Author
Christopher Boan writes for FloridaBet.com and has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, with experience at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
How Does The Loss of Chris Godwin Affect The Buccaneers?
What started as a Monday night brimming with promise devolved into a 60-minute nightmare for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost both the team’s Week 7 showdown with the Baltimore Ravens and one of the team’s best playmakers at wide receiver in one fell swoop.
That’s because eighth year wideout Chris Godwin went down with an ankle injury during the Bucs’ 41-31 loss to the Ravens on Monday Night Football, which will likely keep the veteran out for the remainder of the regular season across Florida sports betting.
This season, the former Penn State wideout had 50 catches for 576 yards and five touchdowns in seven games for Tampa Bay, building on an impressive NFL career where he racked up 7,266 receiving yards, 39 touchdowns and an approximate value of 54 in 111 games.
With Godwin and fellow star wideout Mike Evans missing time with injuries, it’s worth wondering how Tampa Bay has performed in recent years without their Pro Bowl wideout, which inspired FloridaBet.com to break down the numbers on how the franchise has fared without the 28-year-old over the years.
How Do The Buccaneers Perform When Chris Godwin Is Out?
| With Godwin | Without Godwin |
W-L Record | 60-57 | 8-5 |
Win Percentage | 0.513 | 0.615 |
Average PPG | 24.8 PPG | 26.6 PPG |
Bucs Will Still Miss Godwin
Since drafting Godwin in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Tampa Bay has posted a 60-57 (.513) record with the 28-year-old in their lineup, including a Super Bowl championship in 2021. Without Godwin, Tampa Bay has actually fared better, win percentage-wise, going 8-5 (.615), though that’s likely a result of the small sample size compared with the team’s longstanding success with him on the field.
This year, the Bucs’ road to the postseason without Godwin begins in earnest at home on Sunday, when Tampa Bay hosts the Atlanta Falcons as a 2.5-point favorite on ESPN BET in a showdown of 4-3 NFC South franchises.
Football fans in the Tampa Bay area can only hope that the team’s small sample size of success without the talented wideout continues against Kirk Cousins and company, as the Bucs go without their leading receiver against a red-hot Falcons team at home this weekend.
Luckily for Tampa Bay, the team can lean on tight end Cade Otton and wideout Sterling Shepard on Sunday, with both suiting up for the Bucs’ after catching 53 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns between them this season.
USA Today photo by Nathan Ray Seebeck.
Cited by leading media organizations, such as:
