By the time the sun rises on Veterans Day, fans should have a good idea if the Bucs are playoff contenders or pretenders.
If the Bucs have a bad record, it wouldn’t mean they are dead. Not in the NFC South. But strengths is and weaknesses would be evident.
Matt Verderame of SI.com looked at the Bucs schedule and found Weeks 5-10 to be the most harrowing. That six-week stretch includes three division games, a game against a team that was in the AFC title game and both clubs that played in the Super Bowl.
Getting both Super Bowl participants in the span of six days, with three tough divisional games and a date with the reigning MVP in Lamar Jackson preceding them, is brutal.
Well, “brutal” is relative. If the Bucs are a good team, then the Dixie Chicks and slimy Saints shouldn’t keep too many people up at night.
Playing the Chiefs (on the road) and the 49ers at home on a short week is bad news, especially since the 49ers will be coming off a bye week. That should negate how West Coast teams get tripped up playing at 1 p.m. on the East Coast (10 a.m. on their body clocks).
And since that game is in November, it’s unlikely to be scorching hot and humid, not that the Bucs often take advantage of their weather edge (maybe the most overblown “edge” in the NFL).
If the Bucs can come away from those six games 3-3, it wouldn’t be awful. If the Bucs can somehow win four of those six games, that would be fantastic.
At least this time when the Bucs host the Crows in a night game, they won’t have a quitting linebacker on the field.
