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NFL Week 2 Preview: Buccaneers Vs. Vikings

After their disappointing showing against the Detroit Lions in Week 1, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some serious work today against the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are not considered a necessarily strong team, but they are good enough that they could easily give the Buccaneers problems. A loss to them would mean right off the bat, the Buccaneers have very long odds at reaching the postseason.

For our full game preview and analysis, see Purple Pain: Bucs Need To Rebound Against Vikings and Bucs Face Challenge In Adrian Peterson. Here’s a brief snippet from one:

Here’s some food for thought heading into week 2 of the NFL season: Since 1990, only 13% of NFL teams that started out 0-2 have made the playoffs. That’s tall odds for a young team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that already has the deck stacked against them in the highly-competitive NFC South. Although there is no such thing as a September must-win-game, this Sundays showdown of 0-1 teams in Minnesota could go a long way to determining the direction of a still-young season.

The Buccaneers, looking to rebound from a stunning defeat in their yard at the hands of a resurgent Detroit Lions team, will travel to Mall of America Field and take on the Minnesota Vikings in a matchup of two clubs searching for an identity in their 2011 campaigns. The Vikings suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the San Diego Chargers in week one and will be looking for redemption in their home opener.

Matchup: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Minnesota Vikings
Game Time:1:00 PM
Coverage: FOX (local)
Staff Prediction: Tampa Bay 20, Minnesota 17

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Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.