Buccaneers get hit with a label no NFL team wants and the worst part is they have only themselves to blame
A little more than two months ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were atop the NFC and Baker Mayfield had just taken hold of the MVP conversation. Flash forward to post-Christmas season and the Bucs are sitting at 7-9 and are looking up at the Carolina Panthers’ NFC South-leading 8-8 record. Week 18 is officially a […]
A little more than two months ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were atop the NFC and Baker Mayfield had just taken hold of the MVP conversation.
Flash forward to post-Christmas season and the Bucs are sitting at 7-9 and are looking up at the Carolina Panthers’ NFC South-leading 8-8 record. Week 18 is officially a do-or-die game for both teams and whichever one wins goes to the playoffs while the other goes home.
It’s crazy to think how the Bucs got here and it all starts with their 1-7 record since the bye week. Sure, they lost to some really good teams in the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, and Buffalo Bills, but that’s it.
The other four losses? Well, they’ve come at the hands of the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, and aforementioned Panthers. The first three teams were already eliminated before their respective kickoffs against the Bucs and all four currently combine for a 27-36 record.
The constant failures pushed Bucs Super Bowl champion Anthony McFarland to the point where he basically called the Bucs (along with the Colts) impostors on X and he’s absolutely right. And, the Bucs have no one to blame but themselves.
Bucs did have us fooled all along
Sure hindsight is 20/20, and to be fair, the Bucs’ 6-2 start was awfully impressive when considering all the injuries they dealt with early on. But it’s clear this was a flawed team from the start and it just happened to take advantage of a) some bad teams overall and b) some teams still figuring things out in the early part of the season.
The Bucs lose to the Falcons in Week 1 if it’s not for Antoine Winfield Jr.’s incredible game-saving pass break-up late in the fourth quarter. They had to pull off some magic to beat the Houston Texans in Week 2 and I’d bet my mortgage the Texans would steamroll the Bucs if they played, today.
They barely escaped an awful New York Jets team before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in a contest where the score made it look way, way closer than it actually was.
The Bucs then came up with their two most impressive wins of the season after beating the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers and they deserve all the credit in the world for those wins. However, looking back, it’s insane to think they beat those teams considering where the 9ers and ‘Hawks stand now, and like the Texans, and I’d bet everything they cream the Bucs, now.
Tampa Bay eked it’s way through the first half of the season and then the bottom fell apart once teams got more tape and figured out how to attack both sides of the ball. Now, Todd Bowles and Co. are seemingly out of answers at a time when they need them most.
The wild part is the Bucs are healthier, now, than they were, then. You know, when they were winning games. The irony is as real and apparent as ever and there’s a great chance it hits its peak when the Bucs attempt to win their fifth-straight NFC South title on Sunday.
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