The Tampa Bay Buccaneers return from their bye week with clear minds and a very clear vision of what lies ahead. It's a seven-week sprint to the finish line, with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance from game to game, and it starts with a trip to the shores of Lake Erie.

The Buccaneers begin this stretch run with a 5-5 record and a half-game lead on the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South, which demonstrates the tenuous nature of the team's playoff grip and how easily it can change from week to week. They will be facing a 3-7 Cleveland Browns team that is more dangerous than its record suggests, which the Cincinnati Bengals discovered just a few weeks ago in a 32-13 drubbing. The Browns run the ball well and they run it often, and their defense is spearheaded by Myles Garrett, undeniably one of the most dangerous edge rushers in the NFL.

Cleveland hasn't played at home since that big win over their division rivals, which was followed by a bye week and road losses to the Dolphins and Bills. That last contest was an unusual one, as a monstrous snowstorm forced the game to be moved from Buffalo to Cleveland. After all of the Browns are surely eager to be back home at FirstEnergy Stadium, where they also beat Pittsburgh earlier in the season.

The Buccaneers are hoping to duplicate the pattern that led to their Super Bowl LV victory two seasons ago. That 2020 squad came out of its bye week with five losses and never suffered another defeat, running off eight straight to capture the Lombardi Trophy. The eventual champs finally clicked on offense after their Week 13 bye and started creating turnovers in bunches on defense. The 2022 team isn't necessarily going to run the table again – that would be an extremely bold prediction – but the same post-bye improvements as the 2020 team showed on offense and defense would certainly increase the possibility of the Bucs holding off the Falcons and any other contender for the NFC South title.

Another part of the winning puzzle for the 2020 Bucs was good health, a common defining factor of championship teams and one that utterly disappeared in the team's attempt at a title defense in 2021. This year's Buccaneers have already endured a significant number of injuries to key players – and top edge rusher Shaq Barrett has been lost for the year – but might actually be coming out of the bye as healthy as they have been all season.

On defense, the return of Akiem Hicks up front has made a noticeable impact on the Buccaneers' run defense – a key issue this week as it was in Munich against Seattle – and safety Antoine Winfield, one of the team's best playmakers at any level, is back from a concussion. On offense wide receivers Chris Godwin and Julio Jones are rounding into form after working through injuries, red zone threat Cam Brate is back in the mix and the team might also be getting Giovani Bernard back from a long absence in Week 12. Wide receiver Russell Gage and guard Luke Goedeke came out of the bye and returned to practice after missing several games and could also be adding reinforcements this week. There is the new concern of Leonard Fournette's hip pointer from the Seattle game, but rookie running back Rachaad White is emerging as a back who can handle the load as well.

The Buccaneers might also be in the best place they've been all season mentally. Rousing wins over the Rams and Seahawks not only gave the team a sense of momentum heading into the bye, but the extra time to study and reflect on those games led to an increased sense of confidence. The Bucs come out of the break believing they've finally pieced together a winning formula, and they believe they can duplicate it. And they have a great sense of urgency to prove that is true.

#Browns #ClevelandBrowns #NFL #Buccaneers #Bucs

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