It's time for another round of "Performance Preview," in which Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix and I make our picks to click for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' next game. This is more than just a brief bit of game analysis, it's a competition. That's right: We're keeping score
The rules are simple: Bri and I each pick one Buccaneers player on Friday and explain why we think they are poised for a big game. We can't duplicate picks so order may matter; I went first in Week 11 so now Bri gets her pick of the litter in Week 12. Since neither of us would be impartial enough to do the judging after the game, we've asked Team Reporter Casey Phillips to step in as the guest judge each week.
The order did matter for the second week in a row as the Bucs took on the Bills. That's because I was first and chose to go with Rachaad White. Brianna was leaning towards picking Sean Tucker until she heard my pick but didn't want to pick a second running back; had she done so, obviously, she would have won in a landslide. Instead she switched to Cade Otton, who statistically did not have an eye-catching day, though I'm sure he did plenty of helpful things for the Bucs' offense that didn't show up in the boxscore.
So how did our esteemed Judge see it? Well, let's find out:
"This was another tough one, and I considered choosing another tie but that felt like a cop out. So I decided to give it to Scott even though obviously picking another RB would have been a sure win. Rachaad still averaged over 5 yards per carry and contributed to a run game that totaled over 200 yards against the Bills. Cade didn't have a bad game but just two catches for 28 yards couldn't beat Rachaad's 62 yards of offense."
I'm not going to lie. This win feels a little cheap. Getting the nod despite clearly picking the wrong back to bust out doesn't seem quite right…but it counts, baby! I needed the dub!
Here's our updated Performance Preview Scoreboard:
Brianna Dix: 5
Scott Smith: 4
For the first time this season, I've won two weeks in a row. Can Bri reestablish her first-half dominance. Let's see who she's rolling with on Sunday night.