Friday, 4 a.m.
The Bears are awful. The Bucs were going to have to work awfully hard to lose to the Bears.
The Eagles are legit. The Bucs probably overachieved in losing by only two touchdowns to the Eagles.
The Vikings are talented underachievers. Sure, playing on the road, the Bucs could lose to the Vikings. But the Vikings haven’t beaten anyone, have they?
This week should tell us a lot about the Bucs’ season.
If the Bucs can beat the Saints on the road, they will have a first month to be proud of. They’ll have at least a tie for the division lead. In the NFL, winning three of four will take you places.
But can the Bucs, who cannot run, who have a leaky run defense, who struggled in the red zone, beat the Saints. Even with Derek Carr’s injury, the Saints are perhaps the most talented team in the division.
.To win, the Bucs will have to avoid the embarrassment in the trenches that happened a week ago. They’ll have to tackle better. They’ll have to reduce the normal amount of errors in turnovers, penalties and the long play.
Is it possible? Sure. Is it a lot to ask? Absolutely.
Prediction: New Orleans 27, Tampa Bay 17
In other NFL games:
Miami 24, Buffalo 17.
Dallas 23, New England 20.
Kansas City 31, New York Jets 16.
And in the college games:
Kentucky 22, Florida 21.
USC 30, Colorado 17.
Navy 28, USF 13.
Alabama 30, Mississippi State 16.
Utah 24, Oregon State 14.