Tis the season for guarantees, apparently. Ron Artest guaranteed the Lakers would win the NBA title this week. Now it’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers second year receiver Mike Williams doing the deed.
“We’re a young team, but we’re guaranteeing the playoffs,” Williams told The Miami Herald via Pro Football Talk.
Williams’ guarantee should come as no surprise. The Bucs have described themselves as a “youngry” team throughout training camp. They’re optimistic about the season after last year’s turnaround (they went from 3-13 to 10-6). But as far as the playoffs go, they still have several obstacles.
While Tampa Bay is a solid team, they’re not spectacular. They also have immense competition in their division from the Saints and Falcons, both of whom finished with more wins en route to playoff berths. There is little reason to believe either team will falter this season. Additionally, there are three teams in the NFC East and NFC North that should also contend for the playoffs. I’m not sure Tampa Bay is better than those six teams.
Also working against Williams’ prediction is that the last wide receiver to guarantee a playoff berth was Brandon Marshall. The Dolphins went 3-6 after his statement and missed the playoffs. The Bucs are a solid team, but I’m thinking an 8-8 or 9-7 finish without a playoff appearance is more likely to happen than anything else. How many more games will Josh Freeman be able to pull out in the fourth quarter? I just think a few less footballs will fall their way this time.
