Week 5 of the 2026 NFL season is here, and the board is already starting to separate into its early-season buckets. The first month can fool you, but it also starts to reveal who’s for real, who’s merely hanging around, and which 2-2 teams are still one good Sunday away from looking completely different. Even at 3-1, nothing is locked in yet.
Kansas City and Carolina are both on bye this week, leaving the rest of the league to carry the Week 5 slate. The opener comes Thursday night, when Tampa Bay visits Dallas at 8:15 PM ET.
That matchup has a major wrinkle right away: the Buccaneers will still be without Baker Mayfield because of his dislocated thumb. With Mayfield available, this would shape up as one of the tighter games on the schedule. Without him, the margin gets a lot thinner for Tampa Bay.
Dallas, meanwhile, still has a defense that has not figured things out, but this is the kind of spot where the Cowboys can try to clean things up. They’ll be facing rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, which makes this feel like a natural get-right opportunity. On the other side, Dallas’ offense has been described as absolutely lethal at home, so Dak Prescott and company should have a chance to put up plenty of points.
The expectation here is a high-scoring game, with Daniels and the Buccaneers able to contribute some offense while Dallas does enough to come out on top. Cowboys win.
In Other News...
Buccaneers Already Have Two Tough Offseason Contract Decisions
The early part of the season has already put Tampa Bay in an awkward spot with a pair of homegrown starters whose futures are suddenly far less straightforward than they looked not long ago. Outside linebacker Yaya Diaby and right guard Cody Mauch are both playing out the final year of their rookie deals, and both were expected to be key pieces as the Buccaneers tried to keep their core intact on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Through the first four games, though, neither has made the kind of case that usually leads to a quick extension. Diabys pass rush production has tailed off, while Mauch has had a rough return from injury in both the run game and protection. If those trends hold, Tampa Bay could be staring at two more obvious free-agent decisions next spring, and neither one looks simple right now. [Read more 🡒]
Todd Bowles Heat Is Rising But Bucs History Says Plenty Too
The early part of the 2026 season has not gone the way Tampa Bay hoped, and the frustration is starting to spill over beyond the standings. Todd Bowles is suddenly part of the league-wide coaching conversation, with some bettors even tagging him as a possible first firing of the year, a reflection of how quickly the temperature can rise when a veteran team stumbles out of the gate.
Still, the Buccaneers own history matters here. Bowles is 35-37 in the regular season and 1-3 in the postseason since taking over in 2022, so there is real pressure around the program, but Tampa Bay ownership has not made a habit of cutting loose head coaches in the middle of a season. That track record makes any in-season move feel unlikely for now, even if the noise around Bowles keeps getting louder. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Face A Brutal Thursday Test With Early Pressure Mounting
Thursday night brings a tricky reset point for Tampa Bay, which heads into Week 5 still searching for its first win and doing it without starting quarterback Baker Mayfield. The spotlight is on the kind of primetime matchup that can either steady a season or deepen the early damage, and the Buccaneers are walking into a Dallas team that will be eager to respond in front of its own crowd.
For Tampa Bay, the challenge is not just surviving the short week but finding enough stability to hang around against a Cowboys team that needs better defense while counting on its offense to set the tone at home. The matchup feels like a steep ask already, and the expectation around it is leaning heavily toward Dallas taking control by a wide margin. [Read more 🡒]