Bucs’ Big Break via Week 13 Bye

As unusual as it might seem, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are heading into their Week 13 bye.

It’s the latest in a season that Tampa Bay has had a week off since the bye was first instituted in 1990, per Scott Smith. And as one can presume, the team is one of the last this year to receive time off.

Some say the bye couldn’t come quick enough.

https://twitter.com/Buccaneers/status/1333229261898063877

I think the Bucs offense learned a lot this game. Defense needs to play better than last 3 weeks. Much needed bye week!

— Kenny Brammer (@kendawqq) November 30, 2020

This could be a really long bye week.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 29, 2020

Why The Break Is Necessary

There is no sugarcoating it: the Bucs, led by six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and a patchwork cast of skilled players, are struggling.

That much is obvious following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ latest loss on Monday Night Football; a 27-24 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams.

As well as all their other losses this season against good teams.

Throughout the Bucs’ game against the Rams, Brady looked disappointing.

The 43-year-old veteran went 1-0f-9 with two interceptions on passes over 15 yards in the Bucs’ loss.

He finished the night with a 62.5 quarterback rating for 4.5 yards per attempt on a 54.1 completion percentage — season-lows across the board with the exception of QB rating (his second-lowest mark of the season), per Forbes.

At 7-5, Tampa Bay is still looking disjointed. Even Bucs head coach Bruce Arians acknowledged that.

What many considered to have been enough time to find some rhythm has proven to be too little time for the team as they continue to crumble in the face of pressure.

With four winnable games remaining post-bye-week — against the Minnesota Vikings (5-6), Detroit Lions (4-7) and Atlanta Falcons (4-7) twice — Bucsnation is hopeful the team will maintain their presence as a possible playoff contender.

Tampa Bay’s Objectives Coming out of the Bye

• “Beat COVID-19.”In the eyes of Bucs head coach Bruce Arians, the number one thing the team is looking to do coming out of their bye week is beating COVID-19 by being socially responsible throughout their time off.
• Contemplate offensive strategies and formulate high-percentage plays.The Bucs have yet to tailor their offense to suit Brady’s capabilities on the field and it shows in the number of times the team has gone with deep pass attempts (when they clearly haven’t been working for Brady).
• Improve in-game adjustments while becoming more disciplined and focused.Some of the issues inhibiting the Buccaneers’ 2020 success have been due to the team’s apparent lack of focus, discipline and its inability to improve on in-game adjustments.

While the players may share a healthy portion of the blame, the blame also falls on the coaches.

And, as one can expect, all of that starts with Arians.

Somehow, the team will need to come out of this bye looking new and improved.

The question is: how exactly will Tampa Bay do it?