Pewter Preview For Week 3

With another dramatic, come-from-behind win on Monday Night Football against the Texans, the Bucs got out to a 2-0 start for the fifth consecutive season. They don’t have much time to celebrate that victory, though, as they have to turn right around and start preparing for Sunday’s home opener against the New York Jets at Raymond James Stadium after a short week of practice.

Tampa Bay starting out 2-0 is nothing new, but each of the four 2-0 starts prior to this year’s was immediately followed by a Week 3 loss. In fact, Todd Bowles and Co. are looking for the franchise’s first 3-0 start since 2005. Interestingly enough, the Bucs celebrated their 30th season in 2005, and a big theme of this Sunday’s game will be the 50th season celebrations. So, in a way, it would be fitting for the team to start off its home slate by matching the 3-0 start it had 20 years ago in its 30th season.

In the way of a potential 3-0 start for this Bucs team are the 0-2 New York Jets, who are visiting Tampa for the first time since the 2017 season. They bring with them another unique subplot to this game, which is Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles facing his former team. His first head coaching stint came with New York from 2015-2018, and his firing led to him joining Bruce Arians’ coaching staff when Arians came to Tampa in 2019. While these two teams did meet at MetLife Stadium during the 2023 preseason, this will be Bowles’ first regular season game as a head coach against the Jets.

Before we dive further in our “What to Watch For” preview later this week, here’s a general preview of Sunday’s matchup between the Bucs and Jets at Ray Jay:

The Last Time…

The last time these two teams met, they played a game that was wilder than it had any business being. At the tail end of the 2021 season – but on the second day of the 2022 calendar year – Tom Brady and the 11-4 Bucs went up to MetLife Stadium to face the 4-11 Jets. It was far from a cakewalk for Tampa Bay, as New York went up 7-0 early and would eventually take a 24-10 lead midway through the third quarter.

Then, late in the third, this happened:

You likely don’t need to be told, but that’s only Bucs wide receiver Antonio Brown making a shirtless exit from the team and the NFL after deciding mid-game that, actually, he didn’t need this football thing anymore. For whatever reason, he left and Tampa Bay – already without Chris Godwin, who suffered a season-ending knee injury a month earlier – had to move forward with Mike Evans, Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate and a host of unheralded receivers the rest of the way.

Shortly after Brown left the field, Brady connected with Brate for a touchdown to cut into the Jets’ lead, making it a 24-17 game. A Ryan Succop field goal midway through the fourth quarter made it 24-20, then came the game-changing sequence. That saw the Jets go for it on fourth-and-2 deep in Bucs territory, forgoing a field goal that would make it a seven-point game. After all, a first down would put the game away. Only Zach Wilson was stopped well short of the line to gain, giving the ball over to Brady and the Buccaneers offense.

What came next was a drive for the ages, with Brady firing strikes to Cyril Grayson and Tyler Johnson to get the ball down the field in crunch time. Then, with 15 seconds left, Brady found Grayson for a 33-yard touchdown pass for the win. Le’Veon Bell punched in the two-point conversion to make it 28-24, then the Tampa Bay defense closed it out from there to get to 12-4 ahead of the regular season finale the following week.

Brady went 34-of-50 for 410 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on the afternoon, while Gronkowski led all pass-catchers with seven catches for 115 yards (16.4 avg.). Grayson finished the day with six catches for 81 yards and the game-winning touchdown, while Johnson came through huge late and wound up with four catches for 50 yards. Anthony Nelson had a big game for the defense, racking up three tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed.

The Jets own a decisive lead in the all-time series between these two teams, going 10-3 against the Bucs over the years. Tampa Bay has won the last two meetings, including the last matchup at Raymond James Stadium back in 2017.

How The Bucs And Jets Are Trending

The Bucs are in a fascinating spot heading into Week 3, as they are coming off two massive, dramatic, comeback wins on the road against two tough teams in the Falcons and Texans. There’s been a lot to love about the grit they have displayed in both games, as they’ve done well in weathering the early storm of missing All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs and Chris Godwin, the second-best receiver in franchise history. They’re certainly in a great spot record wise – perhaps better than anyone could’ve even expected – as they return to Tampa for their home opener against the 0-2 Jets.

But with all of that said, the injury bug has gotten to this team in a big way already, and it’s only mid-September. Tampa Bay knew it would be without Wirfs and Godwin to start the season, but losing talented rookies David Walker and J.J. Roberts in training camp and the preseason didn’t help matters. Then came several more injuries, including season-enders for defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and right guard Cody Mauch, as well as a foot injury that will cost right tackle Luke Goedeke some time in the coming weeks.

So, that’s plenty of moving pieces and a whole lot of early adversity for a Bucs team that has designs on making a run to the Super Bowl in their 50th season.

Thus far, the offense has been able to make do with a makeshift offensive line that has seen Graham Barton move from center to left tackle, Ben Bredeson slide from left guard to center and Michael Jordan step in at left guard. But now, unless Wirfs can make a return in Week 3, this pieced-together line will feature those three as well as a new right guard and Charlie Heck stepping in for Goedeke at right tackle.

