Bucs’ huge win over Texans comes at a major cost that can easily hurt the team in the big picture

The Bucs’ roster took a major hit.

Craig Smith — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up a huge win on Monday night, coming from behind in the final two minutes to stun the Houston Texans on the road 20-19.

The team and fan base certainly have to feel good with the start to the regular season, as the Bucs were saddled by the league with having to go on the road for the first two weeks. The team passed that test with flying colors.

However, not all good came out of the game yesterday, and the path forward to a Super Bowl run took a hit with the loss of a key player for the season.

Per ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, DL Calijah Kancey suffered a torn pec and is having season-ending surgery

Schefter notes that an MRI he had on Tuesday revealed the nature of the injury, and he’ll have season-ending surgery on Friday.

It goes without saying that that is a major blow to the Bucs’ defense just two weeks into the regular season. Kancey has come into his own as an impactful player both against the run and offering a pass rush from between the tackles. Kancey led the team in sacks last year with 7.5.

So far this season, the Bucs’ pass rush, particularly from its defensive front and edge rushers, hasn’t been much to write home about. Tampa Bay is in the middle of the pack in sacks in 2025 with four, but two of those came last night on blitzes by Lavonte David and Tykee Smith.

Kancey, who appeared set for a breakout season coming into 2025, is going to be hard to replace, and Logan Hall, Greg Gaines, and rookie Elijah Roberts are going to be called upon to try to fill that void. Bowles may have to get more into has bag of tricks to scheme up and generate pressure in spots moving forward.

In any event, the task for the Bucs in 2025 just got tougher despite a big win in primetime.

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