The Buccaneers keep finding new ways to make a bad start feel even heavier. On Sunday, Tampa Bay dropped to 0-4 after a 17-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers, and while the final score says one thing, the game was packed with individual swings in both directions.
A few Buccaneers did enough to give the team a real shot at its first win. Others made the kind of mistakes that keep turning close games into losses.
A’Shawn Robinson was one of the bright spots. The veteran defensive tackle has settled in as a clear tone-setter for the Bucs, even firing up his teammates with a passionate pregame speech at midfield.
He backed it up on the field, too, forcing a fumble inside the five-yard line late in the fourth quarter to keep Tampa Bay alive. That came a week after he picked off a pass, and while the wins still aren’t coming, Robinson has been exactly what the Bucs hoped for when they signed him in free agency.
Jacob Parrish also delivered another strong outing. The young cornerback finished with five total tackles and added a red zone interception in the fourth quarter, continuing to show why he’s become Tampa Bay’s best pass defender and a rising piece of the defense.
Josiah Trotter keeps making his case, too. The rookie linebacker has played in three games this season and led the Buccaneers in tackles in all three.
Against Green Bay, he piled up nine total tackles and continued to look like the team’s best defensive player this season. At 21, he still feels like he’s only scratching the surface.
Sean Tucker made his limited chances count. He got only three carries, but he turned them into a fourth-down conversion and a rushing touchdown. That kind of production is going to keep pushing the coaching staff to find him more work, especially in short-yardage and goal-line situations.
Then there were the negatives, starting with head coach Todd Bowles. His most glaring decision came at the end, when he chose to go for it on 4th-and-11 instead of giving Chase McLaughlin a chance to try a 65-yard field goal to tie it.
McLaughlin nailed a 65-yarder just last season, and he’s the NFL’s most accurate kicker from 50-plus yards, so the call was hard to understand. Bowles’ defense also failed to produce a sack against a Packers offensive line that had already allowed eight through the first three weeks, and he didn’t use a timeout as Green Bay ran out the clock.
The Glazers have never fired a head coach in-season, but Bowles’ future is starting to look very shaky.
Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is under fire, too. Through four games, the offense has looked stuck in mud, and the numbers are ugly: Tampa Bay is averaging just 19 points per game, down from 22 last year under Josh Grizzard.
Emeka Egbuka has been nearly invisible, the pass protection has no answers against the blitz, and the unit keeps fighting for every yard. There’s too much talent for it to look this messy.
Cade Otton didn’t help matters. He led the Buccaneers with 37 receiving yards on four catches, but the play that stands out is the one he didn’t make. Otton dropped a perfect pass from rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels that would have gone for a big gain, and the drops keep piling up even after he put on gloves.
Graham Barton had a rough one in the middle of the line. He let a Packers defender come through untouched on a blitz, forcing a throwaway and wasting a key play on what could have been a game-winning fourth-quarter drive.
Barton also had a botched snap that would have been a safety if not for a heroic effort by Jalon Daniels. If that keeps happening, the Buccaneers may have no choice but to look at moving him to guard in the offseason.
Tampa Bay’s run defense also took a hit. It’s usually one of the team’s calling cards, but Green Bay gashed the Bucs for a season-high 86 rushing yards.
Two big runs - one for 31 yards and another for 27 - did most of the damage, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. Even without Josh Jacobs, the Packers found explosive plays, and that’s especially frustrating after Green Bay managed only 17 rushing yards against the Atlanta Falcons last week.
Riley Dixon rounded out the rough afternoon. He had four punts and averaged 40 yards per punt, a number that stands out for all the wrong reasons.
He was already last in the league in net punting average, and this performance didn’t help. The Buccaneers may need to find a new punter next season, if not sooner.
In Other News...
Buccaneers Suddenly Face A Bigger Baker Mayfield Problem Than Expected
Baker Mayfields thumb injury has turned into a much bigger issue for the Buccaneers than a short-term scare. The veteran quarterback suffered a dislocated thumb and is expected to miss multiple games, with his return hinging on how quickly he regains grip strength. For Tampa Bay, the timing is especially tricky because Mayfield had been in the middle of another season as the teams starter after appearing in three games so far.
The immediate answer is rookie Jalon Daniels, who has been named the backup and will start while Mayfield is out. It puts an abrupt spotlight on Tampa Bays quarterback depth and raises the stakes around how the offense functions without the player the Buccaneers signed to a multi-year deal. The bigger question now is not just who starts next, but how long the team has to live without Mayfield and what kind of shape he is in when he finally returns. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Fan Goes Viral For A Gameday Moment Bucs Fans Pounced On
A gameday photo from the Packers-Buccaneers matchup quickly took on a life of its own, with a Green Bay fan in a cheese-themed outfit drawing plenty of attention on social media. Buccaneers fans, already tuned into a rough start for their own team, jumped on the image and helped turn a random moment from the stands into one of the evenings louder online talking points.
It fit the mood around Tampa Bay, where the Bucs came in at 0-3 and were turning to undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels at quarterback because of Baker Mayfields injury. Green Bay arrived at 1-2, but the game was about more than the records for Tampa Bay supporters, who had little patience to spare and plenty of time to notice, and react to, anything that stood out. [Read more 🡒]
Todd Bowles Just Became The Center Of Tampa Bay's Biggest Debate
The Buccaneers slow start has pushed Todd Bowles into the middle of a conversation nobody in Tampa Bay wanted to have this early. At 0-4, with a 3-12 record stretching back to last season, the losses are piling up fast enough to turn every miscue into a referendum on direction, execution and leadership. Bowles stepped to the podium after the latest setback and owned the mess, taking responsibility while insisting he still believes he can guide the team out of it.
Bowles has handled the public side of the slump the way a veteran coach usually does, but the frustration around the team is only growing because so many of the defeats have stayed within reach. Close games tend to sharpen the focus on the head coach, and if the Buccaneers keep coming up short in those spots, the accountability debate will only get louder. For now, Bowles is asking for patience, even as the results make that a harder sell by the week. [Read more 🡒]