Buccaneers Facing Familiar Slump, But Stakes Are Higher as Season Winds Down
It’s December, and once again, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers find themselves wrestling with a familiar foe - the mid-season slump. But this time, the timing couldn’t be worse. Instead of a hiccup in October or early November, the Bucs are stumbling into the final stretch of the regular season, and the NFC South title is still very much up for grabs.
Tampa’s upcoming matchup against the Carolina Panthers isn’t just another game - it’s a divisional showdown with postseason implications. The Bucs have been here before, but something about this year feels different. The path to snapping out of this funk hasn’t been as straightforward as in years past.
Head coach Todd Bowles has emphasized the need to clean up the “little things” - mental errors, discipline lapses, and execution breakdowns that have plagued the team during this stretch. But quarterback Baker Mayfield sees a deeper issue at play.
“I don't know if I can really put my finger on one thing,” Mayfield said. “In years past, I've said that we got the little things corrected and just played simple ball - bread-and-butter plays and executed really well. I think maybe in the last few years we did that and now it's just a matter of making the plays in critical moments that we need to.”
Mayfield isn’t shying away from accountability either. “I [have] to make those throws, I [have] to make those plays, can’t turn the ball over,” he added. “So that comes down to me.”
And that’s where the spotlight turns - those critical moments. In each of the past two games, Tampa Bay’s chances unraveled on plays that involved Mayfield and rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka.
Both were misfires - one high, one behind - and while Egbuka got his hands on each, they were tough catches to make. In games decided by inches, those are the kinds of moments that separate contenders from pretenders.
Still, there’s optimism inside the Bucs’ locker room. Veteran receiver Mike Evans, who’s seen his fair share of these late-season battles, believes the key isn’t reinventing the wheel - it’s getting healthy and staying the course.
“We're all finally coming together,” Evans said. “The whole team is trying to get back healthy.
Like you said, we've been here before, so we know what it takes. [We have] to win.
Don’t change anything, don’t do [anything] special, just do what we’ve been doing and try to win these ball games.”
Evans’ point is well taken. Injuries have hampered Tampa’s offense in previous years, but this season’s attrition has hit particularly hard. If the Bucs are finally getting their playmakers back on the field at full strength, that could be the missing piece to get the offense humming again.
But health alone won’t solve everything. As Mayfield pointed out, it’s about execution - especially when the game is on the line.
The Bucs don’t need to be perfect, but they do need to be clutch. That means converting on third downs, finishing drives, and avoiding the kind of miscues that have cost them in recent weeks.
With the division still within reach, Tampa Bay has a chance to rewrite the narrative. But if they want to punch their ticket to the postseason, they’ll need to do more than just show up - they’ll need to deliver when it matters most.