A reasoned and seasoned three-time Pro Bowl guard thinks the Bucs are among the class of the NFC while his sidekick thinks they have a shot at the conference’s No. 1 seed.
Retired Bears star Kyle Long was gushing Bucs love on CBS Sports HQ. He’s firmly in the Bucs’ camp.
“When you hear my record for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you’re going to kind of pause,” Long said. “But I love this guy Baker Mayfield. I love the way that this group has been able to adjust to multiple guys at the [offensive] coordinator position. Leadership is unquestioned in that [Mayfield] can handle anything. Even if the sky is falling around him, he will compete, he will find a way to win games — at home, in enemy territory. I love the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I got’em at 12-5.”
Long added that he expects improvement from the Bucs’ secondary, claiming it was only thing holding the team back from “making that big run last year.”
As Joe tried to stop panting, CBS colleague Will Brinson chimed in to say the Bucs should have been 12-5 last year. He thinks the Bucs will be undefeated in the NFC South this season and run their final record to 13-4. Whoa!
Joe sure hopes Todd Bowles has mastered coaching from a “favorite” position this season, at least out of the gate.
That’s been a challenge. Bowles’ Bucs teams have played better when less is expected of them.
Today, the Bucs are the betting favorite to win the NFC South, and most analysts think the Bucs are better than the projected 9 1/2 wins total dropped on them by oddsmakers.
Joe would make that bet, but the Joe typing here cannot call the Bucs an elite team like Long and Brinson are. Too early for that.
Joe is still healing from the Bucs trailing the miserable and half-tanking Saints 19-13 at home in the fourth quarter of Week 18. That was a must-win game with the division on the line.
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