2011 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Schedule

Written by Steve Janus

After going just 3-13 during the 2009-10 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers surprised everyone with their 10-6 run last year. Behind a talented nucleus of young players the Buccaneers nearly made the playoffs just one season after finishing dead last in their division. As good as this team was a year ago, they still finished third in the NFC South behind the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. Finding a way to continue to improve will be the key for this franchise to knock off one of these teams and get back to postseason.

To get a better idea of where the Buccaneers might be headed in 2011, lets take a closer look at their schedule for the upcoming season. Outside of their six division games against the Falcons, Saints, and Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay is set to take on the NFC North, AFC South, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys.

The Buccaneers went 3-3 against their division rivals out of the NFC South last year. They won both of their games against the Carolina Panthers, split their two games against the New Orleans Saints, and lost both games against the Atlanta Falcons. I expect Tampa Bay to continue to have success against the Panthers, but for this team to take that next step they have to at least split their four games with the Saints and Falcons.

Looking at their four games against the NFC North, Tampa Bay will have to go on the road to take on the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, while getting the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions at home. Their game at Green Bay will tell us a lot about this team in week 11, but they also have to make sure to get the job done on the road against the Vikings. Their two home games against the Bears and Lions are games they can win, but neither is a lock.

We will also find out just how good the Buccaneers are in their four games against the AFC South. They get the Indianapolis Colts at home in week 4 on Monday Night Football, and could really get their season headed in the right direction with a win over Peyton Manning. They also get another playoff contender in the Houston Texans at home. If they can win at least one of these two games at home, they should be in great shape. With that said they also need to play well on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans. Neither team figures to be all that great next year, but any road game is difficult in the NFL.

The final two games to look at are the two conference games against the 49ers and Cowboys. Tampa Bay will go on the road to take on the 49es in week 5 and then later host the Cowboys in week 16. Neither one of these games will be easy. The 49ers figure to be better under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, and the Cowboys aren’t going to be anywhere close to their 6-10 record from last year. Still I think Tampa needs to go at least 1-1 if not 2-0 to really have a good shot at making the playoffs.

More NFL Team Schedules

AFC
AFC West	AFC North	AFC South	AFC East
Kansas City Chiefs Schedule	Pittsburgh Steelers Schedule	Indianapolis Colts Schedule	New England Patriots Schedule
San Diego Chargers Schedule	Baltimore Ravens Schedule	Jacksonville Jaguars Schedule	New York Jets Schedule
Oakland Raiders Schedule	Cleveland Browns Schedule	Houston Texans Schedule	Miami Dolphins Schedule
Denver Broncos Schedule	Cincinnati Bengals Schedule	Tennessee Titans Schedule	Buffalo Bills Schedule
NFC
NFC West	NFC North	NFC South	NFC East
Seattle Seahawks Schedule	Chicago Bears Schedule	Atlanta Falcons Schedule	Philadelphia Eagles Schedule
St. Louis Rams Schedule	Green Bay Packers Schedule	New Orleans Saints Schedule	New York Giants Schedule
San Francisco 49ers Schedule	Detroit Lions Schedule	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Schedule	Dallas Cowboys Schedule
Arizona Cardinals Schedule	Minnesota Vikings Schedule	Carolina Panthers Schedule	Washington Redskins Schedule

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