Now that the draft is over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can start looking ahead to the 2010 season. With the roster almost complete we can begin to look at the schedule at possible wins, toughest games, and dream scenarios. Will the Bucs offense improve with the additions of Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn? How will Josh Freeman fare in year 2? What kind of impact will Gerald McCoy and Brian Price make this season? We will argue for months about these questions until we finally see our Bucs in action, but until then here is an early look at the 2010 Bucs schedule.
| 1 | Sep 12 | CLE @ TB | Raymond James Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 2 | Sep 19 | TB @ CAR | Bank of America Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 3 | Sep 26 | PIT @ TB | Raymond James Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 4 |
Bye |
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| 5 | Oct 10 | TB @ CIN | Paul Brown Stadium | 1:00 PM |
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| 6 | Oct 17 | NO @ TB | Raymond James Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 24 | STL @ TB | Raymond James Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 31 | TB @ ARI | University of Phoenix Stadium | 4:15 PM | ||||||
| 9 | Nov 07 | TB @ ATL | Georgia Dome | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 14 | CAR @ TB | Raymond James Stadium |
1:00 PM |
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| 11 | Nov 21 | TB @ SF | Candlestick Park | 4:05 PM | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 28 | TB @ BAL | M&T Bank Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 13 | Dec 05 | ATL @ TB | Raymond James Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 14 | Dec 12 | TB @ WAS | FedEx Field | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 15 | Dec 19 | DET @ TB | Raymond James Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 16 | Dec 26 | SEA @ TB | Raymond James Stadium | 1:00 PM | ||||||
| 17 | Jan 02 | TB @ NO | Superdome | 1:00 PM | ||||||
Dream Scenario-
The offense continues to improve under Greg Olsen and the Defense returns to its dominant form. The Bucs start off hot heading into the bye week 3-0 after wins at home against the Browns and Steelers, and a road victory in Carolina. The Bucs come out of the bye week and struggle at Cincinatti and against the defending champion Saints dropping them to 3-2. But the young Bucs surprisingly win 4 out of 5 including two west coast road games and are 7-3 and the talk of the league coming down the stretch. Tampa Bay finds Baltimore and Atlanta a little tough and cool off, but finish winning 3 of 4 to close out the season and head to the playoffs at 10-6.
Nighmare Scenario-
Bucs start off hot going 2-1 into the bye week, but the week 4 bye is a killer, that will ultimately be the demise of the young Bucs. The Bucs fall back to earth losing against Arizona and New Orleans before beating the Rams to get back to 3-3. This however, will be the highlight of the season as the Bucs run through a tough stretch including traveling to Arizona and San Francisco in a four week stretch. In the final 10 games the Bucs can only find the win column twice and finish a disappointing 5-11. Raheem Morris is fired and Mark Dominik is read his last rights. The rebuilding plan has caught a snag and we draft in the top 5 again.
Although we are a long way from the season it is fun to look at the possibilities of next year. Looking at this schedule I think we will go 8-8 give or take a couple of wins. We have a much easier schedule and we improved greatly at the end of last season. What is your take on next season?