Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cornerback Remembers 'Same Conversation' After 2020 Bye Week

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are no strangers to big runs after the bye week.

Feb 4, 2021; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean (35) against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been here before. In more ways than one.

They've been here recently. Tampa Bay started out hot this year at 4-2, and after a four-game skid they find themselves at 4-6 coming off their bye week. Something similar happened in 2023, when the team started 3-1, ended up 4-7 after losing six of their next seven games and then rattled off wins in five of their next six games to end up 9-8 and division winners. With an easy schedule in their next seven matchups, the Bucs are hoping to do something similar this year.

That being said, there was another time this sort of thing happened, too. Tampa Bay was 7-5 heading into their bye week in 2020, and after that bye week, they won their next four games to close the season 11-5 — and then they won the four games after that to become Super Bowl champions.

There are a few players still on Tampa Bay's roster who remember that. Cornerback Jamel Dean, set to come off IR to play against the New York Giants this weekend, is one of them.

“You know, I look forward to the opportunity because I was thinking back to Super Bowl year, after that Bye Week, we had the same conversation," Dean said. "After [that], we just took it one game at a time.”

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The Bucs will need to take it one game at a time again this time around in hopes of picking up as many wins as possible. To do that, they'll need to fix their defense.

As it stands, Tampa Bay's defensive unit is No. 30 in opponent yards per game (389.3) and No. 27 in points per game (26.6). Head coach Todd Bowles has cited this as a communication issue all throughout the season, and Dean agrees, mentioning that the team needs to have better communication when they're tired late.

“It’s always just [we] have to keep up with the little details because it’ll be like minor brain farts, but the minor things [are] a major thing," Dean said. "We just have to hone in, like when we’re tired, fatigued, we have to continue communicating and talking things through the game.”

The Bucs will look to start this run against the New York Giants and newly-crowned starter Tommy DeVito on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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