Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Opponent Review: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Las Vegas Raiders face off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Allegiant Stadium in Week 7, here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.
After their bye week in Week 6, the Las Vegas Raiders will welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Allegiant Stadium for a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football in Week 7. This already had all the makings of a juicy matchup before the Bucs made some big changes as Jon Gruden would be facing his old team for the first time since making his return to coaching.
With the addition of Tom Brady and all of the storylines that come with him playing for another team for the first time, it becomes must-see TV. This won’t be the first time Brady and the Bucs play in primetime as they have a Week 5 matchup with Chicago on Thursday Night Football, but it will be their first time on the NFL’s showcase game on Sunday night.
Last season the Buccaneers were one of the disappointments of the NFL season as they had all of the makings of a playoff contender but could not get out of their own way. They had a competent defense that featured the NFL’s 2019 sack king Shaquil Barrett but their turnover problems were too much to overcome.
More specifically, they could not overcome the turnover problems of their quarterback Jameis Winston. The Bucs turned the ball over 41 times and Winston accounted for a whopping 35 of them with his 30 interceptions and 5 lost fumbles.
Winston paired those turnovers with 5109 passing yards and 33 touchdowns but his defense could not overcome the short fields and free points he handed to their opponents. It is reasonable to assume that had Winston threw 20 interceptions rather than 30, the Bucs may have sneaked into the playoffs or at least been in contention for the wild card place.
The last time these teams faced off was a wild game in 2016 where Derek Carr threw for 500 yards and four touchdowns as the Raiders won on the road in an OT thriller. The Raiders despite setting an NFL record for most penalties in a game with 23 and for the sake of Jon Gruden’s blood pressure, let’s hope that feat is not repeated in 2020.