Three Keys to the Game: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Washington Football Team

Here are three things the Bucs must do if the team wants to advance past the Wild Card round on Saturday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5) are riding a four-game win streak as they travel Saturday night to face the Washington Football Team (7-9), who sneaked into the Wild Card as the winner of the dreadful NFC East.

The Bucs earned the franchise's first playoff berth since 2007, while Washingon won its division for the first time since 2015. Although the team has to travel, Tampa Bay performed well on the road during the regular posting a 6-2 record while its three other losses came at Raymon James Stadium.

Of course, there aren't too many other quarterbacks who have a better resume in the postseason, and more specifically in the month of January, than Tom Brady. The veteran quarterback tossed 40 touchdowns this season, the most ever by a player in his first season with a team.

Brady will battle with one of the league's toughest defenses in Washington, which features rookie Pro Bowl pick, Chase Young. The Football Team finished the season ranked second in total yards allowed per game and second in pass yards allowed per game.

With that in mind, here are three keys to the game for the Bucs on Saturday against the Washington Football Team:

1. Tampa Bay Needs to Protect Tom Brady

As mentioned above, Washington's rookie defensive end Chase Young is a force to be reckoned with. And it's not just him. 

While Young led all rookies in sacks with 7.5 and tackles for loss 10, defensive end Montez Sweat led the team with career-high nine sacks. Add in defensive tackles Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen and Washington's defensive line is filled with former first-round draft picks.

“It’s hard to find five first-round picks upfront, right? It’s hard to really find that across the league," Bucs' offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said Wednesday. "The guys that are so good are the guys that have their hand in the ground. They give you the toughest job week in and week out – the athletes that put their hand in the ground and whose job is to come get the quarterback – they’re getting more special each year."

Tampa Bay's offensive line has done a good job this entire season protecting Brady. During 5 games this season the Bucs didn't allow a single sack, which is tied for second-most in the league. Tampa Bay only allowed a sack 3.51% of the time per pass attempt by Brady, the second-lowest among offensive lines this year.

Still, Washington has gotten to the quarterback a ton this season recording 47 total sacks, which is the 5th most and just one less than the Bucs' season total. Leftwich explained what his team will need to do counter such a disruptive defensive line.

“You play football [and] you try to put yourself in the best position possible," Leftwich said. "I’ve got to put these guys in position to do the things that they need to do to give ourselves an opportunity to win the football game. We’ll have a tough opponent, obviously, but we’ll try to prepare this week [and] get ourselves on a roll to be ready to roll Saturday night.”

2. The Bucs Must Slow Down Washington Receiver Terry McLaurin

Terry McLaurin dealt with a knee injury in the final weeks of the regular season but has been quarterback Alex Smith's number one target this year. 

The Ohio State product caught 87 passes for over 1,100 receiving yards and hauled in four touchdowns. He became the first Washington receiver with 80 or more receptions and 1,100 or more yards in a single season since Pierre Garcon did so in 2013.

"McLaurin can run every route," Bucs' defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said Wednesday. "He can run the route tree, he’s very fast, he’s very polished, and he can do a lot of things."

The Bucs have had issues this season in the secondary allowing receivers like Atlanta's Calvin Ridley and Kansas City's Tyreek Hill to put up multi-touchdown and high-yardage performances against Tampa Bay. 

McLaurin was just one of three receivers in the NFC this season with nine games with seven or more catches joining Green Bay's Davante Adams and Arizona's DeAndre Hopkins.

And it's not just McLaurin that Tampa Bay needs to defend. Washington's offense also features rookie running back Antonio Gibson and tight end Logan Thomas who led all tight ends in the NFC with a career-high 72 catches.

“They present a ton of problems," Bowles said. "Thomas has become a very good tight end in this league working his way in from [being] a quarterback. He throws it, he runs routes [and] he blocks well. Between Gibson and [J.D.] McKissic coming out of the backfield – both used to play wide receiver as well as run the ball – they present a lot of matchup problems that way.”

3. Tampa Bay Has to Apply Pressure to Whoever is in at Quarterback

Whether Smith or backup Taylor Heinicke is on the field for the Washington Football Team, the Bucs need to continue to get to the quarterback. This will help the secondary as they attempt to cover McLaurin and Thomas.

While it's expected that Smith will start and play for the majority of the game, there has been some discussion this week that there might be a rotation of the two quarterbacks as Smith has dealt with a calf injury that limits his mobility.

“I mean, it’s pretty much the same offense so we’ll prepare as normal and whichever quarterback plays, plays," Bowles said this week.

Compared to Brady's impressive resume, Smith hasn't done much in the playoffs over the course of his career, but he still has performed well once in the postseason. In seven career postseason starts, Smith has thrown 14 touchdown passes and only two interceptions for an overall 97.4 quarterback rating.

"Alex is a very smart quarterback," Bowles said. "He understands what he has to do to get rid of the football when he can and can’t make plays and he’s been doing it for a long time. He’s very savvy that way, so we’ve got to be prepared for the best Alex Smith we’re going to face.” 

If Smith is unable to play or Washington does, in fact, rotate quarterbacks, Bowles said he has watched film on Heinicke.

“You’ve got to do your homework," Bowles said about preparing for multiple quarterbacks. "We understand if he plays, we understand if the backup lineman plays or the other wide receivers come in the game, we’ve got to know exactly what they’re bringing to the table and try to defend those guys.” 

Regardless, Tampa Bay will have to get back to what they know defensively and apply pressure to whoever is on the field for the Washington Football Team.