The Bucs keep finding new ways to make a one-score game feel like a gut punch.
Sunday’s 17-14 loss to the Packers fit the pattern perfectly: Tampa Bay had chances in the fourth quarter, plenty of them, and still spent the final minute watching another close game slip away. The result was the team’s 10th straight game decided by a touchdown or less in Tampa Bay, and the Bucs have lost eight of those 10.
Cornerback Zyon McCollum didn’t sugarcoat what’s going on.
“We absolutely have the talent. I mean, we know we have the talent,” McCollum said.
“We keep saying we’re close, but we’re past that. Know who you are, do your job, be the best you can be and let’s go win a game.”
The frustration around this start has become impossible to miss. Center Graham Barton was even blunter when asked whether being this close so often offers any comfort.
“No, it pisses me off,” Barton said. “It’s not acceptable. I’m not going to give you some bulls--t answer; it’s just not acceptable.”
That’s the problem for Tampa Bay: the failures keep changing shape. One week it’s turnovers.
Another week it’s a defensive breakdown. There have been games with too many penalties and others with too few sacks.
Against Green Bay, rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels was making his first NFL start, but the issues ran deeper than a debut under pressure.
Barton had a botched snap that killed a fourth-quarter drive. Tight end Cade Otton and receiver Emeka Egbuka dropped passes. The defensive line barely got to Jordan Love, a week after the Falcons had him under constant heat.
“It’s frustrating that we’re 0-4. That’s what’s frustrating,” tackle Tristan Wirfs said. “I don’t care how close (the score) is.”
Todd Bowles didn’t dodge the larger picture either. His team is now 0-4, and he put the responsibility on everyone while making it clear the buck stops with him.
“Last year doesn’t matter to me. This year matters.
Right now, we’re 0-4,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to find out (how) to close games, because all of them are one-score games.
We’ve got to finish. Everybody plays a part in that, and it starts with me.”
The Bucs have not always been this fragile in the fourth quarter under Bowles. They were 15-16 in games decided by seven points or less, a mark that wasn’t glamorous but at least suggested they could live in the middle ground with the rest of the league. Since then, they’re 2-8, and that slide has only made Bowles’ job status look shakier.
This season has already dug a deep hole. Tampa Bay is 0-4 for the 11th time in franchise history and the first time since 2013. On the previous 10 occasions, the team averaged 3.1 wins.
There’s still a path where this turns into an outlier rather than a collapse. The Bucs could stabilize, stop giving away tight games and find a way to stay in the NFC South race. But if they don’t, the next few weeks could force hard conversations.
The trade deadline is about five weeks away, and the Glazer family could have to decide whether it makes sense to keep paying top money to players in their 30s like Chris Godwin, Vita Vea and Baker Mayfield if the playoffs are out of reach. Whether other teams would want those contracts is another question.
Wirfs made the situation plain.
“No one is coming to save us. We aren’t going to magically get a superhero in here,” Wirfs said.
“We can’t snap our fingers and be 4-0. We can’t snap our fingers and be 2-2.
We are 0-4. It’s the guys in this locker room that are going to get us out of it.”
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 🡒]