The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ convincing win against the Washington Commanders came with an unfortunate cost.
Despite losing offensive coordinator and highly regarded quarterback guru, Dave Canales, who became the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, the Tampa Bay maintained its status as a high flying offense in a 37-20 win against the Commanders.
Recently paid quarterback, Baker Mayfield, threw for 4 touchdowns in a display that left few in doubt of the end result from the get-go. Whilst Washington may not have the best defensive personnel in the NFL, any defense commandeered by Dan Quinn is deserving of at least some respect.
Worries For The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Defense Coming Into The 2024 Season
Coming in to the season, however, most of the emphasis was placed upon the quality of the Bucs’ defense; specifically, how well their depleted secondary would hold up over the course of the season against a league-wide group of receivers that seem to be improving every year.
Trading #1 cornerback, Carlton Davis, to the Detroit Lions back in March was seen as a prudent move, however it seemed imperative that Tampa Bay replace him in the 2024 draft, or with a seasoned veteran.
Neither happened, and instead Tampa started the season with much a substantially weakened cornerback room.
Washington Wiped Out Half Of The Bucs’ Secondary
All Pro safety, Antoine Winfield Jr., starter Zyon McCollum and his backup, Bryce Hall, all suffered injuries on Sunday, and some particularly bad news has befell Hall and Winfield Jr. per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.
Antoine Winfield Jr. in walking boot, Bryce Hall likely out for season. https://t.co/Pz2cFkUSor
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 9, 2024
Bryce Hall was always an underrated backup option corner (in my opinion, at least), but, in truth, not a major deciding factor in the Bucs’ defense. Regardless, it is still devastating to see a player go down injured in the very first game of the season.
Winfield Jr., on the other hand, is a totally different story. Whilst his injury does not yet seem to be season-ending, the fact that he is in a walking boot is certainly not a good sign.
Moreover, the Minnesota alum is the heartbeat of the Buccaneers defense, having just signed a 4 year, $84 million deal that made him the highest paid DB in the NFL at the time – until he was recently displaced by Miami Dolphins cornerback, Jalen Ramsey.
At this point, it seems like the severity of Winfield’s injury is not known, although he is expected to miss at least 2 weeks; meanwhile McCollum suffered a concussion and his return date is not specified, although it will likely not be a long term injury.
Irregardless, this does not bode well for next week’s difficult game at the Detroit Lions, where they currently rest at 7 point underdogs.
For Additional Content
Hello there. If you enjoyed this article (or, really, even if you didn’t). Please go and follow me on Twitter @danielarwas for more NFL breaking news, updates, and “special edition” previews.
