The Bucs don’t need a miracle to get back on track. They just need enough football to look ordinary.
That’s the strange comfort of this 0-3 start. Tampa Bay has already given away three games, and the collapse from last season still hangs over everything. But the season hasn’t turned into a lost cause yet, and that’s the sliver of hope worth holding onto before Sunday’s meeting with the Packers.
Start with the schedule. Of Tampa Bay’s next 14 opponents, only three - Baltimore, Detroit and Chicago - currently own winning records.
Sure, it’s still early, and a few results will look different by the time the Bucs actually play some of those teams. The Rams, for instance, probably won’t still be below .500 when Tampa Bay sees them on Jan.
- Even so, this is not some brutal march through the league.
The 14 upcoming opponents have a combined record of 17-26.
There’s also the quarterback situation, which is messy but not hopeless. Rookie quarterbacks are not saviors, and no one should expect Jalon Daniels to suddenly rescue an offense that has been inconsistent and unsure.
Still, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has been here before. In Atlanta in 2024-25, Robinson worked through a quarterback split between veteran Kirk Cousins and 2024 first-round pick Michael Penix Jr.
The Falcons went 12-10 with Cousins and 4-8 with Penix, so there wasn’t exactly a breakthrough formula there. But Daniels showed some pop in the preseason, and Robinson has already talked about how to trim things down for a young passer.
“You just learn what they’re comfortable with,” Robinson said. “Maybe you’ve got to simplify some things from a schematic standpoint, but it’s all good.
As long as they’re comfortable with the plays, we can draw up whatever we want, but it’s their comfort with it that’s all that matters. So, I was able to kind of learn through some experiences.
“You try to simplify things so they can play with a clear mind on Sunday. All those experiences are kind of coming forth again, obviously, this week.”
Then there’s the division, which remains the NFC South in all its familiar chaos. Since 2022, the Bucs, Saints, Falcons and Panthers have not had a single season in which they finished above .500 against opponents outside the division.
Over that stretch, the four teams combined to go 66-110 outside the South. And somehow this year has started even worse: the division is 2-8 against non-division opponents.
That matters because Tampa Bay is 0-3 and still only one game out of first place. A division title is still there to be chased, and that alone should give the Bucs more hope than a winless start usually allows.
The frustration in Tampa Bay is real, though. Fans expected more than this, and that’s part of why the mood is so sour.
Oddsmakers generally set the Bucs at 8.5 wins before the season, but plenty of people around the team thought the ceiling was higher. Losing hurts.
Falling short of expectations stings even more.
Even so, there’s still talent on this roster. Only seven players remain from the 2020 Super Bowl team, including Chris Godwin, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Vita Vea, but Tampa Bay still has plenty of players who were part of division-winning groups from 2021-24.
“We have a lot of guys who have been part of winning programs, a good nucleus of players who know how to win,” Godwin said. “And it’s not like we’ve been getting blown out of games. All of our games have been one possession or a few plays here or there from a different outcome.
“The record doesn’t speak well for us right now, but it’s a long season, right? I’m sure a majority of teams are going to lose more than three games. We’ve got time to fix this, we just have to be more consistent with our execution.”
One more reason not to write the Bucs off just yet: turnover margin. Since 2024, Tampa Bay is 15-8 when it finishes plus or even in turnovers, and 3-11 when it’s on the wrong side of that number. This season, the Bucs have lost the turnover battle in all three games.
If Daniels can keep the ball out of harm’s way and the defense can come up with a takeaway or two, Tampa Bay could change its outlook fast.
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 🡒]