Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added Tom Crabtree this offseason, they did so in hopes that he would be able to take a step forward and prove he’s ready for a bigger role in an offense lacking a true number one tight end. Crabtree was just one of many potential targets in the Green Bay, and now finds himself in Tampa Bay where the competition is perceived to be less steep. And while it may just be an act of goodwill towards the team that’s giving him a chance to earn a bigger role in the offense, Crabtree things that the competition in Tampa Bay is just as fierce. In fact, he went so far as to compare the talent to that of the Green Bay Packers. Pewter Report’s Mark Cook quoted Crabtree as having said the following about his new teammates: “Man, I’ll tell you what – being here for a month, some of the best, just gifted athletes I’ve been around. Some really talented guys. That’s not taking anything away from Green Bay. They’ve obviously had talented guys, as well. But coming here there’s been no dropoff as far as the athleticism and the talent of guys.” Crabtree may be a bit biased towards the team who offered him a contract versus the team that neglected to offer him a restricted free agent tender, but he may also be on to something. Are the Buccaneers as talented as the Packers? Let’s quickly go position by position and see if the Bucs’ newest tight end has a point. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Quarterback: This one is easy. No matter how you feel about Josh Freeman, you can’t say he’s better than Aaron Rodgers. Advantage, Green Bay. Running Back: This one is just as easy. Doug Martin is miles ahead of anyone in Green Bay. Advantage, Tampa Bay. Wide Receiver: The Packers lost Greg Jennings, but still have Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, and James Jones. The Buccaneers counter with Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams, and a mix of players competing for the third wide receiver job. Nelson is injury prone, and Cobb and Jones may be producing over their talent level thanks to a great quarterback, but the fact that the Packers roll three deep here means they have the slight advantage. Slight Advantage, Green Bay. Tight End: I’m not a big fan of Jermichael Finley‘s talent, but the Buccaneers have nothing to stand out as better than him, so Advantage, Green Bay. Offensive Line: The Buccaneers have this one in the bag once everyone gets healthy. The Packers have a couple of solid linemen, but the Buccaneers have some of the best in the business. Advantage, Tampa Bay. Defensive Line/Pass Rush: These teams run different systems, so this is tougher to judge. So I’ve included Clay Matthews in this group to give a more level playing field, and because of that, Green Bay comes out ahead. Advantage, Green Bay. Linebacker: With the way I have broken out the teams, Clay Matthews is a part of the pass rush section listed above. That means that Lavonte David is the best linebacker left between the two teams, and Mason Foster is good enough to give the Buccaneers a slight edge here, along with the potential that Jonathan Casillas brings. Slight Advantage, Tampa Bay. Secondary: The Packers lost Charles Woodson, and the Bucs lost Ronde Barber. That’s where the similarities end. The Bucs are clearly better at this position, with Dashon Goldson and Darrelle Revis dwarfing anyone the Pack have to offer. Advantage, Tampa Bay. Special Teams: Mason Crosby used to be a pretty reliable guy, but fell off last season. Connor Barth has been reliable. As for the punters, Tim Masthay and Michael Koenen aren’t that much different, but a slight edge goes to Masthay. On kickoffs, the Buccaneers were the best in the business at kicking for touchbacks, and Green Bay was below average. But Green Bay’s return game was much better than the Bucs. This section is a Push. So in other words, there is no clear favorite here, when we

Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports Now that the bulk of the offseason has really wrapped up, and we have a better feeling as of who’ll be where, Vegas has released a host of gambling lines on the 2013 season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are projected to be a middle of the road team by all accounts, but if you are like me and think they’ll be a contender, we have a chance to make some money. I’m here to show you how. (Editor’s note: Please gamble responsibly, and follow any applicable laws that affect gambling in your area. The advice in this article is not guaranteed to make you any money, as good as Ken may be!) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently set at 7.5 wins. But there is a slight caveat to that number as the over pays -140 and the under pays +120. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports For those of you who aren’t everyday sports gamblers, that means you would have to bet $140 to win $100 on the over, and only have to bet $100 to win $120 on the under. In other words, the line is set at 7.5 but the house has a feeling it’s more likely to be a little bit higher. My initial thought when the schedule came out was to say 8 to 9 was the likely range. Based on the rest of the offseason since the schedule release (namely the Revis trade), my conviction toward 9 became a little bitter stronger. I’d place some money (and I’m going to) on the over. 8 wins would kind of be a disaster the way I see it right now. 8-8 is simply not good enough and heads would likely roll if this were the outcome. And that still qualifies as over for this betting line. Anything less, I don’t even want to think about. Let’s move on to the division. The Buccaneers are set at 5/1 to win the division ranking them third behind the Falcons (Even money) and the Saints (2/1), just ahead of Carolina (11/2). My gut tells me the Saints are the pick here, as much as I want to throw up all over my keyboard writing that. But I wouldn’t bet them at 2/1. All four teams have a great shot at winning this division, and the way the South usually goes, it’s almost always a surprise. I’m gonna lay some money down on both the Bucs and the Panthers. $10 pays me $50 on Tampa Bay and pays me $55 on Carolina. That’s a net winnings of at least $40, and I get half the division. Maybe it’s just me, but I have the South as an incredibly tough division, and all four teams face difficult out of division schedules. Wouldn’t say I truly believe Carolina or Tampa Bay will finish atop the division, just saying it’s the right bet. How bout bigger and better things? Our Bucs are currently sitting at 20/1 to win the NFC Championship. I hate this bet, and I’ll tell you why. It has nothing to do with the Buccaneers actual chances to win the conference, because I think they are better than 20/1. But why bet 20/1 to win the NFC Championship, when you can get 40/1 for the Bucs to hoist the Lombardi Trophy? 20 extra dollars on every dollar I bet to win just 1 more game? Sign me up. So here’s how you play it, or at least how I would. Put $10 down on the Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers. That way, if it happens, you are taking $400 to the local bank. But now let’s take a little risk out of it. Let’s say the Bucs squeak in as a 6 seed, they’ll probably be underdogs by a couple of points in the opening round. Put $10 on the Bucs losing, and you’ll probably collect about $5-7 profit. Bucs lose, you bet $3-5 to win $400 (because you got back some of your original outlay). Bucs win, we’re still in the mix here. Divisional round, drop $20 against  your dearly beloved. Bucs lose, you recoup the $10 we lost last round, and cut into our initial investment, but if the Bucs win, we’re just two away from those big 4 bills. Now we’re into the NFC Championship. You’re out $30 from hedging your bets to get us this far. At this point, you g