That could certainly limit Josh Grizzard‘s offense, but quarterback Baker Mayfield has shown through two games that he’s simply hell-bent on making things happen and willing the team to victory. He’s gotten help from rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, the always-reliable Mike Evans and a backfield that features two versatile playmakers in Bucky Irving and Rachaad White. Grizzard, a first-time play-caller, has done well to put Mayfield and Co. in good positions so far this season. But the absences of Mauch and Goedeke add yet another challenge for a coordinator who just can’t catch a break personnel-wise.

Defensively, the Bucs are playing better, more fundamentally sound football so far this year. They’re not getting the sacks and takeaways that a dominant defense creates, but they’ve managed the first two games of the season well. Opening-drive touchdowns have been a problem, but outside of those, this has been a group that has played well against two offenses full of big-time playmakers. Haason Reddick is off to a good start, as are Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith back at safety.

The Bucs need some more productivity from Yaya Diaby and some better play overall from SirVocea Dennis, and creating some takeaways is the biggest next step Todd Bowles‘ unit has to take. That would take some pressure off the banged-up offense and swing the defense’s performance meter from good to great.

Lastly on the Tampa Bay side of things, perhaps the most troubling trend outside of the injury crisis is the poor play from the special teams unit. Chase McLaughlin has missed two field goals and an extra point in two games, Riley Dixon had a punt blocked in a crucial moment against the Texans and the punt and kick coverage teams have been problematic, too. Missed kicks are missed points, and coverage problems on kicks and punts lead to field position disadvantages for the defense. Those are problems an injury-plagued team could have a hard time overcoming.

On the Jets’ side, it’s been a bit of a mixed start under new head coach Aaron Glenn. The offense performed better than expected in Week 1, but the defense let the team down in a 34-32 loss to the Steelers. Last week, bad went to worse as the defense couldn’t contain Josh Allen and the offense couldn’t get going in a 30-10 loss to the Bills. Now, after two home losses, the Jets hit the road for the first time this season, playing back-to-back games in Florida, starting with the Bucs on Sunday.

New York is looking to avoid an 0-3 start under Glenn, the former Lions defensive coordinator. Glenn knows Tampa Bay’s offense well given the matchups the team had against Detroit in 2023 and 2024, and that could be a plus in his favor. But the downside for him and his team is the fact that they come into Week 3 without starting quarterback Justin Fields, who is in concussion protocol. Veteran journeyman Tyrod Taylor will start in Fields’ place.

Taylor is plenty capable, of course, and he has some weapons at his disposal. Running back Breece Hall is the most dangerous, and he’s off to a good start this season with 136 yards on 29 carries (4.7 avg.) and four catches for 47 yards (11.8 avg.). Going up against a strong Tampa Bay run defense may be tough, but Hall might find some success as a pass-catcher out of the backfield the way Bijan Robinson, Nick Chubb and Woody Marks did in Weeks 1 and 2.

Garrett Wilson is the No. 1 target in the passing game, as his 11 catches, 17 targets, 145 yards and one touchdown lead all receivers for New York. Hall is actually second in yardage, with former Buc Tyler Johnson (two catches, 31 yards) being the second-most productive receiver. Rookie tight end Mason Taylor (two catches, 25 yards) is the team’s fourth-leading receiver.

Defense is Glenn’s specialty, but it’s been a struggle thus far for the Jets as they’ve allowed 32 points per game through two weeks. The pieces are there, with linebacker Jamien Sherwood (19 tackles, three tackles for loss), star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (seven tackles, one sack, three tackles for loss) and edge rushers Jermaine Johnson (seven tackles, one pass defensed) and Will McDonald IV (three tackles, two sacks). And leading the way in the secondary is Sauce Gardner, who has three passes defensed thus far.

A lack of takeaways is plaguing New York right now, too, as Glenn’s defense has zero interceptions through two games. And while the unit has forced three fumbles, it has yet to recover one. So, both of these defenses are searching for their first takeaways of the season heading into Week 3.

Here’s how the Bucs and Jets stack up heading into Week 3:

Bucs Offense: T-18th in scoring offense (21.5 PPG), 21st in total offense (310.0 yards per game), 26th in passing offense (175.0 yards per game), 9th in rushing offense (135.0 yards per game)

Jets Offense: T-21st in scoring offense (21.0 PPG), 26th in total offense (274.0 yards per game), 29th in passing offense (133.0 yards per game), 6th in rushing offense (141.0 yards per game)

Bucs Defense: 13th in scoring defense (19.5 points allowed per game), 15th in total defense (312.0 yards allowed per game), 23rd in passing defense (235.5 yards allowed per game), 5th in rushing defense (76.5 yards allowed per game)

Jets Defense: 30th in scoring defense (32.0 points allowed per game), 23rd in total defense (337.0 yards allowed per game), T-13th in passing defense (198.5 yards allowed per game), 24th in rushing defense (138.5 yards allowed per game)

As of Wednesday night, the Bucs are 6.5-point favorites, with the Over/Under set at 43.5 (per Hard Rock Bet).

Bucs vs. Jets Game Information

When: Sunday, September 21
Where: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, FL)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m. ET
TV: FOX – Kenny Albert (Play by Play), Jonathan Vilma (Analyst), Megan Olivi (Reporter)
Bucs Radio: 98Rock – Gene Deckerhoff (Play by Play), Dave Moore (Color), T.J. Rives (Reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente – Carlos Bohorquez (Play by Play), Martín Gramática (Analyst), Santiago Gramática (Reporter)