Tampa Bay Buccaneers Switch Up Practice Schedule Ahead of MNF vs. Rams

Fourth times the charm? Bucs hoping for strong primetime performance.

Next week's Monday Night Football will mark the fourth time this season that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play under the lights in a primetime TV spot.

In the previous three night games, the Bucs have gone 1-2 and nearly 0-3, if it weren't for a comeback victory over the New York Giants in week eight. Because of this, Bucs' head coach Bruce Arians is making a change to his team's practice schedule in hopes of having more success vs. the Rams. 

“We’ve got to try something because we’ve had really, really poor starts in night ballgames," Arians said. "We’re going to try practicing at that game time [on] Friday and Saturday night [and] do some more stuff, actually, Monday morning than we’ve been doing. We’ve got to try something, so luckily we have an indoor facility and we can work at night. We’re going to do that and hopefully get a better result to start a ballgame at night.”

The multiple "poor" starts that Arians mentioned have put his team in tough positions to win games.

Against the Giants on Nov. 2, Tampa Bay trailed 14-6 at halftime. The following week vs. the New Orleans Saints, the Bucs were held scoreless through three quarters. And despite Tampa Bay being up 10-0 after the first quarter, the Chicago Bears actually led 14-13 at halftime, on their way to a 20-19 win at Soldier Field on Oct. 8. 

“The week of practices was great. What we’re trying to do now is practice at night so that we know when to rev it up," Arians said. "We’ll do some Monday morning stuff to hopefully get ready before the ballgame and just focus on getting to a better start. We haven’t started well in any of those ballgames.”

On the flip side, the Rams are 2-1 in night games, including a 20-17 season-opening win over the Dallas Cowboys. Their one primetime loss came at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in week six. The following week on Monday Night Football, Los Angeles bounced back with a 24-10 win over the Bears.

As for Tampa Bay, Arians wasn't able to pinpoint one exact reason why the Buccaneers have struggled in those games but was brutally honest about what he saw on the field from hi s team.

“It’s just bad football," Arians said when asked if there were specific issues he noticed in the primetime games. "Bad football [and] not being ready to play.”

Fortunately for the Bucs, this week's game is the last in primetime for Tampa Bay this season. Of course, Arians is hoping the change in practice time will work. 

Otherwise, he might have his team sit on a plane the day before a game, similar to what the Bucs experienced during its delayed flight to Carolina on Saturday. Despite the flight delay, Tampa Bay won handily 46-23 the following day.

“Maybe," Arians said. "Just go over there and sit on an airplane. Just sit there about four hours before the game and see what it does.”