Buccaneers Advance; Wild Card Weekend Thoughts
Mike Evans #13 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers runs off the field after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Playoffs at Raymond James Stadium on January 15, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
The Buccaneers advance to the Divisional round of the playoffs with Monday night’s win over the dysfunctional Philadelphia Eagles. But ripping the Eagles the way they limped into the playoffs after a 10-1 start takes away from what the scrappy Tampa Bay Buccaneers did yesterday. Yes, they are in a bad division but they earned their playoff spot like everybody else and showed they belong. Quarterback Baker Mayfield was almost flawless against an incompetent Eagles secondary (Matt Patricia may have had something to do with that). And now they get to face the Lions in Detroit after their thrilling win over the Rams ended a 32 year playoff-win-drought.
BUCCANEERS ADVANCE; WHAT ELSE?
Elsewhere: It was sad to see the Dolphins season end in frigid Kansas City. Miami was fun to watch this season but they were decimated with injuries. The Texans look for real as they destroyed Joe Flacco and the Browns. The Cowboys folded in the post-season as usual as the Packers owned them in front of stunned Cowboys fans. Josh Allen ran. Josh Allen threw. The Bills beat the over-achieving Steelers. Now we wait to see what Mike Tomlin wants to do regarding his future.
On Craig Shemon and Company on ESPN Southwest Florida we will recap the Wild Card Weekend with Trivia for prizes so study those box scores!
QUIZ TIME
- Who is the only quarterback in Bucs playoff history to have 300 yards passing and 3 TD’s with 0 INT’s? Baker Mayfield
- Who was the Bucs leading receiver last night? Cade Otton 8/89
- Who was the leading receiver for the Eagles this weekend? DeVonta Smith 8/148
- Who was the leading rusher in the Steelers-Bills game? James Cook 79 (Josh Allen 74)
- Before Sunday night’s win by the Lions, who was the last team…the only team they had ever beat in the playoffs 32 years ago? Cowboys
- How many wins have the Dallas Cowboys had the last three years combined? 36
- How many pick-6’s did Joe Flacco throw in the third quarter vs the Texans? 2
- Who scored the final touchdown of the Dolphins season? Tyreek Hill 53 yard TD.
- Who do the Ravens host this weekend? Texans
- Who do the 49ers host this weekend? Packers
The Price Of Beer In Every NFL Stadium For The 2023 Season
Inflation is everywhere, you can’t hide from it. Here in Florida gas prices are once again inching up to 4 dollars a gallon. I just want to go to a game, have a few drinks, and leave the real world behind for a few hours. But, we need to maintain a budget. That’s why you should always pregame. I saw that an Eagles fan showed up in the parking lot at 4:30 am for an 8:15 pm kickoff. That’s some absolute dedication there. Did someone track that guy down to see if he was still conscious come game time? I admire you, sir. I’m guessing if this guy could still function at an NFL game, he was unfazed by the price of beer in the stadium.
So, you got a couple in you, and you’re ready to head into the stadium. That’s where I miss the old days of cash. With cash, you knew how much you had, and that’s what you spent. Credit cards can get out of hand. We took a bus from Naples, Florida to a Dolphins game and I was pretty drunk before I got to Hard Rock in Miami. I still managed to spend over $200 in drinks.
So let’s examine the price of a beer in each of the 32 NFL stadiums.
I realize the way we rank ’em can be a bit controversial. Last year, Fox5 in Washington, DC was upset at me because the Commanders had the most expensive beer and I called them out for it. Their cheapest beer was $16. More than triple some of the others. I publicly shamed Fed Ex Field, the home of the Washington Commanders for having the most expensive-lowest priced beer in the NFL. Less than a year later, Dan Snyder sold the team. And guess what? There’s now cheaper beer prices at Fed Ex Field. YOU’RE WELCOME, WASHINGTON (and your team is much better this year, too).
This year, bookies.com collected the necessary data. They reached out to teams and used other local sources, then took beer prices and converted them all to 16-ounce size. So this year it’s an apples to apple thing. How much is 16 oz of beer? I guess Los Angeles is gonna be mad at me this year, so here goes…
Craig Shemon has been hosting afternoons on ESPN Southwest Florida since 2017. Prior to that he was a nationally syndicated host in Los Angeles at FOX Sports Radio and in Houston at Yahoo! Sports Radio. Along the way Craig did play-by-play for the NFL on FOX, NFL Europe, Big Ten Network, and The Citadel Radio Network. Craig is a native Detroiter and Indiana University graduate. He has been known to proudly display his Detroit and IU fandom on the air. Craig likes to write about athletes, create quizzes, and covers big sports headlines.