The Bucs head into the bye week with a clear problem staring them in the face: the passing game has gone from strength to strain, and Baker Mayfield is at the center of it.
Through six games, Mayfield has more turnovers than touchdown passes. He has thrown four interceptions and lost three fumbles, giving him seven turnovers against only three touchdown passes. Tampa Bay’s passing offense sits last in the NFL, a stunning fall for a unit that once drove the team’s success and now feels like a drag on everything else.
Todd Bowles said Monday, after the Bucs’ 27-24 loss at Chicago, that the bye week will be used to sort through what’s gone wrong.
“That’s definitely one of the things we have to look at during the bye week,” head coach Todd Bowles said Monday, following the Bucs’ 27-24 loss at Chicago . “Are we comfortable with the calls that we’re calling, that he’s comfortable calling and playing with?
Are we doing the right things for him schematically and then how his mechanics are and what he’s seeing on the field? “We’ve got to come to a decision on that and we’ve got to come to it quick, because it’s been a little bit of a challenge lately.
We’ve got to make some changes there for the betterment of the team from a coaching and playing standpoint so we can move forward after the bye.”
Bowles made one thing clear: the coaching staff is staying intact. He does not plan to make changes on that side, and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson will keep calling plays. But the message was unmistakable - something between the quarterback, the scheme and the execution is not lining up.
Mayfield’s numbers tell the story. His Total Quarterback Rating of 32.4 ranks 30th out of 31 qualified quarterbacks. That’s a steep drop for a player who said during training camp that he felt undervalued by the Bucs.
The problems go beyond the quarterback. Tampa Bay still hasn’t found a reliable No. 1 receiver after the free-agent departure of Mike Evans to the 49ers. Emeka Egbuka, the Bucs’ first-round pick out of Ohio State in 2025, has yet to post a 100-yard receiving game in a calendar year.
Bowles said health has been the biggest issue with Egbuka. The rookie missed two games with a foot injury and returned Sunday night, then caught three passes for 38 yards on five targets against the Bears. If nothing changes, he is on pace for 58 catches and 525 yards.
“There’s a lot of variables involved,” Bowles said. “Injuries being No.
- We’ve got to get him upright and healthy just so he can stay on the field.
We’ve got to design more plays for him. Obviously, that comes from a player’s standpoint and a coaching standpoint.
Mix it that way, but it’s been a mixture. “Guys, when they start making plays, everybody starts taking them away, but that’s no excuse.
We’ve still got to find ways to get him the ball. But his health has really been the main thing.
We’ve just got to keep him upright, and he’s got to keep his feet better.”
The receiving room, as a whole, has not delivered the kind of production the Bucs expected. Bowles said the group has enough chemistry, but not enough proven output.
“Chemistry-wise, I would say, yes, we have enough firepower,” Bowles said of the Bucs receivers. “Talent-wise, we’re probably not. Production-wise, we’re not doing what we’ve been doing in the past, so we can pick it up a little bit at that position.”
Jalen McMillan has been out with a knee injury. Rookie Ted Hurst has not yet developed.
Tez Johnson has also had trouble with dropped passes. Hurst, who is 6-foot-4 and 206 pounds with 4.4-second speed in the 40-yard dash, is the only true X receiver on the roster who can begin to fill Evans’ old role.
But after dropping a pass from Mayfield, he played only one snap against Chicago.
Bowles said Hurst still has a lot to learn.
“Just grasping the entire offense,” Bowles said. “...
There’s a lot of nuances in the offense that he’s still grasping as a rookie that he’s got to take care of and have confidence in. Route running, I think he’s progressed in that, and we’ve just got to get him the ball more, but he’s got to come down with some of the catches as well.”
Even with the passing game sputtering, Tampa Bay does have one area working at a high level: the run game. The Bucs rank No. 1 in the NFL at 163.9 rushing yards per game, powered largely by Bucky Irving. He is fourth in the league with 825 rushing yards and has seven touchdowns.
Still, Bowles said Irving’s workload needs to be managed. At 5-foot-10, 195 pounds, he is on pace for 315 rushing attempts this season.
“I think the bye week for him has come at a perfect time,” Bowles said. “I think he’s tough and he’s handling everything right now, but I don’t know if he has the frame to keep up that type of workload.
We’re going to have to take some of the carries off of him, and it’s hard to do because he’s playing such great football right now and he’s our bellcow. But we’ve still got to be wary of trying to keep him upright the entire season.”
The Bucs return at Lions, 1 p.m. Nov.
- TV/radio: Fox; 97.9-FM
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