FLOWERY BRANCH — Tampa Bay, the three-time defending NFC South champions, feel a little bit disrespected by the masses, who have picked the Falcons as the favorites to win the division this season.
The Buccaneers will have a chip on their shoulders when they open the season against coach Dan Quinn, rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders at 4:25 p.m. Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
In the other NFC South game, the Panthers, under new coach Dave Canales, play at the Saints at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield revived his career with the Bucs last season. The Bucs won the division with a 9-8 mark and were tied with the Saints. They claimed the title on a tie-breaker (higher percentage in common games).
The Bucs pounded the Eagles (32-9) in the wild-card round and put a scare into the Lions before losing 31-23 in the divisional round.
Mayfield, with Canales as the offensive coordinator, set career highs with 4,044 passing yards and 28 touchdown passes. After Canales landed the head coach job with the Panthers, he was replaced by Liam Coen.
The Bucs’ top receivers return in wide receiver Mike Evans, wide receiver Chris Godwin and tight end Cade Otton. The Bucs need to improve their rushing attack, which ranked 32nd in the league last season.
“With our guys that we have, I expect to be efficient no matter what, no matter what our ground game looks like,” Mayfield told Tampa-area media members Wednesday. “We’ve got three studs (as pass catchers) that we expect to go out there and start, and then the guys that are going to come in, there’s not really a drop-off. So, I expect us to be extremely efficient as a whole offense.”
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