The Tampa Bay Buccaneers open the 2019 NFL season at home for the first time since 2015 (officially, since technically the Bucs first game of 2017 was home against Chicago after the scheduled season opener in Miami was moved due to a Hurricane). Their opponent? The Kwon Alexander-led San Francisco 49ers.
It’ll be an interesting homecoming for Kwon, who will be even more motivated to rehabilitate his injured knee in time to face his former teammates.
Meanwhile, the Niners, finished worse than Tampa Bay in 2018 at 4-12, including a 27-9 loss to Tampa Bay in late November.
Complete Schedule
Here is the complete schedule for the 2019 Season:
| Date | Opponent | Time | Network |
| Sept 8 | SAN FRANCISCO | 4:25PM | FOX |
| Sept 12 | @ Carolina | 8:30pm | NFL Network |
| Sept 22 | NY GIANTS | 4:05pm | FOX |
| Sept 29 | @ LA Rams | 4:05pm | FOX |
| Oct 6 | @ New Orleans | 1:00pm | FOX |
| Oct 13 | VS. Carolina (London) | 9:30am | NFL Network |
| Oct 20 | BYE WEEK | – | – |
| Oct 27 | @ Tennessee | 1:00pm | FOX |
| Nov 3 | @ Seattle | 4:05pm | FOX |
| Nov 10 | ARIZONA | 1:00pm | FOX |
| Nov 17 | NEW ORLEANS | 1:00pm | FOX |
| Nov 24 | @ Atlanta | 1:00pm | FOX |
| Dec 1 | @ Jacksonville | 1:00pm | FOX |
| Dec 8 | INDIANAPOLIS | 1:00pm | CBS |
| Dec 15 | at Detroit | 1:00pm | FOX |
| Dec 21/22 | HOUSTON | TBD | TBD |
| Dec 29 | ATLANTA | 1:00pm | FOX |
Highlights
Arians’ Bucs will be on National Television at least twice this season. First, in week two, Tampa Bay gets the dreaded primetime Thursday Night Football game out of the way early, taking on the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.
Those two teams will meet again in London on October 13th, it will be breakfast with the Bucs as kickoff is scheduled for 9:30am Tampa Time.
Another interesting quirk in the schedule is on the weekend before Christmas. The Bucs-Texans game has been earmarked as a game that may be played on National TV on Saturday, but it is subject to be flexed out if the game doesn’t have any playoff implications.
Toughest Stretch
Over 20,000 miles. That’s the amount of travel the Bucs will embark on beginning September 29th and ending November 3rd in Seattle. That’s right, the Bucs will not see the friendly confines of Raymond James Stadium for one and half months. Two trips to the west coast, plus going overseas in London.
Tampa Bay knew they were going to get some frequent flyer miles, but few realized it would be pretty much all at once.
What makes it even tougher is 3 of the 5 opponents were 2018 playoffs teams, including the two participants in the NFC Championship Game, the Rams and Saints, back-to-back.
The Push to the Playoffs
If the Bucs are going to finally play in January, they’ll need to fight through a tough December schedule. After a trip to Jacksonville on December 1st, Tampa Bay has three of their final four games at home. They host a 2018 playoff team in Indianapolis, then head to Detroit and wrap up the regular season at home against AFC South Champ Houston (date to be determined) and Atlanta.
J.C. De La Torre
Want to give JC a piece of your mind? E-mail him at JC@whatthebuc.net JC De La Torre is formerly a columnist/blogger for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers blog site BucsNation.com where in 2016, he was nominated as best sportswriter in Tampa Bay by Creative Loafing. Previously, he served as a featured columnist for Bleacher Report on Tampa Bay sports, an editor and featured columnist for SB Nation Tampa Bay covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Gators, wrote for NFL.com’s Blog Blitz and contributed to Pewter Report, one of the top magazines on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. JC is also a filmmaker, comic writer and rabid Whovian.
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