Bruce Arians isn’t sounding the alarm after Tampa Bay’s 0-4 start. If anything, the former Buccaneers coach is preaching patience, even with the season already teetering on the edge.
Arians, now a Senior Football Consultant with the team, said Tuesday that there’s still time for the Bucs to get moving.
“It’s a long season,” Arians told Yahoo Sports Tuesday. “You know, they’re 0-4.
That’s just September. You know, October is going to be a big, big month for them."
That optimism comes with a hard truth attached: almost nobody has climbed out of this kind of hole. The only team in NFL history to reach the playoffs after opening 0-4 was the 1992 San Diego Chargers.
And October is coming fast.
Tampa Bay’s latest setback came Sunday in a loss to the Green Bay Packers at Raymond James Stadium. The Bucs now have a quick turnaround with a Thursday night trip to face the Dallas Cowboys in Jerry World.
After that, they’ll come home to play the Pittsburgh Steelers, then head to Carolina for their first NFC South game of the season against the Panthers. The month wraps with a Nov. 1 home matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
The schedule would be tough enough on its own, but the injuries make it even more precarious. Baker Mayfield is expected to miss 3-6 weeks after dislocating his thumb in the Sept. 27 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Antoine Winfield Jr. is also sidelined for 2-4 weeks after suffering an oblique injury against Green Bay. That means Tampa could be navigating the entire month without two of its most important players on offense and defense.
Arians pointed to the lack of quarterback stability in one of the rare comeback cases as another reason this Bucs team faces a tougher climb. When the 1992 Chargers rebounded from 0-4, Stan Humphries started 14 games. Tampa doesn’t have that kind of continuity right now.
Still, the Bucs haven’t been blown out. Every loss has come by one possession or one score, and there have been moments that suggest this team isn’t completely broken. Tampa also grades out as one of the league’s better defenses by advanced analytics, even if it sits 20th in points allowed.
The offense, though, has been a different story. Only seven NFL teams have scored fewer points, and Arians said the issues start up front.
“Right now, their offensive line’s got to play better,” Arians said. “I think they need to run the ball better, and that offensive line is intact, and they’re really, really good.”
That line hasn’t taken control in the run game yet. Tampa ranks 17th in rushing yards, a sign that the unit still hasn’t delivered the kind of push Arians believes it’s capable of producing.
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