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NFL Analyst Makes Prediction for Bucs' Season
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- NFL Analyst Makes Prediction for Bucs' Season
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Expectations for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2026 continue to rise.
The closer we get to the season, the more people seem to be jumping on the Bucs' bandwagon. For good reason, too. Tampa made several upgrades along its defensive front seven this offseason. Wide receiver Chris Godwin and running back Bucky Irving are healthy again. Fellow receiver Emeka Egbuka is expected to become a bona fide WR1.
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Add former Buc Logan Ryan to the list of experts expecting a successful season for Tampa. Ryan, who now works as an NFL analyst for CBS Sports after an 11-year career in the NFL. The defensive back won two Super Bowl titles while with the New England Patriots. Ryan played one season in Tampa in 2022 and became an instant fan of Todd Bowles and his defense.
"It is very detailed and nuanced," Ryan said about the defense. "[Bowles] has been running defenses for a very long time, and the whole coaching staff has been running his defense for a very long time, so there are tons of layers to the defense – detail-wise [and] disguise-wise.
"Usually, I try to put my own disguises on it and build that into defenses, but he already has it, so I'm just trying to learn it," Ryan added, while he was playing for Bowles.
Ryan made an appearance on CBS Sports HQ and gave game-by-game predictions of the Bucs' upcoming season.
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The end result? Ryan predicts Tampa will go 10-7 and win the NFC South.
Bucs Take Care Of Business In Division
The most important games for each NFL team every season are the divisional games. Beating your fiercest rivals is the best path toward winning the division and guaranteeing a spot in the playoffs.
Ryan predicts that the Bucs will take care of business against their NFC South foes. He has Tampa going 5-1 against the division, sweeping both the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints . Ryan believes the Bucs will win their road matchup against the Carolina Panthers in Week 7, but drop the rematch at home in Week 12.
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Tough Start, Strong Finish
Ryan thinks that the Bucs will have a tough start to the season. However, he believes they will finish the year strong, unlike last season, when Tampa collapsed down the stretch and squandered the division.
After opening the year with a loss at the Cincinnati Bengals , Ryan thinks the Bucs will rebound to win their next two at home against the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings . However, Ryan sees Tampa dropping its next two games against the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys.
At 2-3, Ryan believes Bucs' fans will begin to get restless. But he thinks Tampa will go on a roll and win the next three games.
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To end the season, Ryan has the Bucs winning three out of their last four, with the only loss against the Los Angeles Rams. He believes they will defeat the Saints in Week 18, ruining New Orleans ' bid to play spoiler.
Final Thoughts
While a division title would certainly be nice, the Bucs have the talent to go on a playoff run this year. Simply winning a weak division and then losing its first playoff game would not be much of an improvement from last year's disaster.
However, you can't win in the playoffs if you can't get to the playoffs, so any regular season that gets the Bucs into the postseason would be a success.
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Whether or not the entire season is a success depends on what happens in the playoffs. Tampa just needs to get there first.
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