The Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocked everyone in 2023 with their standings placement at the top of the NFC South, which was predicted by a few before the year started. Looking ahead to 2024, have the Buccaneers actually improved for the long term?
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Where will the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s standings placement be in 2024? Let’s take a look at how they surprised the football world in 2023 and why they may be here to stay as NFC South contenders.
Baker Mayfield: After winning a pair of division titles with Tom Brady, no one had the Buccaneers winning the division with Mayfield at the helm. He was simply looking for a place to show he could still be a starter.
Instead, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have found a long-term solution at quarterback. Mayfield had his best season as a starter across the board. He had his highest completion percentage (64.3%), most yardage (4,044), and touchdown passes (28). When looking at the Buccaneer’s standings position, it’s clear Mayfield is a major reason.
Stout Run Defense. Though everyone will talk about the question marks in the secondary, the real reason that we could find the Buccaneers near the top of the standings is because of their run defense.
Sure, they were in the bottom half of the league in yards per attempt against in the passing game. On the ground, however, they were tied for fourth-best in the league by allowing just 3.8 yards per carry. They also finished tied for second in the league with just 5 rushes of 20 or more yards.
Though this is still a passing league, shutting down the run to that degree pays dividends. It also makes offenses one-dimensional, which should take some pressure off a questionable secondary.
Vita Vea. A key part of that rush defense is nose tackle Vita Vea. He has been a force in the interior of the Bucs lineup since 2018 and had one of his best seasons a year ago. His 8 tackles for loss, 43 total tackles, and 28 solo tackles were all career-highs. His 5.5 sacks fell just one shy of his career-best 6.5 in 2022.
Vea is one of the premier interior linemen in the league. According to reports, he has slimmed down a bit, looking faster and stronger than ever before. This could be the year that Vea finally elevates himself to an All-Pro level. If he does, the Bucs are going to be nasty to play against.
The Falcons Hype. The one factor that no one is considering is that the Bucs will fly under the radar. Everyone is on the Falcons’ bandwagon after the signing of quarterback Kirk Cousins.
While adding Cousins certainly makes them a much better team, he is in his mid-30s and coming off a major injury. Don’t be surprised to see the Falcons slip and the Bucs capitalize.
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