A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday during the Buccaneers offseason and regular season. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough question. This week’s prompt: Which Bucs game on the 2024 schedule excites you the most?

Scott Reynolds: Can Bucs Start Off Right With A Win vs. Washington?

Commanders QB Jayden Daniels – Photo by: USA Today

Aside from posting a winning record in the NFC South, the common denominator in the last three Tampa Bay division championships is winning the season opener and getting off to a good start. Following the Super Bowl in 2020, the Bucs have won the last three season openers beginning with a 31-29 win against the Cowboys in Tampa Bay on Thursday Night Football to kick off the 2021 season. Then, as Todd Bowles took over the time from a retiring Bruce Arians, the Bucs beat the Cowboys in Dallas on opening day in 2022, 19-3. Last year, the Bucs traveled to Minnesota and upset Kirk Cousins and the Vikings, 20-17.

Even when the Bucs won the Super Bowl in 2020, they lost their season opener at New Orleans as the Saints went on to win the division that year. If history is any guide, in order for the Bucs to win a fourth straight NFC South title, Tampa Bay needs to start off the 2024 season right with a win over Washington at home in Week 1. Head coach Todd Bowles, who also serves as the team’s defensive play-caller, will have all offseason to study Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels, who was the Commanders’ first round pick and the No. 2 overall selection in the draft.

Dan Quinn is a good, experienced coach, and the Commanders had a very good draft. They certainly should win more than four games in 2024, but it may take some time for the players and new coaches to gel together. So catching Washington early in the season should be fortunate for Tampa Bay. Daniels will get some reps in the preseason, so there will be some game film to study, but Bowles needs to dial up the right disguised coverages and pressure packages to rattle the rookie quarterback and make him uncomfortable.

If that happens and Liam Coen’s offense can hit the ground running, the Bucs could be on their way to an important 1-0 start – and perhaps a fourth straight NFC South championship.

Bailey Adams: Tampa Bay’s Week 5 Game At Atlanta Is The One To Watch

Bucs TE Cade Otton – Photo by: USA Today

The big game that sticks out to me right away is that Week 5 Thursday Night Football game in Atlanta. It still frustrates me that the league stuck both Bucs-Falcons matchups in October rather than saving one for the stretch run/playoff push, but they got it right by getting at least one of these meetings in prime time. There’s been a lot of hype around the Falcons this offseason, and it’s been warranted — to an extent. They have a new quarterback in Kirk Cousins, who many believe will take them over the top as they search for their first NFC South title since 2016.

Atlanta also has a new coaching staff, which is led by former Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris after Arthur Smith was fired following a three straight 7-10 seasons. So, considering the Falcons weren’t far off from the top of the division in 2023, it makes sense that many are picking them to win it this year.

But the Bucs are going to have plenty to say about that themselves. They’ve won the division three straight years and have made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons — the longest active streak in the NFC. Tampa Bay kept its core intact this offseason, with Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Lavonte David and Antoine Winfield Jr. all getting new deals. That, combined with an exciting new offensive coordinator in Liam Coen and what looks to be a strong draft class, should position the Bucs in a good spot as they look for a four-peat.

The division can’t be won or lost when these two teams meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Week 5, and they’ll meet again three weeks later. But this Week 5 showdown should still have a big-game feel as these two teams appear to be the top two in the NFC South. The quality of play on Thursday Night Football isn’t always great, but I have high hopes for this matchup to produce a game as dramatic as the two meetings were last year.

Josh Queipo: The Lions May Be The “New” Eagles of Bucs Lore

Prior to winning their first Super Bowl in 2003, the Bucs had a perpetual thorn in their side that was the Philadelphia Eagles. Tampa Bay lost to Philadelphia 21-3 in the 2000 NFC Wild Card game. They lost to the Eagles twice more in 2002, first 17-13 in the final week of the regular season, before once more falling to their NFC foe 31-9 just six days later in the NFC Wild Card game again.

The following regular season, the Eagles continued their dominance over the Bucs with a 20-10 victory in the regular season. It wasn’t until the NFC Championship game in 2003 that the Bucs were able to expel their Eagle demons with a convincing 27-10 victory that catapulted Tampa Bay to their first Super Bowl and cemented Ronde Barber as the Buccaneer legend you all know and love today.

The #Bucs will celebrate Ronde Barber’s induction into the Hall of Fame in Week 3 when they host the Philadelphia Eagles on MNF.

Barber’s 92-yard pick-6 vs. the Eagles in the 2002 NFC Championship game is one of the most iconic moments in team history.pic.twitter.com/ds4vAAC5nW

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) June 22, 2023

Now it isn’t to that level yet, but the Bucs are now half-way to that four-game losing streak against the Detroit Lions in a post-Tom Brady era. After losing to Detroit 20-6 in Week 5 last year, they again lost to the Lions in Detroit 31-23 when the two met in the NFC Divisional Round, ending the Bucs hopes of a second Super Bowl in four years.

The Lions look to be a major player in the NFC for the foreseeable future, with a newly paid top-10 quarterback and the best center in football. Add to that a very young and talented nucleus of players that includes franchise tackle Penei Sewell, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, tight end Sam LaPorta and defensive tackle Alim McNeil, and the Lions look to be a top-five team in the NFC for a while.

If the Bucs hope to take the next step and cement themselves as a force to be reckoned with, they will most certainly have to get the cat off their backs and take down their former NFC Central rival. Preferably, that will happen in Week 2 in Detroit before the “Are the Lions the Bucs’ kryptonite?” storylines start up.

Adam Slivon: The Bucs Get The 49ers Again — This Time At Ray Jay

There are plenty of exciting games on tap for the Bucs this season, but the one that I will have my eyes on is the Week 10 matchup with the 49ers. After facing them the past two years out in San Francisco, Tampa Bay gets to host them and will be seeking some revenge. After losing to them 35-7 in 2022 and 27-14 last year, it is clear that they have had the Bucs’ number, but that could very well change this year.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

The 49ers still have a largely intact and stacked roster that helped get them to the Super Bowl last season. Led by Brock Purdy, it is an offense that has really controlled the time of possession during the last two battles. As of now, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk remain in the fold, not to mention adding Florida’s Ricky Pearsall in the first round to round out the wide receiver room. There have been some moving parts defensively, but it is a unit that still possesses Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and Dre Greenlaw, among others.

This is all to say that this will be a crucial matchup for the Bucs to come out victorious in as they head into their bye week the week after. With a tough stretch of games concluding after this one, a win against the 49ers is a huge midseason measuring stick of how the Bucs line up against the top teams in the NFC as well as serving as a huge boost of confidence heading into the team’s final seven games.