The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have known the identities of their opponents for all 17 games in the 2023 season since the end of the 2022 campaign. They just didn’t know how those games would be ordered and the specific dates and kickoff times. Now they do.
The NFL dropped its full 272-game schedule for the 2023 regular season on Thursday, including of course the Buccaneers’ own fall itinerary. It starts in Minneapolis and ends in Charlotte and will be broadcast on four different networks. It features a lot of quarterbacks who are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, when they tuck it in and run. It could also feature up to five games against rookie quarterbacks drafted in the first three rounds. There will be five games in domes, and six games away from home in an eight-week span. The Bears will feel the Florida heat in Week Two; the Bucs will experience a Wisconsin winter in Week 15.
In other words, there’s a lot going on with this schedule, and some parts of it we like more than others. And by we I mean me and Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix, who have taken a little while to study this 18-week journey the Buccaneers will go on this fall, beginning on September 10. We have some thoughts. And since we’re genuinely pleased to finally know what the schedule is, we’re going to start with some happy thoughts.
Specifically, what Brianna and I are going to debate today is what we like best about the Buccaneers’ 2023 schedule. We know that putting together a 272-game layout that has to take a myriad of factors into account is no easy thing. Computers are involved. Probably AI at some point. It’s a tough job, and thus we are going to start with a round of thank yous.
This is the first in our week-long series of schedule-related debates. Here’s the run-down for the whole series:
Friday, May 12: What one thing would you most like to thank the NFL schedule makers for this year?
Monday, May 15 What is the toughest stretch of games on this year’s schedule?
Tuesday, May 16 What is your most anticipated game on the Bucs’ 2023 schedule?
Wednesday, May 17: Who is the top rookie the Buccaneers will face on their 2022 schedule
Thursday, May 18: What is one thing you would change about the Bucs’ schedule if you had the power?
Brianna and I are not going to duplicate answers, so the order of our debate is important. Today, my colleague will go first. So, Brianna, what kind of shout out do you want to send to the NFL schedule-makers?
Brianna Dix: The Bucs play the Bills in October