Tampa Bay believes TE Tom Crabtree has the potential to produce at a higher level, given the opportunity, and the former Packer is excited about the opportunity

Boldin moves into No. 1 slot Michael Crabtree suffered a torn Achilles tendon during OTAs Tuesday and will soon undergo what could be season-ending surgery, a person informed of the injury told USA TODAY Sports. The 49ers haven't commented yet on the injury, which used to be an automatic season-ender but has since become one that can sometimes be rehabbed in a matter of months - as Baltimore Ravens LB Terrell Suggs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers DE De'Quan Bowers did last year. Both players tore the tendon in the spring and returned to the field after starting the year on the physically unable to perform list. (USA Today) FF Today's Take: Crabtree is coming off a breakout season in which he had career-highs in receptions (85), yards (1,105) and touchdowns (nine). The major difference between Crabtree and players like Suggs and Bowers is that Crabtree's position requires him to plant and cut much more. Anquan Boldin moves to the top of depth chart and stands to be a solid fantasy WR3 at the very least. This also means A.J. Jenkins will most likely be counted on more heavily after a disappointing rookie season.

New Buccaneer tight end Tom Crabtree talks to us about his first year in red and pewter, his involvement in social media and meeting his new Tampa Bay teammates.

How different would your opinion of Josh Freeman be if he ended the season with an eight-game stretch where he threw for 17 touchdowns, 2,074 yards, 3 interceptions at 7.5 yards per pass attempt after two four-interception games earlier in the season? I know the answer to that question: Freeman would be seen as someone who had turned the corner, who was going to be a star in this league and who was emerging as a franchise quarterback. Unfortunately for Freeman, he posted those numbers from game six through game thirteen, rather than the final three games. Human beings suffer from many cognitive biases, and one of them is called the recency effect: more recent events are easier to recall and tend to dominate human memory over older memories. In the case of Josh Freeman's 2013 season, his three-game late-season stretch is easier to recall than the preceding seven-game stretch I just described. During those three games, Freeman passed for 873 yards at 6.4 yards per attempt, amassing just two touchdowns against a whopping 9 interceptions. Those numbers are bad, obviously. But the fact that those games occurred at the end of the season isn't particularly relevant. The problem with narratives The human mind loves stories, and it creates them easily from just a few facts. Narratives are great: they make for exciting, enjoyable reads and are a crucial part of why we enjoy sports. The underdog story, chasing a championship, the fourth-quarter comeback: they're all stories we create in our consumption of sports. Unfortunately, objective analysis is rather hard when trying to frame everything as a story. This is what happens with quarterbacks, though. They're termed 'clutch', or 'winners', or 'chokers'. Everything focuses on clutch performance and performance under pressure. This is how Tom Brady is seen as the ultimate winner, while Peyton Manning sometimes is still seen as someone who can't handle pressure. This despite the fact that Peyton Manning has won more Super Bowls than Tom Brady in the past eight years. Bill Barnwell did a great job deconstructing this narrative. After the 2010 season, Josh Freeman was the comeback kid. He had posted a league-leading five fourth-quarter game-winning drives. He had seemingly won 10 games all by himself, limiting turnovers throughout the game and then elevating his game to new heights in the fourth quarter. The Buccaneers didn't make the playoffs, but that was just because of some bogus tiebreakers, of course. He was clutch! A winner! Hell, he posted a game-winning drive even in his first NFL game in 2009, giving the Bucs their first win after starting 0-7. Two seasons later, and the narrative has shifted. He can't handle pressure, doesn't win when it counts, can't bring his team to the edge. That is the new story of Josh Freeman's career. And yet, he is still the same player he was in 2009 and 2010. He hasn't changed. Only our framing of his career has changed. The new narrative of Freeman is inaccurate, but so was the 2010 narrative. The myth of "When it counts" Our love of stories has created one big myth: the myth of when it counts. The fourth-quarter comeback has been embedded in our memory. Story after story has been written about John Elway's comebacks. When you say "The Drive" or "The Catch" an image pops into your head: John Elway and Joe Montana, willing their teams to victory in a tough game. Games like that have elevated clutch performance and late-game drives to the epitome of quarterback play. These narratives are enthralling. They're part of what makes this game great. They're also bullshit. This should intuitively be true. Yes, performing in the clutch is obviously important when needed. But it's a lot more important to be able to score early in the game. Pull out to a three-score lead, and you can make the opponent one-dimensional. You dictate the pace of the game and the score early in the game reverberates throughout the game, making every subsequent play a little e

OTA Day 2 – Ready to play at the top of his game, Buccaneer linebacker Dekoda Watson is among those competing for the starting strongside linebacker role for the Buccaneers.

OTA Day 2 – Dashon Goldson adjusting well to life as a Buccaneer and picking up on the tempo, intensity and terminology at OTAs.

OTA Day 2 – Second-year cornerback Leonard Johnson is feeling more comfortable and confident than where he was last season and is excited to learn from the newly built secondary.