Goodbye Irma.. Hello Jameis.
Pro Football is back on Sunday in Tampa, and not a moment too soon. Fans haven’t seen the Bucs in a regular season game in over 8 months. The Bucs first-teamers haven’t played together in 3 weeks, and that was only preseason.
Many people still need their electricity turned back on. The rest of us need football.
“Can a city rally around football?” Bucs’ 8th-year DT Gerald McCoy asked on Wednesday. “Yeah, we’re not us without our city. I think everybody is just excited to see football in Tampa again. We’re excited, fans are excited and it’s a getaway.”
“It’s great to get back to thinking a little bit about football,” said Bucs HC Dirk Koetter. “We know that a lot of people got it worse than we did, and we were very fortunate here to have as little misfortune in this area as we did in some other parts of the state and the region. But, we’re thinking about those people.”
So, what can fans expect to see come Sunday? Don’t be surprised to see some rust. The starters didn’t see much action in the preseason.. and none at all in the past 3 weeks. The rest of the league, including the Bears, at least played their opener. At least they should be fresh.
And what will the Bucs see when Chicago steps on the Raymond James Stadium turf? They’ll see a team that went toe-to-toe with the Falcons, and if not for a dropped pass at the goal line, would have beaten the NFC Champs. After some shaky moments, Mike Glennon looked good. Remember, Glennon spent 4 seasons with the Bucs, so they know him. And since they know him so well, they know if he has time, the NC State product can be very accurate. That’s where the pass rush comes in.
“We know that he’s very capable of making plays,” said Bucs DC Mike Smith. “If we don’t get pressure on him, we don’t cover, and we aren’t on top of our game, Mike Glennon could make it tough for our defense. There is no doubt about that.”
To the football-crazed South, we know what this season means to us. We need our football. And with what a lot of us have gone through, and are still dealing with, a dose of America’s real pastime is the tonic need.
The Bucs say limited tickets remain available.
Welcome back, Bucs.
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