Davy Jones’ Locker: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Los Angeles Chargers – Q&A with Bolts from the Blue

The Buccaneers face a tough test on Sunday when they travel to Los Angeles for a date with the Chargers. Tampa Bay has won three games in a row and now leads the NFC South, but the Chargers are 8-5 and have been a good football team this season.

To look at this game from a different perspective, we sat down with Bolts from the Blue’s Michael Peterson to take a closer look at what Los Angeles has to offer in this game.

1. The Chargers enter this game as the only team over .500 that the Buccaneers have faced following their bye week. What has driven the Chargers’ success so far this season?

“Without the defense, the Chargers wouldn’t accomplish much this season. We enter Week 15 of the NFL season and the Chargers still have the highest scoring defense in the league. That’s a huge improvement from previous seasons, when Brandon Staley’s team allowed nearly twice as much per game. It is noteworthy that the defense continues to perform well despite a few injuries at most positions. Cornerback, edge rusher, linebacker, safety, whatever. They recruited people off the street to come in and make a difference. With the offense being so sluggish this year, the defense is the only reason they are over .500 this year.”

2. Justin Herbert was a little banged up in last week’s game against Kansas City, but was able to finish. How concerned are you about this and do you think it could have any impact on the game?

“Herbert has fully cleared the final injury report and it looks like he should be able to be close to 100 percent healthy. The thing is, when he’s not at 100 percent, the first thing he loses is his climbing ability. The offense is at its best when Herbert can escape the pocket and move the chains with his legs. When he was injured against the Chiefs, Herbert told reporters after the game that the first thing he did was run out of the pocket as they were forced to rethink the game plan in the second half. If that’s the case in this game, the Bucs’ defensive front should have a much easier time cornering Herbert.”

3. Which positional group battle will you be keeping an eye on when you watch this match?

“The Bucs interior defensive line versus the Chargers interior offensive line. The Bolts’ three center backs were, in my opinion, the weakest link in the offense and I don’t think they will have a great day against Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea. These two lead the Bucs in sacks and they have a really good matchup coming up on Sunday. If Vea and Kancey can take advantage of this, it could be very important for the Bucs to keep Sunday’s game competitive until the end.”

4. Finish this sentence. The Bucs upset the Chargers when __

“….Justin Herbert is more hampered than expected and the offensive line can’t protect him well enough. I can’t emphasize enough that Herbert is the Chargers’ offense and they have shown no willingness to go anywhere without him.”

5. How do you see the future progress and what is your earnings forecast?

“I’ve chosen to remain cautiously optimistic most weeks, and my habit of actually playing the Chargers seems to have the opposite effect on the actual outcome, so we’ll stick with that approach. I think this game is hard fought until late in the fourth quarter. The Chargers offense was very absent except for a few brief moments (usually just one of the two halves each week) and it was mostly up to the defense to come up with a timely stop or takeaway. I don’t think Mayfield makes any mistakes in this game and the Bucs end up winning on a late field goal.

Let’s call it 23-20 Buccaneers.”

Many thanks to Michael for this!