Season review The 45th season of Tampa Bay Buccaneer football ended with a second Vince Lombardi Trophy as the Bucs defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, the first one featuring a team playing in its own home stadium. A season that was like no other with covid protocols meaning some games played in empty stadiums and others with only restricted attendances. There were changes to roster limits as players found themselves at times placed on inactive lists due to contact tracing tests. The season also saw the Bucs become the main story in the NFL with the arrival of Tom Brady. After 20 seasons in New England, the GOAT signed a two-year free agent contract meaning the end of the Jameis Winston era in Tampa. Brady quickly convinved his old sparing partner Rob Gronkowski to come out of retirement, the Bucs sending a 4th round pick to the Patriots for his rights. Veteran backs Leonard Fourette and LeSean McCoy arrived as did a reliable kicker in Ryan Succop who beat out 2019 draft pick Matt Gay in camp. Once again Tampa Bay hit on the draft. They boosted the offensive line with Tristan Wirfs in the 1st round who started every game at right tackle and safety Antoine Winfield in the second who also made all 16 starts. Both were consensus All-Rookie selections across the NFL and regarded as two of the top rookies anywhere in the league in 2020. Without a pre-season of any kind, there were always going to be some teething problems introducing Brady into the offensive scheme and results early on were mixed. A three-game win streak followed an opening day loss in New Orleans but some of the performances in October and November left a lot to be desired. There were multiple national TV games on the schedule and the Bucs played badly in all of them losing three out of four at one stage to fall to 7-5 as they went into their bye week at the end of November. Then things started to change. Whereas Brady’s deep passing looked abysmal at times in mid-season, now it was connecting and both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans came back from nagging injuries to post some monster games. Antonio Brown was signed in October, again at Brady’s insistence and he formed a three-receiver partnership that took the offense to a new level. The season ended with four straight wins, scoring over 40 points in the final two and the Buccaneers reached the post-season for the first time since 2007. The Wild Card game in Washington was closer than many expected after the home team had scraped into the playoffs by winning a terrible NFC North division but over 500 yards of offense against the No.2 defense in the NFL gave notice that this Buccaneer team was becoming a serious threat when they had the ball. The young defensive secondary was getting turnovers and the return of the influential Vita Vea from a broken ankle in the playoffs meant the defense could get pressure on opposing QBs with just four rushers. The Saints were handled in the Superdome thanks to four turnovers and the offense taking full advantage of them putting the Bucs into the NFC Championship game for the fifth time in their history. And they gained their second straight win too when they went up to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, jumped out to a 28-10 lead over Green Bay and then hung on to reach their second Super Bowl. The defending champion Chiefs were three point favourites going into the game lead by their mercurial superstar QB Patrick Mahomes but he found himself running for his life all day from an inspired pass rush that gave the secondary the chance to cover the speedy Kansas City receivers. The Bucs scored on four out of five possessions at one stage, the other being stopped at the one-yard line and the Chiefs were held out of the endzone all day. The fourth quarter became a victory procession and Joel Glazer was soon emulating his father by accepting the Vince Lombardi Trophy from the NFL Commissioner.
PLAYERS OUT DL Sam Acho DT Beau Allen (UFA - New England) RB Peyton Barber (UFA - Washington) LB Noah Dawkins T Demar Dotson (UFA - Denver) K Matt Gay T Jerald Hawkins (UFA - Houston) DE Carl Nassib (UFA - Las Vegas) RB Dare Ogunbowale WR Breshad Perriman (UFA - NY Jets) S Darian Stewart CB MJ Stewart QB Jameis Winston (UFA - New Orleans)
PLAYERS IN RB Kenyon Barner QB Tom Brady (UFA - New England) WR Antonio Brown CB Ross Cockrell RB Leonard Fournette LB Cam Gill TE Rob Gronkowski (Trade - New England) T Joe Haeg (UFA - Indianapolis) RB LeSean McCoy DT Steve McLendon (Trade - NY Jets) C AQ Shipley K Ryan Succop