by Carter Brantley
After a three week skid that included losses to the Bills, Rams, and Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to come out of this nose dive and get a win in their last game in the month of November.
The team took down the Arizona Cardinals 20-17 Sunday afternoon with key contributions across the board on offense, defense and special teams.
Offensively they were buoyed by the return of star running back Bucky Irving, who managed to secure a rushing touchdown and his first game of action returning from shoulder and knee injuries that kept him out for a little over a month.
Left tackle Tristan Wirfs also got the first touchdown by an offensive lineman of the season for the NFL on his red zone grab in the first half.
Safeties Antoine Winfield, Jr. and Tykee Smith each got involved in the takeaway game, with AWJ hauling in an interception off a Jamel Dean deflection and Smith recovering a forced fumble caused by Vita Vea.
Add in a couple solid kicks from Chase McLaughlin (one from 56 yards out) and the Bucs can feel good about their performances in all phases of the game.
The team celebrated pass rusher Simeon Rice’s introduction into their Ring of Honor with a halftime ceremony hosted by play-by-play man Gene Deckerhoff.
Around the division, the Carolina Panthers managed a surprise upset of the formidable Los Angeles Rams with a 31-28 victory.
The Panthers continue their quest to interrupt the Bucs’ streak of NFC South dominance, as the division will come down to the wire as the season enters the month of December.
Carolina sits at 7-6 going into their Bye week, with the 2 potential division winners matching up twice in the season’s final 6 weeks.
Luckily for the Bucs, their schedule eases up considerably, with those 2 games against the Panthers to go alongside showdowns with the 2-10 Saints, the 5-7 Dolphins, and the 4-8 Falcons.
Today’s win was a solid start to the home stretch of what’s been an injury-filled campaign for the Pewter Boys, and things are even looking up in that department as well.
Receivers Jalen McMillan and Mike Evans are expected to rejoin the team in the coming weeks to give the Bucs even more of a spark offensively to go along with the aforementioned return of Bucky Irving.
So it’s a good week, Bucs fans, even if the score was perhaps a good bit closer than expected.
