The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got their 2024 campaign off to a rousing start with a 37-20 drubbing of the visiting Washington Commanders at Raymond James Stadium. Now they have to make their first road trip of the young season, and it's to an emotionally-charged venue. Tampa Bay's Week Two game is in Detroit, where their 2023 playoff run ended in a 31-23 loss to the Lions in the Divisional Round.
Detroit's fine 2023 season – they advanced to the NFC Championship Game with that win over Tampa Bay and at one point had a 24-7 lead before falling by a 34-31 decision, earned them immediate love from the NFL schedule makers in 2024. Detroit's season began with a home game on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams, which had not yet been determined at the time of this posting.
The Buccaneers' season-opening win over Washington included a vintage Baker Mayfield performance in which he threw for 289 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 146.4 passer rating. He connected with Mike Evans in the end zone twice and also tossed scoring passes to Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan. Rookie running back Bucky Irving had a promising debut with 62 yards on nine carries, and Tampa Bay's defense held the Washington attack to 299 total yards.
The Bucs' biggest defensive concern against the Commanders was the open-field running ability of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who indeed kicked off his NFL career with 88 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. That won't be the issue in Week Two in Detroit, as Jared Goff is a pure pocket passer, but Goff threw for 4,575 yards and 30 touchdowns last season to earn an enormous contract extension in the offseason. Goff's top target is wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown. St. Brown was a first-team Associated Press All-Pro last year after racking up 1,515 receiving yards.
The Buccaneers' defense has some things to figure out before that meeting with Goff and St. Brown. Tampa Bay went into their opener without starting defensive linemen Calijah Kancey and Logan Hall, and then lost three of their four active cornerbacks – Zyon McCollum (concussion), Bryce Hall (ankle) and Josh Hayes (ankle) – to injuries. All three may be unavailable in Week Two.
The Buccaneers had Super Bowl aspirations in 2023 but came up just short in Detroit in the playoffs. They will be looking to prove they are still prime playoff contenders against one of the NFC's best teams in Week Two.
