The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are staring at 0-4 after a 17-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and the early read is ugly enough that it invites plenty of overreaction.
Start with the defense, because the score alone doesn’t tell the whole story. Tampa Bay didn’t get carved up in the box score, but the Packers entered Week 4 with a run game that had produced only 66 yards all season, and they managed to top that against the Bucs with 98 net yards.
Green Bay also went 3-for-3 on fourth-down tries, finishing the last one with a touchdown. Against a Packers offense that had been very, very bad coming in, Tampa Bay largely let Green Bay do what it wanted.
That’s what makes the day feel even worse. The Bucs allowed two touchdowns to a limited Packers offense and watched Jordan Love turn in an efficient outing. There are tougher offenses ahead, and this defense still didn’t look like it could slam the door when it mattered.
On the other side, Sean Tucker flashed enough to make you wonder why he didn’t see more of the football. He scored the touchdown that got Tampa Bay its first six points and powered through a fourth-and-one to keep that drive alive.
Yet he finished with just three carries. Bucky Irving and Kenny Gainwell didn’t do much more with their work - Irving averaged 3.8 yards per carry to Tucker’s 3.3, while Gainwell finished at 1.7 - and Tucker looked like the back most likely to create something.
Gainwell did add value with a passing touchdown, and Irving has already established himself as the lead back. Even so, Sunday felt like a game that should have featured Tucker more often.
The larger picture is even harsher. Tampa Bay is 0-4, and only one team in NFL history has made the playoffs after that kind of start: the 1992 Chargers, who won 11 of their next 12. This Buccaneers team doesn’t look built for that kind of turnaround.
Jalon Daniels, in his first start, is not ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, and the schedule isn’t doing Tampa Bay any favors. The Bucs face the Dallas Cowboys next week and the Pittsburgh Steelers the week after that, and both are better than the Packers team that just beat them.
At this point, it’s hard to see a rescue coming. The Buccaneers look headed for a long season, and a very high pick in the 2027 NFL Draft in April feels like a real possibility.
In Other News...
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The Buccaneers 0-4 start has put Todd Bowles squarely in the crosshairs of a frustrated fan base, and the noise around his job is only getting louder as the losses pile up. But inside the organization, the stance appears unchanged: the Glazer family has long preferred to avoid midseason coaching moves, even when the season is slipping away.
That leaves Tampa Bay in a familiar kind of limbo, with a new coaching staff that does not have an obvious interim replacement waiting in the wings. For now, Bowles is expected to keep steering the team through the rest of the season, which means the bigger question for the Buccaneers may not be whether a change is coming now, but how much patience remains once the year finally runs its course. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Suddenly Have A Quarterback Question They Didn't Expect
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Washington found itself in a similar spot when Athan Kaliakmanis was thrust into action for Marcus Mariota and handled the moment well before the Commanders ended up on the wrong side of the result. Mariota is expected to miss time with a knee injury, while Jayden Daniels is set to return despite his elbow issue, leaving Washington with an immediate question at quarterback and a decision that could shape the next stretch of its season. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Fans Have Every Right To Question This Late-Game Decision
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Bowles pointed to the length of the kick and the wind conditions as the reasons for passing on the attempt, but it is the kind of decision that naturally invites a second look. When a kicker has already shown he can hit from that range, leaving points on the table in a tight late-game spot is the sort of move fans will remember, especially if the drive does not end with the kind of payoff the choice requires. [Read more 🡒]