Two wins in a row, Tampa Bay routs Denver
The sky was falling when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers faltered in their season opener in New Orleans. It came back closer to reality in last Sunday’s 31-17 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Now we’re starting to see the kind of Buccaneers many predicted we may see this 2020 campaign when they traveled to Denver, Colorado.
Facing a winless Denver Broncos team, Tampa Bay got production from each side of the ball as the Buccaneers rolled to a 28-10 victory Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium. The win marks the second in a row for Tampa Bay and the Buccaneers will head back home to prepare for a home matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, whom lost 21-16 to the Panthers on Sunday.
Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady once again was dealing early and often, throwing for nearly 200 yards in the first half before cooling off in the second. Brady ended his day throwing for 297 yards and three touchdowns, with two of those going to wide receiver Mike Evans. After a punt block on special teams, Brady and the offense took advantage via a 10-yard touchdown pass to returning wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Godwin did look good in his return from concussion protocol, but did exit from the game in the second half with an apparent hamstring injury. Much talk during the week leading into the game was surrounding the usage of tight end Rob Gronkowski and despite head coach Bruce Arians proclaiming the tight ends don’t see the ball a whole ton, they did on Sunday. Gronkowski caught six passes for 48 yards and OJ Howard had 49 yards receiving himself.
The defense had themselves a field day in Denver’s backfield and most of the time ended up in a meeting with quarterback Jeff Driskell. Driskell, who replaced the injured Drew Lock, never got into any kind of rhythm on offense. The former Florida Gators’ quarterback threw an interception and was sacked five times, twice by Shaq Barrett whom was making a return of sorts to Denver. Barrett played in Denver before leaving and signing with Tampa Bay in free agency. Two wins and counting as the Buccaneers seem to have some winnable games upcoming on the slate.
