Saturday, 4 a.m.
Sure, Tom Brady is capable of throwing for 400 yards. He might have have touchdown passes. He might have another 100 quarterback ratig.
Yeah, but who's going to catch the ball?
I know, I know. You worry. That's what fans do. They can look at a pedestrian football team like Washington, and they can imagine Chase Young walking up and Taylor Heinicke being. pain and Ron Rivera convincing his team that offensive line isn't that weak, after all. You can imagine the Bucs with turnovers and drops and and a mediocre pass rush. You can imagine the worse -- that's what a fan does.
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo)!
Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
If you follow the Bucs, however, the question of the week is this:
Who is going to catch the ball.
Antonio Brown is out...again. Rob Gronkowski, too. Chris Godwin practiced Friday, but coach Bruce Arians was cautious about his status for Sunday. Brashad Perriman just got here. Scotty Miller just got back.
All of which means that Mike Evans and Tyler Johnson need to have big weeks.
The Bucs are 6-2, but they've had performance lapses in most of their games. As they play against a 2-6 Washington team on the road, that might happen again.
Oh, there are other things to worry about. The secondary hasn't been particularly good, and the pass rush has underachieved. There have been too many penalties under the category of "silly."
Still, the Bucs -- still -- have more weapons than Washington. It might be close for a while, but by the end, the Bucs should win by 10.
Prediction: Bucs 31, Washington 21.
In other NFL games:
Dallas 39, Atlanta 20.
Tennessee 28, New Orleans 23.
Green Bay 27, Seattle 17.
And in the college game:
Oklahoma 27, Baylor 26.
Ohio State 30, Purdue 23.
Miami 28, FSU 20.
Florida 2, Samford 0.