2020 vision: Looking ahead to Denver's Week 3 matchup vs. Tampa Bay

Miles

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Mar 18, 2019
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The question mark:


How far along is Tampa Bay's offense?


The Bucs certainly have the pieces in place to light up scoreboards, as Brady and Gronkowski join wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in Tampa. Evans is a three-time Pro Bowler, and Godwin earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2019. Brady and Gronkowski's success, meanwhile, is well-documented. The Broncos' secondary will be in for perhaps its toughest test of the season's first month. How, though, will a virtual offseason impact Brady's ability to get settled in a new offense? If the Bucs go through some early season offensive struggles, the Broncos could be primed to pull the upset against Tampa, which is currently a slight favorite. If the Bucs already firing on all cylinders, this matchup becomes much more daunting.


An opposing view:


Carmen Vitali, a staff writer for Buccaneer.com, on QB Tom Brady signing with the Bucs this offseason:


"I think the overarching feeling by everyone was just a sense of disbelief. I don't know how much the current climate played into it, not being able to have a press conference with him, actually have him in the building [and] see him in Bucs gear, his Bucs uniform. None of it felt real for a really long time. But I think that the biggest thing was it already shifted the dynamic. To have someone like that with that much experience and that much invested in another franchise jump ship — no pun intended — to come to Tampa, I think it really gave a lot of the guys a confidence boost in a lot of ways. It was like 'We have a great team, and now people might know that we have a great team.' So I think everyone's really excited to learn from him. [It's] the attitude and the work ethic that he brings in addition to the experience. I know that obviously our receivers are super excited, our defense is even really excited just to know that they have that kind of guy on the other side of the ball. But yeah, it's still kind of surreal in a lot of ways."


For more from Vitali on the Buccaneers and how the Week 3 matchup could unfold, click here.


The last meeting:


The Broncos haven't played the NFC South since 2016, and both teams looked drastically different during Denver's 27-7 win in Tampa.


Trevor Siemian started that contest and officially earned the win as the Broncos improved to 4-0 on the season as they tried to defend their Super Bowl title. Siemian, though, was knocked out of the game, and first-round Paxton Lynch saw the first action of his career. Lynch finished 14-of-24 for 170 yards and a touchdown.


The Broncos cruised for most of the afternoon, as Aqib Talib snagged two interceptions against his former team and later was given a game ball. Both Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders caught touchdowns and C.J. Anderson also recorded a score.


The only drama was whether the game would finish, as a nearly 90-minute weather delay postponed the game in the fourth quarter.
 
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