Dirk Koetter sees advantages, disadvantages to Buccaneers’ unplanned bye

Dirk Koetter fully understands keeping people safe is all that matters in the wake of the NFL’s rescheduling of Sunday’s season-opener between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins to Nov. 19 because of Hurricane Irma.

All it takes is one look at the destruction that Hurricane Harvey caused in Houston to understand all that is at stake.

‘Not many teams have byes in Week One’

Nevertheless, the Buccaneers will be — or at least hope to be — playing a home game in Week Two against the Chicago Bears. And by then, their starters would have had an extended break that, on one hand has its advantages — coupled with the fact the Bucs are home for three of their first four games — and on another could be disadvantage.

“I think the three of the first four at home, most teams would say that’s a plus,” Koetter told Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt on Late Hits. “The thing that is going to be a little bit strange, and I haven’t had it since I was a college coach and even a high school coach, is not many teams have byes in Week One, so I think the scariest thing other than that Chicago is going to be a good team coming in here Week Two, is that they will have played a full game and we haven’t.

‘By the time we play in Week Two, it’s going to be awhile since our guys have played’

“The way the preseason falls now, you don’t play very many of your starters in Week Four of the preseason, so by the time we play in Week Two, it’s going to be awhile since our guys have played. And Chicago, they’re going to kind of get their game legs under them where you play a full game on both sides of the ball. I think there’s some tradeoffs there and once it kicks off next Sunday, nobody cares about any of that stuff. It’s just two teams trying to get a win.”