Todd Bowles explains why Bucs have been a good but not great team in 2025
Tampa Bay hasn’t been quite at the level of the best this season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers now sit at 6-3 after a 28-23 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. Between a sputtering offense and a defense that had too many lapses in execution that led to big plays, there was plenty of blame to go around after the loss.
Despite the loss, the Bucs still sit in first place in the NFC South and narrowly sit as the fourth division leader behind Seattle, Philadelphia, and Green Bay. It’s not a bad place to be in.
However, the Bucs have had the look of a good team rather than a true Super Bowl contender, particularly in recent weeks. Todd Bowles was asked at his press conference on Monday what the difference between a good and great team is in the NFL, and he brought up his team’s recent shortcomings in his response.
Todd Bowles explains what’s keeping the Bucs from being a great team
“The difference between a good and a great team is preparation on a daily basis,” Bowles said. “I don’t think we’re great. We prepare. Most of the time we’re very good, and it’s just one or two games who have a blank or an ME here or there that cost everybody else, and it’s a different guy each time, and we’ve got to get that fixed.”
The timing of Bowles comments comes after the Bucs had a handful of moments of poor execution against the Patriots, and none are more obvious than defensive lapses, a number of which swung the game against Tampa Bay on Sunday. Benjamin Morrison was beaten by Kyle Williams, which turned into a 72-yard catch and run touchdown. Zyon McCollum was torched by Mack Hollins for a long gain on a go route that set up goal to go. And the Pats put the game away on a 69-yard touchdown run by TreVeyon Henderson due to someone blowing their assignment in run support.
Those kinds of plays happen across the NFL every week, but they happen rarely to the teams who are the best of the best and are true Super Bowl contenders. If the Bucs are going to take that next step, then lapses everywhere – from defensive to run blocking assignments and everything in between – are going to have to get shored up quickly.
Otherwise, a once promising season won’t end with the Bucs taking an additional step that Tampa Bay fans have hoped to see in 2025.
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