By Jordan Long
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to the New Orleans Saints 9-0 on Sunday Night Football, dropping their record to 10-4. Tampa Bay is currently the #3 seed in the NFC playoff picture. Tampa Bay is looking to improve on their record when they travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers on Sunday. They will have to finish the regular season and the playoffs without one of their best receivers, Chris Godwin.
Godwin was having one of the best seasons of his career. He already had a career high 98 receptions. Godwin totaled 1,103 yards which is 330 yards off of his career high. He totaled 1,333 yards in 2019. Godwin also added 5 touchdowns this year. He needed 4 touchdowns to tie his career high of 9. Godwin was well on his way to breaking his career best in yards and possibly touchdowns with 3 games left.
Godwin unfortunately will miss the remainder of the season and the playoffs. He tore his ACL during the loss to the New Orleans Saints. The injury occurred in the second quarter. Before Godwin left the field against the Saints he totaled 49 receiving yards.
Tampa Bay first thought Godwin suffered an MCL sprain which would have been the best case scenario. He could have rested for the final 3 games of the season and may have been active to play in the postseason. Tampa Bay had Godwin take an MRI to see if there was more damage to the knee and it showed he tore his ACL. According to ESPN.com, Head Coach Bruce Arians said, “You feel bad for him because he was having such a great year, and the type of hit it was — totally legal but I think that’s one of the things we have to look into in the offseason. We’re so concerned about hitting people in the head, that we’re getting a lot of knee injuries now because of that type of tackle. But it is legal and wasn’t a bad play at all. But yeah, I just feel bad for Chris.”
The Buccaneers march on without him. They will most likely earn a playoff spot and hope to win back-to-back Super Bowls. Tampa Bay needs other receivers to step up their game. They still have receiver Mike Evans who Brady counts on. Tyler Johnson must be more involved in the offense. Of course, Brady has his favorite target in tight end Rob Gronkowski. The Buccaneers should still be able to roll into the playoffs and win the division. They hold a 3 game lead over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South Division. If they happen to be knocked out, hopefully, it won’t be because Godwin isn’t there. They still have a team that can win the Super Bowl.
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