Saints beat Bucs behind backup QB

November 1, 2021 general

Monday, 4 a.m. Once again, the New Orleans Saints have given the Tampa Bay Bucs a gift: The gift of self-realization. No, they are destined to repeat last year’s Super Bowl victory. No, they aren’t the best team in the NFC. Heck, they aren’t even the best team in the NFC South. Today, the Bucs […]

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Mullen’s quarterback switch flops in loss

October 31, 2021 general

Sunday, 4 a.m. Well, that didn’t work, did it? Florida coach Dan Mullen waited until his team was playing the No. 1-ranked team in the nation to give freshman Anthony Richardson his first start of the season. As you might gather from the 34-3 drubbing the Gators took, it wasn’t the best idea he could […]

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Bucs need a big game out of Evans

October 30, 2021 general

Saturday, 4 a.m. On most fields on most Sundays, he is a terrific football player. Lean and tough. Quick and determined. But against the New Orleans Saints, Mike Evans tends to turn invisible. The Bucs, naturally, hope it will not happen again Sunday. Evans, a Pro Bowl player who has been over 1,000 yards in […]

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Brady, Bucs face big challenge in Saints

October 29, 2021 general

Friday, 4 a.m. Somewhere, the complete game awaits. Sometime, the Tampa Bay Bucs will play for the full sixty. Won’t they? Almost half of a season has gone, and still, we wait. The Bucs have won with great starts (Chicago) and great finishes (Miami). They’ve won with game-winning drives (Dallas, New England). Always, however, it […]

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Lightning wins second game in a row

October 29, 2021 general

Friday, 4 a.m. Well, look who has a winning streak. The Tampa Bay Lightning, a championship team off to a sluggish start, won its second consecutive 5-1 victory Thursday night, this time against the winless Arizona Coyotes. The Bolts jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period and went into cruise control. The Bolts […]

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Bucs have to control Kamara to win

October 28, 2021 general

Thursday, 4 a.m. Here’s the thing about the defense of the Tampa Bay Bucs. You never worry about an opposing running back. You always worry about the quarterback. Until this week. What’s wrong with this picture? Since Todd Bowles arrived as the Bucs’ defensive coordinator, the opposing running game has never been a problem. The […]

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Lightning finally has the look of a winner

October 27, 2021 general

Wednesday, 4 a.m. There was something familiar about them, something that you might swear you had seen before. Maybe it was in the way they carried themselves. Maybe it was in the way they didn’t back up. The kid in goal? You’ve seen a guy play like that, like King Kong swatting away airplanes. The […]

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Still no final verdict on Winston

October 27, 2021 general

Wednesday, 4 a.m. He has been terrific. He threw five touchdown passes is an upset of Green Bay. He threw four in a victory over Washington. And he has been lousy. He had a dismal 26.2 rating in a loss to Carolina. He somehow lost to the New York Giants. Amd the New Orleans Saints, […]

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Bolts ‘lack urgency’ in loss to Sabres

October 26, 2021 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. For a decade, the Buffalo Sabres have been a dead franchise. Doing nothing. Going nowhere. For two years, the Tampa Bay Lightning has been excellent. Two titles. Lots of confetti. So how do you explain the latest misstep by the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team going in the wrong direction in the […]

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Looking back on the Bucs’ win over Chicago

October 26, 2021 general

Tuesday, 3 a.m. 5 Thoughts It’s silly to argue what a fan might have gotten for the football from Tom Brady’s 600th touchdown pass, but a lot of us would be willing to bid for a replica of that cap Brady gave to the cancer survivor. That was his best moment of the day. 2. […]

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