Opportunity Knocks

Opportunity knocks this weekend.

Can this Washington team get a road win vs a high-functioning Tampa Bay offense and progress deeper into the NFL play-offs?

Sunday Night Football is nearly here, and the 12-win Commanders face a Buccaneers team who defeated the burgundy & gold all the way back in Week 1 of the regular season.

On last week’s Redzone in the UK podcast, we talked about the importance of momentum going into the wild card game, but the 23-19 victory vs Dallas still highlighted the issues the Commanders have in the trenches. The running game as a result of these issues has dipped considerably.

Washington will hope that Centre Tyler Biadasz is both good to go and, just as importantly, good to stay the duration of the game. There are some areas of the Commanders roster whereby the back-ups are serviceable (QB, interior DL), but the Centre position is a significant drop-off.

On the positive side, the Week 1 cornerbacks in Washington are either gone (Emmanuel Forbes) or now a bench player (Benjamin St Juste). Marshon Lattimore is trending up health-wise after his ongoing hamstring problems and fans of all teams will be relishing a play-off match up vs Buccaneers WR Mike Evans.

Rookie DB Mike Sainristil has been a revelation on the outside, when ideally with his size, Nickel would be the favoured position. A CB pairing of Lattimore and Sainristil might just give the Washington DL those precious nanoseconds to get to Baker Mayfield and also load the box vs the elusive Bucky Irving. Tackling will be crucial on Sunday.

Here at UKHTTC, we always like to check-in and see how the opponents are faring leading into a game, and we welcome back the informative Alex Oldham who podcasts with Bucs UK to the blog.

UKHTTC: we meet again! Are you surprised that the Commanders registered 12 wins after the Tampa Bay win on week 1 of the season?

A Week 1 rematch.

Great to see both teams in the post season. Am I surprised? No.

Dan Quinn is a head coach who knows what it takes to get a team to the playoffs and the Super Bowl, given that he did it with Atlanta (and lost). But when we look at the Washington roster, this is a team that should be there.

Jayden Daniels has had a fantastic rookie season in the NFL. I’m not going to say he should win ROTY as my vote obviously goes to Bucky Irving for that, but the way Daniels has adjusted to the NFL, has been incredible.

Then you look at the likes of Brian Robinson Jr, Terry McLaurin and NFL veterans Zach Ertz and Bobby Wagner. All five of these guys have stepped up and led the team.

The team appear to be in a great position right now and with a bright future ahead which given what happened under Daniel Snyder, is brilliant to see.

A tale of two WRs. Both Terry McLaurin and Mike Evans have gone for 1000 yards. Give an overview of Mike's season and how do you view McLaurin as a receiver?

I could write an essay on Mike Evans so answering this question is going to be difficult.

He is a future first ballot hall of famer. Even the most die-hard Saints fan cannot dispute that.

Mike has 11 consecutive seasons with at least 1000 receiving yards, tied with Jerry Rice.

I was happier on Sunday that Mike got the 1000 yards, than the fact we won. The pure emotion and celebrations by the team with on the field is a memory that will stay with me forever. The fact Evans managed to get over 1000 yards despite missing effectively four games this season, shows just how good he is.

As for McLaurin, this is a guy that cannot be slept on. He is dangerous. 1096 yards, 13 TDs, no fumbles. He knows how to protect the ball. He’s quick, has great hands and is a strong route runner. Daniels seems to have formed a strong on field relationship with McLaurin and trusts him.

Where can the Buccaneers have success vs Washington?

On our day, offensively I genuinely believe we are one of the best in league this season under Liam Coen. When Baker is baking, he is impossible to stop. 4500 yards, 41 TDs and 4 games with at least 4 TDs thrown. Insane numbers: and when we have receivers such as Mike Evans and now Jalen McMillan, who has really been showing what he is capable with 7 TDs in the last 6 games, we can really hurt teams in the passing game.

We also now have a run game for the first time in as long as I can remember. Bucky Irving has proven to be an absolute steal for round 4 of the draft, racking up 1122 rushing yards in his rookie season. He has the ability to find those gaps the o-line are creating and really hurt opposing defences.

I’m giving a politicians answer here, but we definitely have the quality on this team to have success against Washington in both the ground and passing game. If you had asked me this last year, my answer would have been completely different.

And is there a weakness on the TB roster that the Commanders can exploit?

I think I said this on the blog at the start of the season, and that is our secondary.

It is still for me our weakest area and has been exploited by teams many times this season. Losing Antoine Winfield Jr didn’t help us however, Mike Edwards returned to Tampa which has strengthened the secondary and Zyon McCollum has really stepped us this season.

Tykee Smith has had a pretty good rookie season also. I’m not going to place blame solely on the players for the struggles that our secondary has had this year as the coverage is also questionable. For some reason, Bowles loves to call plays where we set up with soft coverage. If Daniels looks for those gaps and the Washington receivers get into those holes, the team will move down the field with ease.

Who is an 'under the radar' guy on the Bucs roster who might shine on Sunday Night Football?

I was considering originally saying Jalen McMillan, but I don’t think he can be described as “under the radar” anymore.

One player who definitely fits the category is Devin Culp. His first game in the NFL was in week 17 against the Carolina Panthers and his number has been called in the last couple weeks. He’s got 88 receiving yards combined in the last two games.

He is behind Payne Durham on the depth chart who is currently TE1 with Cade Otton currently out through injury but when called, Culp is making plays.

He may not play a huge part on Sunday but when he is on the field, the Commanders should keep one eye on him.

Tampa Bay MVP this season?

Many of the players deserve to be in the discussion for this one. Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Tristan Wirfs, Luke Goedeke, Cody Mauch, Vita Vea, Lavonte David but I think I will have to say Bucky Irving. 1122 rushing yards, 8 TDs in his rookie season.

Has given us a running game and now made that running back position his to lose. I think we have found our RB for many seasons to come.

Who has been a disappointment?

I don’t want to say disappointment, but rather a struggle and I’m going to return to discussing our secondary. It has been hit with injuries and as a result constant personnel changes have meant little consistency in that area.

A few DBs currently in 53 came from the practice squad and while they have been around the team, practicing and know the system, it by no means replicates game situations.

Score prediction

I don’t think I have ever been right when it comes to a score prediction. Just last week on the Bucs UK podcast, I predicted another 5 TD game for Baker and us winning 38-20 against the Saints. So, what I am about to say here, take with a pinch of salt!

I’m sure it will come as no surprise that I am predicting a win for my Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I think this will be close.

Playoff football is a different animal compared to the regular season and teams always raise their level, plus the Commanders won’t want us to put 37 points on the board against them again. I will say 27-23 to the Bucs.