No one really knew what to make of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2009 NFL season. This was a strong team that made the playoffs in 2007, but faltered a bit in 2008, faltering both offensively and defensively.
With the loss of Joey Galloway, the offense appeared to be in a position to suffer, but some nice additions in the offensive department (Byron Leftwich at quarterback, Derrick Ward at running back for the Giants, and Kellen Winslow at tight end for the Browns) they put the Bucs in position to take advantage of their offensive woes from the 2008 season.
The Bucs opened their 2009 campaign with a game against the Dallas Cowboys. No one really knew what to expect from this game. The Cowboys were without Terrell Owens, and the game was being played in Tampa Bay, so some even predicted that Tampa Bay would win.
Things didn’t exactly work out this way for the Bucs. The Cowboys took an early lead and never looked back, taking the game by a score of 34-21.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers received a tough opponent in Week 2, traveling to Buffalo to face the Bills. The Bills had nearly beaten the New England Patriots in Week 1 and seemed to have improved a lot in 2009, thanks to some key additions on both offense and defense (most notably Terrell Owens). The Bills won this game 33-20, about the same score as the Bucs’ first week loss.
An 0-3 start would be far from ideal for Tampa Bay, but with a game against the Giants, it may be on the cards.
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