Todd Bowles isn’t pretending the Buccaneers’ passing game is fine.
After Tampa Bay’s 27-24 loss to the Chicago Bears dropped the club to 3-6, the head coach pointed directly to the biggest reason Emeka Egbuka’s output has fallen off so sharply: health.
Bowles addressed the second-year receiver during his Monday press conference and laid out the mix of issues behind the downturn.
"There’s a lot of variables involved, injuries being number one," Bowles said about Egbuka’s decline in production. "We got to get him upright and healthy so he can stay on the field.
We got to design more plays for him. Obviously, that’s come from a player standpoint and a coaching standpoint, and mix it that way.
But it’s been a mixture, guys. When he started making plays, everybody started taking him away.
But that’s no excuse. We still got to find ways to get him the ball.
But his health has really been the main thing. We just got to keep him upright, and he’s got to get his feet better."
The numbers back up the concern. Egbuka still leads the Buccaneers in receiving, but that’s more a reflection of how little production the rest of the group has generated than a sign of a thriving passing attack. He has 31 catches for 278 yards and two touchdowns more than halfway through the season, a steep drop from his rookie line of 63 receptions for 938 yards and six scores.
Chris Godwin is next on the team with 29 catches for 259 yards and no touchdowns.
Tampa Bay’s passing game has been one of the league’s weakest units, with the Buccaneers sitting last in passing yards and second-to-last in touchdowns. The team has also felt the absence of Mike Evans, who left for the San Francisco 49ers.
The Buccaneers enter their Week 10 bye with the possibility of making moves at the trade deadline.
In Other News...
Todd Bowles Just Put Tampa Bays Biggest Problem In Focus
The Buccaneers came away from their loss to the Bears with a familiar frustration hanging over the building: a defense that did its part and an offense that failed to make it count. Tampa Bay forced five turnovers and still walked off beaten, a reminder that the margin for error disappears fast when takeaways do not turn into points. Todd Bowles made it clear afterward that the issue is not on the defensive side, where the group continues to give the team chances.
Now the focus shifts to the bye week, where the Buccaneers will have time to sort through an offense that has not matched the standard set by the defense. Baker Mayfield's two interceptions, including one that went the other way for a touchdown, only sharpened the concern, but the bigger picture is broader than one sequence or one player. Tampa Bay has enough on defense to stay in games. The question is whether the offense can finally do its part before the season slips further into a pattern the Bucs cannot afford. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Let A Prime Upset Chance Slip Away In Frustrating Loss
For much of Sunday night, the Buccaneers had the kind of game that usually travels well: takeaways on defense, steady production on the ground from Bucky Irving, and enough chances to turn a road upset into something bigger. Zyon McCollum helped fuel that formula with an interception, and Tampa Bay kept putting Chicago in uncomfortable spots while trying to control the game on the road.
But the night kept slipping away in the details. Conservative play-calling, penalties and shaky special teams all chipped at the margin, and Baker Mayfields rough night in the passing game left Tampa Bay unable to cash in on its defensive work. Even with the Bears coughing up five turnovers, the Buccaneers walked off with a 27-24 loss that felt like one they had every chance to own. [Read more 🡒]
Baker Mayfield Calls Out One Costly Moment In Bucs Loss
After the Buccaneers loss to the Bears, Baker Mayfield zeroed in on one of the games more frustrating moments: a false start penalty on offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs that he believed came after Chicagos defense illegally mimicked the quarterbacks cadence. Mayfield said it is a tough call for officials to catch in real time, but the sequence stood out in a game where Tampa Bay had enough self-inflicted issues to make a tight road result feel even more painful.
Mayfield still made a point of praising the way the Bucs competed despite the turnovers, which is part of what made the loss sting. On the other side, Caleb Williams and the Bears survived a chaotic afternoon in which the rookie quarterback threw four interceptions, leaving Tampa Bay to sort through what went wrong and which moments might have changed the outcome. [Read more 🡒]