The only thing standing in Denver’s path to a 4-0 start is an underwhelming Tampa Bay team. Can Jameis Winston make a statement in his second season and upset the defending champions on his home turf?
Broncos vs. Buccaneers 2016: Time, TV schedule, and live stream
The defending Super Bowl champs pay a visit to Jameis Winston and the Bucs on Sunday.
The sophomore quarterback will face one of the biggest tests of his budding career against a ferocious Broncos defense. Denver, led by enormous human/tiny Golem Von Miller and his league-leading five sacks, has held opponents to only 19 points per game en route to a perfect start to 2016. They've already shut down Winston's best case developmental scenario, Cam Newton, by battering the former MVP in a Week 1 victory.
The Broncos will be challenged by the mobile Winston and a Buccaneers offensive line that has only allowed five sacks through three games this season, good for the seventh-lowest figure in the league. Winston has had an up-and-down start to his season. He's thrown for nearly 310 yards per game, but four- and three-touchdown performances bookend a four-interception meltdown in a 40-7 loss to Arizona. He lit up the Los Angeles Rams for 405 yards last week, but needed 58 passes to get there in a 37-32 loss. At just 6.5 yards per attempt, Tampa has one of the league's most inefficient passing offenses.
While the Bucs’ offense has been ineffective, their defense has been borderline offensive. No team in the league has given up more points than its 101 this season. The Rams had scored only nine points through two games before last week. A matchup with Tampa was all they needed to more than quintuple their total scoring output for 2016. That’s bad news for a defense about to face a dynamic Bronco team that just derailed one of the AFC’s top contenders in Week 3.
Denver, led by a second-year quarterback of its own, lies on the opposite end of the offensive spectrum. Trevor Siemian doesn’t have the gaudy stats Winston does, but by throwing for 8 yards per attempt he’s got the Broncos ranked sixth in the league in aerial efficiency. The young passer turned up in a big way last week. He led his offense past former AFC North favorite Cincinnati behind a 312-yard, four-touchdown, zero-interception performance on the road.
He won’t have to do much to outperform the last Denver QB to win in Tampa. The last time these teams met at Raymond James Stadium, Jake Plummer threw for a whopping 134 yards in a 2004 Broncos victory.
Winston can avenge that loss a mere dozen years later, but based on the early returns for the Tampa Bay defense, he’ll need to be on top of his game. With weapons like Mike Evans, Charles Sims, and an aging but still dangerous Vincent Jackson, he’ll have the tools needed to rally for an upset win to put the Bucs back on a playoff track. Only 24 out of 300 playoff teams since 1990 have qualified for the postseason after a 1-3 start.
How to watch Broncos vs. Buccaneers
Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.
TV: CBS
Announcers: Spero Dedes, Solomon Wilcots
Online: NFL Game Pass, Sunday Ticket, Verizon NFL Mobile
See More:
