After 4 seasons, we are back in the playoffs and where the season began in Tampa. We are not the same team from week 1. JDs all grown up now. A full season under his belt is a little different than maybe 5 preseason drives. I no longer expect other teams to score every single possession on our defense. It makes sense why we got the nod for Sunday night in. Everytime we step on the field, it is must see TV. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game comes down to the last play. As of lately, it feels like every Sunday we are on the edge of our seats till the clock hits zero. Hopefully, we can get another one to go our way.
We have had the more playoffs matchups with Tampa than any other team in my life. We beat them in our most recent playoff win 19 years ago. Then in 2020, the legend Taylor Heinicke left it all on the field only to fall to the eventually Super Bowl champions led by Tom Brady. Before then, we ran into prime Aaron Rodgers and the Legion of Boom. In the past, I’d just be happy to be here and not expect much. But, it’s a new era in DC and things are different.
To hit a quick recap of last week, it was what’s become a typical Commies game. We play to our competition then somehow walk away with a win. That won’t cut it anymore. Terry breaking the single season franchise touchdown record to win us the game with 3 seconds left was electric. I cannot believe he was robbed of 1st all pro team honors. Still, very cool to see him, Bobby, Frankie, and Austin all on the second team. In the moment, I wasn’t thrilled with us benching JD with seeding on the line. Hindsight 2020. The Packers lost so even if we had gone down we still would’ve held onto 6. Also, seeing what happened to Jordan Love helped me understand the thought process. I’ll admit I’m not used to this whole playoff thing. Also, shoutout to Mikey for winning rookie of the week. First time ever an offensive and defensive player have won the award in Washington during the same season.
We’re getting Lattimore and Biadisz back. That is massive news. We have our guy to shadow and lock down Mike Evans. Watching them go at it is going to be a lot of fun. The over under for punches thrown is 0.5. I’m leaning torward the under there because it is a playoff game. The over under for seat belt celebrations is 2.5. I’m hammering that over. It might be a max unit play. Lattimore is going to have Mike strapped into a booster seat for the whole game. Our offensive line has struggled lately. With our anchor back in the mix, ideally the group will help BRob get it together.
The Buccaneers bolster one of the best run defenses in the league. This makes getting our center back that much more important. We will need to establish the run early so we can open up the downfield bombs to Terry. This plays well into our hand seeing how the Bucs have let up the 4th most passing yards per game in the league. It gives me hope that even if we can’t establish the run, we will still be able to get it done through the air. All signs point torward a Luke McCaffrey legacy game.
Looking at their offense, we’re going to need to slow down the backfield duo of Bucky and Rashaad. I already know Rashaad is going to be targeted on at least 5 check downs. We’ll need to keep the flats covered. That would be a very annoying way to watch us lose this game. We also can’t be fooled by Baker again. He knows how to use his legs and isn’t afraid to lead with his shoulder. I don’t hate the idea of trying to light him up, in a clean fashion, when he gets mobile. Lastly, it’s already been stated that Mike Evans needs to be a non factor. In his 13 games against Marshon, he has lost the battle. I think we’re due to see another big performance from our guy. He’s definitely due after the Eagles game.
With us being a team who hasn’t made a trip to the playoffs in a few years, it wouldn’t surprise me to see our fans travel very well. Who wouldn’t want to take a weekend trip down to Florida to sit on the beach and watch some football? Prayers out to everyone in LA. But, we dodged a bullet not having to travel there during this crisis. Very cool to see Arizona offering up their planes, facilities, and stadium during the crisis. Classy move from the Bidwells who grew up in the DC area.
I don’t think theres a reason to talk gambling with this blog. All I care about is getting to watch this team for another week. We are playing with house money. Our over under win total was 7 games. Some ESPN know it alls projected us to win 4 games. Glad those people get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to not know anything. At least they don’t have the same situation going on as FS1. It’s a disaster over there right now. The only guy you can trust is Colin Cowherd and that’s saying something.
I plan to hunker down tomorrow night. I’m getting hard times wings, pizza, and some sort of alcohol. The type of alcohol will be a game time decision. Leaning wine because it’s a Sunday night, but that idea is subject to change. I just hope we win the game. If are down by multiple scores late, I’m hitting the live line on the over under punches thrown bet. That’s all I’ve got today. Good luck to everyone out there. Looking forward to writing back about round 2.
Photo Credit: Abdullah Konte/The Washington Informer