Vision Board: Seahawks-Bucs

Maybe the Bucs are just bad again? That and more on Seaside Joe 1348

The Seahawks are barely more than one day out from facing the Buccaneers at 6:30 AM Seattle time in Germany. And though the Seahawks would seem to have a time zone disadvantage, they do have a homefield advantage:

Germans freaking love us, apparently.

This technically qualifies as a road game for the Seahawks, but a wild mostly-green crowd could make Pete Carroll and Geno Smith feel right at home. I see it happening, but first…

Here’s how I did in last week’s vision board against the Cardinals:

Tariq Woolen haunts Kyler Murray (Vision: Good) Woolen didn’t intercept Murray again, but he finished the day with four yards allowed.

Noah Fant leads sweep over Cardinals (Vision: I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOAH, THE RAIN IS GONE)

Fant had his best game since his rookie season.

Bob Condotta @bcondotta

Noah Fant in his late 51-yard catch.

Al Woods leads impressive run defense (Vision: Run out of town) The Seahawks didn’t do bad against the run per se (Murray had 8/60, but the rest of the team went 13/62), but 122 rushing yards was more than I envisioned and Al Woods (17 snaps) didn’t see the field a ton, as he got out-snapped by L.J. Collier (19 snaps) last week.

Here is what I envision for Week 10 in Munich. Please subscribe to Seaside Joe, as a free member if you’re not already signed up (every new member is HUGE!) or as a Regular Joe for bonus content and to help support the page.

Seahawks win by 21

Remember, these are visions, not predictions, so please withhold your anger if you believe in jinxes. We haven’t had any score visions yet this season but I feel like this is one that I’m ready to put into the universe.

What if instead of the “better days ahead” like everyone is expecting for the Bucs, actually the worst has yet to come?

We focus on the fact that Tom Brady joined the Buccaneers and immediately took them to the Super Bowl, but it was the defense that improved the most in 2020. Maybe it is Todd Bowles and some savvy draft selections that deserve the most credit for that turnaround.

However, the most notable difference from the past three seasons is the absence of Bruce Arians and it is the offense (third, third, second in scoring during his tenure) that has cratered in 2022.

From 30.1 points per game to 18 points per game.

Brady is on pace for 752 pass attempts, which would be a new career-high after the 719 throws he had last season, and yet he’s only thrown 10 touchdowns in nine games. Brady averaged a career-low 3.9% touchdown rate in 2019, when many speculated he’d finally retire when his contract ended with the Patriots, but right now he’s at 2.5%.

It could be that Brady and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich may have felt more than up for the challenge of not having Arians’ input (Leftwich has called plays since 2019, but Brady is surely the final word) and are missing his presence more than the team expected. It could be that Brady is 45. It could be losing Rob Gronkowski and two key offensive linemen.

Whatever it is, Tampa Bay sucks at it.

The Bucs are 10th in pass DVOA but I don’t want to hear a peep from “analytics” when I know that scoring 18 points per game is bad. Tampa Bay is 31st in rushing DVOA and has one of the worst and more confusing run game plans of any team in the modern era.

Steve Palazzolo @PFF_Steve

Bucs have run on all six first downs so far. Five carries, 17 yards and -10 yards on a holding penalty

Of course, Brady has historically gotten better as the season goes longer. The Bucs also come into Week 10 with a healthy roster, all things considered, and expect to get Julio Jones back on Sunday. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. will also play. The Bucs just beat the Rams and held them to 13 points.

Only the Ravens and Chiefs have scored more than 21 points against the Bucs and only the Chiefs scored more than 30 (41).

But damn it I just damn want it, okay?

Can’t you just want something, sometimes? Does it have to be logical EVERY time? EVERY vision?

Only three weeks ago, the Bucs lost to P.J. Walker’s Panthers, 21-3. They needed two last minute drives just to get 16 points to beat the Rams last Sunday. They lost five of six prior to that.

It’s not only that they can’t run the football, it’s also that they don’t want to do it. If the Seahawks get to take the weekend off from run defense, well what’s that going to do for a defense that is second in sacks since Week 4? These players are dying to sack Tom Brady eight times in Germany.

The Bucs have only turned the ball over one time in their last five games (but they also haven’t had a single takeaway in their last five games) and the Seahawks are sixth in the NFL in takeaways. I like Tariq Woolen and Ryan Neal and Coby Bryant’s chances here to cause multiple turnovers, which Seattle has done in every game this season except Weeks 2 and 9.

Six months ago, eight weeks ago, 30 days ago, this vision might have been to request simply a single point advantage over the Bucs. That would have made a lot more sense than three touchdowns. But what if the Bucs are as bad as they seem and not as good as we think they are? What if Bowles is a great defensive coordinator and a head coach who has lost 39 of his last 57 games when in charge of an NFL team?

And what if the Seahawks are good enough to go SEVEN UP - 7 PLUS SEVEN - 28 UP -and so forth?

Jason Myers is good from 60

If you took the time to watch that gif, then you know that yes, the crossbar is available. I repeat: Jason, the crossbar IS available.

Two things that I know for sure:

• Europeans love kicking more than they love throwing

• The NFL is rigged

The NFL can’t get it past me when they show me London games and then mention how much the fans there love the kicking game. I’m sure Germany is no different. I saw that Myers and Michael Dickson were already doing soccer shit. They must love this trip the most!

Gregg Bell @gbellseattle

Seahawks kicker Jason Myers, who wears Nike Vapor soccer boots in games, and Aussie punter Michael Dickson kicking soccer balls borrowed from ⁦@FCBayern⁩ at the Bundesliga power’s training facility at practice today in Munich. ⁦@thenewstribune⁩

Because the NFL wants to get Myers some air time, I think he will give the football some air time. Myers’ career-high is 61, some of you know, and this season he’s 18-of-19 with a long of 56.

By the way, this game should have a crazy crowd. Reportedly over 3,000,000 people were trying to get tickets for a 70,000-seat event.

Darrell Taylor, Boye Mafe combine for 4 sacks

This is James Woods in The Specialist and maybe it is time for Seattle’s specialists to stand out. Taylor is expected back on Sunday after missing the last game and there’s one thing he does well: Get to the quarterback.

Brady, as always, is difficult to bring down because he gets the ball out too quickly. But two weeks ago in 27-22 loss to the Ravens, Brady was sacked twice by Justin Houston, perhaps the greatest specialist of his generation.

Now here’s Adam West, in a TV movie or show or something called The Specialist, firing two shots.

Two shots. Two sacks. Each?

I see Mafe, who had his second career sack two games ago against the Giants, and Taylor (sacks in each of his last two healthy games) somehow combining for four takedowns of Brady.

Now, das ist besonderes!

(German for “That is special!” but potentially that is incorrect and luckily I know at least one of you could correct me.)

(But don’t correct my vision.)