Buying or Selling Tampa Bay Buccaneers as Elite NFL Offense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers boast an offense that scored 42 points and gained 515 yards of total offense against the Oakland Raiders and possesses each of these weapons:

• A quarterback in Josh Freeman who threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns in Week 9 against Oakland, while throwing no interceptions and finishing with a quarterback rating of 108.6. For the season, Freeman has thrown for 2,047 yards and 16 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Freeman also runs well for the Buccaneers when he has to, as he has 101 yards on 22 carries this season.

• A running back in Doug Martin who broke out in Tampa Bay's Week 8 Thursday Night Football game against the Minnesota Vikings and followed that up with a 251-yard four touchdown performance against Oakland where he averaged 10 yards per carry. For the season Martin has 794 yards and seven touchdowns on 154 carries, good for an average of 5.1 yards per carry.

• A wide receiver in Vincent Jackson who had a "quiet" two catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, with his longest reception being 64 yards. On the season Jackson has 31 catches for 710 yards and six touchdowns.

Does this look like an elite NFL offense to you? The stats say yes. After their 42-32 victory over the Oakland Raiders, the Buccaneers boast an offense that's full of fire-power.

For the season they have gained 3,011 yards of total offense, averaging 376.4 yards per game. They have done well against every defense they've faced, which includes the Dallas Cowboys (ranked fourth in yards allowed going into Week 9), and the Minnesota Vikings (who were ranked ninth going into Week 9, despite the Buccaneers running all over them).

But the real test still awaits the Buccaneers, with two matchups to come against the division-leading Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta's defense is only ranked 20th in yards allowed per game, but it only allows an average of 18.6 points per game.

If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can turn their games against the Falcons into a shootout, it looks very good for them. For now though, I would have to see more before buying that Tampa Bay's offense is an elite one.

But it is very much on the way to reaching that status.

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