Christian Izien gets the nod at nickel. Izien had some big plays last year in week one and the Bucs will look to him to do it again this time around. The biggest thing the Bucs can do early on is eliminate Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler's ability to run the ball, making the Commanders one dimensional. If Washington gets their run game going early and forces the defensive front to respect the run, it could be a long day for those Bucs defensive backs.
Washington leads the all-time series 13-12 and have won three of the last five matchups, including a 29-19 upset in 2021. The most consecutive wins by either team is four with Washington winning the first four meetings from 1977-1993, then the Bucs winning the next four from 1994-1996. At home, the Bucs have a 7-6 advantage but have lost their last two matchups at home in 2012 and 2018.
The Buccaneers (-3.5) and Commanders kick off at Raymond James Stadium at 4:25 p.m. ET as Tampa looks to win their season opener for the fourth straight season. The game will be broadcast on FOX with Kevin Kugler and Daryl "Moose" Johnston on the call.
The NFL season is finally here and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to open the season at Raymond James Stadium against rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders. Unfortunately for the Bucs, they are already dealing with some significant injury issues just ahead of facing a dual-threat quarterback where they are going to need all hands on deck.
Defensive linemen Calijah Kancey, Logan Hall, and Earnest Brown are all out for Sunday's game and the Bucs have elevated C.J. Brewer and Mike Greene from the practice squad. Losing two of your starting defensive linemen - especially one as impactful as Kancey - is a massive blow to this defense, which already has a big question mark surrounding their young and mostly unproven edge rushers. Kancey, who missed three games in his rookie year and left the week one game against the Minnesota Vikings in the first half due to a calf injury - the same injury keeping him out this week.
Despite the concern and frustration of Kancey and Hall being out, there's still a huge swath of excitement surrounding the Buccaneers this season - most of it revolving around the new offense under offensive coordinator Liam Coen. With the addition of a legitimate third receiving threat and the duo of Rachaad White and Bucky Irving in the backfield, there's a belief that the Tampa offense can be one of the better ones in the NFL, but that will be determined, in large part, by the play of the offensive line. Graham Barton is set to make his NFL debut as the new center and Jason Licht is hopeful he found a Tristan Wirfs type player to anchor the middle of the line for the next decade and beyond. Beside him is Ben Bredeson, the former New York Giants offensive lineman, who by all accounts appears to be an upgrade over Matt Feiler and Aaron Stinnie last season.
Lots of eyes on Sunday will be on wide receiver Mike Evans, who is entering his eleventh NFL season and on a quest to tie Jerry Rice's all-time record for consecutive 1,000 yard seasons - and Evans should get off to a real hot start. In his career, Evans has 26 receptions for 605 yards and four touchdowns against Washington, averaging over 120 receiving yards and over 23 yards per reception when facing Washington. That doesn't seem likely to change this time around as the Commanders' biggest weakness is their secondary, where their starting corners don't match up overly well against the Bucs' receivers.
Defensively, there is going to be a lot of pressure on the Buccaneers' secondary to step up - especially with the issues in the front seven. Zyon McCollum and Jamel Dean make their debut as the new outside corner tandem while Christian Izien gets the nod at nickel. Izien had some big plays last year in week one and the Bucs will look to him to do it again this time around. The biggest thing the Bucs can do early on is eliminate Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler's ability to run the ball, making the Commanders one dimensional. If Washington gets their run game going early and forces the defensive front to respect the run, it could be a long day for those Bucs defensive backs.
Washington leads the all-time series 13-12 and have won three of the last five matchups, including a 29-19 upset in 2021. The most consecutive wins by either team is four with Washington winning the first four meetings from 1977-1993, then the Bucs winning the next four from 1994-1996. At home, the Bucs have a 7-6 advantage but have lost their last two matchups at home in 2012 and 2018.
The Buccaneers (-3.5) and Commanders kick off at Raymond James Stadium at 4:25 p.m. ET as Tampa looks to win their season opener for the fourth straight season. The game will be broadcast on FOX with Kevin Kugler and Daryl "Moose" Johnston on the call.
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