The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in a major hole to start the 2026 season. The Bucs fell to 0-3 after a 23-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. And like the previous two losses, there was plenty of blame to go around.

The offensive game plan was ineffective, with the Bucs gaining only 264 yards on the day. The offensive line had arguably its worst day of the Todd Bowles era, allowing six sacks and getting flagged for a number of holding penalties along with a chop block. One of those by Luke Goedeke holds took a long, go-ahead second half touchdown to Chris Godwin off the board. The Bucs also turned goal to go from the Minnesota 7-yard line into first and goal from the 27. A field goal followed instead of potentially a touchdown.

The Bucs’ special teams had blame, as Minnesota returned a punt for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The defense played very well over four quarters, but Jordan Addison beat Jacob Parrish for a 41-yard touchdown on a 50/50 ball.

That all said, most of the blame has understandably fallen on Todd Bowles, whose seat was already hot coming into the season. And with the Bucs playing flat, lifeless football on the offensive side of the ball and finding new ways to lose painfully close games every week, the seat is becoming a furnace, and it’s looking more and more like his time could be coming to an end in the not-so-distant future.

Todd Bowles was not out of line for going for it on fourth and 13 in the final two minutes against the Vikings

But Bowles has been getting flack for one thing from Sunday’s loss that perhaps he shouldn’t be getting raked over the coals for. Some fans on social media have lambasted Bowles going for it on fourth and 13 in the Bucs’ own territory down 20-16 with two minutes left. Tampa Bay had all three timeouts left.

Baker Mayfield scanned the field, scrambled wildly trying to evade pressure, and ultimate launched a desperate interception before getting hit. Mayfield stayed down on the field for a while before heading to the locker room with what Bowles said after the game is a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand.

“It was the end of the game, we needed a play,” Bowles said. “We weren’t — get the ball back with very little time. We had to make a play.”

And I have to say I get the decision and have no qualms with it, even with what came about for Baker. Best case scenario, if the Bucs actually force a three and out, they’re getting the ball back well into their own territory with no timeouts still needing a touchdown. Those are long odds.

The Bucs showed on Sunday that they had the ability to bust a play long. They hit a 40-yard touchdown to Ted Hurst III in the first half. They hit the aforementioned 85-yard score to Godwin that was called back. The odds weren’t good, but they had to try. And if they fail on fourth down, hold them defensively, and Minnesota kicks a field goal, they still are chasing the same touchdown they needed before.

Now, should Tampa Bay have been in position to where they needed that big play? No, certainly not. And there’s plenty to put on Bowles and on offensive coordinator Zac Robinson for that as well across four quarters, as well as an offensive line that played at a truly dreadful level as a unit.

Bottom line: there’s a lot to knock from Bowles so far through three games, as this simply a bad football team right now. But he and the Bucs had to try to make a play in that particular spot, like he said. The Bucs just couldn’t get it done against a better team on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.