What can you say at this point? A team that was once 3-1, then 4-2, is now 4-6 after four consecutive heartbreaking losses. To add injury to insult, they lost Tristan Wirfs, Zyon McCollum, and Chris Braswell in their 23-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Guess the bye week came at the right time for this team.
Let’s Pick Six.
1.) Is There A Way To Lose That The Bucs Haven’t Done Yet? It seems like the last couple of months, the Bucs are finding new ways to lose games. Blown lead late in Atlanta, lose in overtime without touching the ball. Toe-to-toe with the Ravens until Evans got hurt, getting blown out, battle back, lose Godwin for the season and lose the game. Lose to the Falcons again thanks to a bad touchdown call for Kyle Pitts and bad interceptions from Baker Mayfield. Score on a last minute drive in Kansas City just to go to overtime and lose without touching the ball again. Then watch an opposing kicker miss three kicks just to nail the game winner as time expires. It’s been a month of gut-punches for the Bucs and their fans, yet they find a way to stay competitive in all these games just to make the pain of the final score even worse than the week before. I think Bucs fans might need this bye week more than the team.
2.) Bucs Dodged A Bullet. Admit it - when Tristan Wirfs was helped off the field and into the locker room, your heart sank into your stomach and you had to fight the urge to get sick. Another key player - one of the best in the league at his position - leaving the game hurt. Add him to Evans, Godwin, McCollum, Dean, Dennis, Hall, Tykee, and all the other players the Bucs have lost this season for any period of time. It was another kick in the gut for the Bucs and their fans. Luckily, reports are that Wirfs is now week to week with a low-level knee sprain. Given the way his knee bent and the way he looked after the injury, that is absolutely the best case scenario. The Bucs wouldn’t have been able to withstand an extended absence from Wirfs. We’ve seen the Justin Skule experiment this season when he filled in for Luke Goedeke and it wasn’t pretty. The teams on the Bucs’ remaining schedule may not be good, but quite a few have some really good edge rushers that would be knocking Baker around from his blind side far too much. Hopefully Wirfs won’t have to miss any time since the Bucs are on a bye.
3.) What’s Best For The Future? Okay, so this isn’t what a lot of Bucs fans are going to want to hear - but it may be best for the team’s future if they don’t go on a run and wind up in the playoffs. This defense isn’t built to make a deep run. There are just too many holes. They need upgrades at linebacker, edge rusher, and cornerback - so even if they do make the postseason they won’t make it far. Yes, Evans is coming back. So are Jamel Dean, Tykee Smith, Zyon McCollum, and others. But Godwin isn’t. SirVocea Dennis isn’t. K.J. Britt and J.J. Russell aren’t suddenly going to become Pro Bowl caliber players. So, for a team that was already built to be serious contenders starting in 2025, what’s going to be best for the team next year and beyond? Picking in the early teens in the draft, or in the early twenties? No one is advocating for the Bucs to tank - I still believe they will win at least five of their last seven, probably even six to reach ten wins on the season and find themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt - but I’m not sure they have to horses to make any noise once they get there. Are they going to go on the road to Philly or Atlanta or Washington and beat one of those teams with a bottom four defense? Seems unlikely. This is a team that should be in the conversation as one of the best teams in the conference when fully healthy, but they haven’t played that way. Finding themselves in a position to draft elite talent at positions of need makes a playoff team even better moving forward. So, if they don’t make the playoffs, remind yourself that it’s not the worst thing in the world and the NFL doesn’t know what they’re in for once this roster reloads.
4.) Mike Evans Needs To Come Back Ready. Evans is a first ballot Hall Of Fame receiver. There’s no question about it. That said, his 1,000 yard streak is in serious jeopardy after missing the last three and a half games. Evans has to average 95 yards per game the rest of the season in order to tie Jerry Rice’s NFL record for most consecutive 1,000 yard seasons. He’s never not gotten 1,000 yards. But without Chris Godwin, it’s going to be that much tougher. None of the receivers on the team have really stepped up and asserted themselves as legitimate threats without the top two guys out there on the field. Jalen McMillan has been sorely disappointing this season. Sterling Shepard has been decent, but far from reliable and consistent. Rakim Jarrett will continue to get more involved as time passes, but he’s not a player that opposing teams fear. Ryan Miller, Marquez Callaway - they aren’t a threat. So now Evans is going to go against constant double and triple teams so that Baker is forced to look elsewhere and beat the defense going to someone else - and until another receiver steps up, Evans’ matchups aren’t going to get any easier. That’s going to make that 95 yards a game that much more difficult to attain. He’ll have opportunities - and we all know that he’s going to have that explosive 150+ yard performance, but it’s going to take a lot more than one or two of those to hit that 1,000 yard benchmark that’s become the norm throughout his career.
5.) Okay, I Give Up. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve written here or said on the Locked On Bucs podcast that Sean Tucker has to get more involved in the run game. Ever since he was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his explosion against the Saints, his workload has gotten remarkably smaller each and every week. On Sunday against the 49ers, his workload was exactly as much as yours and mine - none. No carries. No receptions. No snaps. So I’ve given up trying to express my feelings on the matter. I don’t know if this is a Todd Bowles decision, a Liam Coen decision, a game script situation - but Tucker isn’t going to see the field much unless there’s an injury. It doesn’t matter how effective he would be inside the ten or how much he wears down opposing defenders because of the strength and energy it takes to bring him down, he’s just not going to get the carries. Liam Coen said he needed to get Tucker more work and since then he’s gotten less. So, that was fun while it lasted but Tucker is now an afterthought.
6.) Skating On Thin Ice. I have to imagine, at this point, it’s going to be hard to justify keeping Todd Bowles around for next season. The team has lost four in a row and five of the last six, and while they can go on a run just like last year the defense has been one of the worst the NFL has to offer in every aspect. And this isn’t a team that should have had a losing streak like last year or be forced to go on a run like last year. They were one of the top teams in the NFC in the first month and are still the only team to beat the Detroit Lions - and they beat them in Detroit. Now, they’re bleeding yards and points while the offense battles each and every week without its top two players. There’s no excuse for it, there’s no reason for it. Injuries can only be used as an excuse for so long. Evans and Godwin being out hasn’t stopped the offense from staying the top five, so what’s the excuse for the defense? Antoine Winfield Jr., Vita Vea, Lavonte David are all still out there. Zyon McCollum came into the 49ers games as the top graded corner in the NFL. Outside of coaching and/or scheme, what possible reason is there for the defense to be this bad? Liam Coen is going to get head coaching offers after the season. His offense is leaps and bounds better than Canales’ and Canales was able to parlay last season into the Panthers job. You think teams aren’t going to be busting down Coen’s door? The only way the Bucs keep him is to make him the head coach. And, for as much as I like Bowles, what’s more important - keeping the guy in charge of a top five offense or keeping the guy in charge of a bottom five defense?
4 - Rushing touchdowns by Bucky Irving, most in the NFL among rookies
10 - Straight games with a touchdown pass by Baker Mayfield to start the season, one away from the franchise record
.323 - Remaining strength of schedule, most favorable in the NFL
9 - Receiving touchdowns by Rachaad White, tied for the most by a running back in franchise history (Warrick Dunn, James Wilder)
191 - Games played by Lavonte David, third most in franchise history
138 - Career receptions by Cade Otton, now sixth most in franchises history among tight ends
1.) Family Fun Day - Take the kids out to do something as a special treat for dealing with you during this Buccaneers losing streak
2.) Put Up Christmas Decorations - I’m usually a post-Thanksgiving decoration kind of guy, but that free weekend being close enough gives you a pass. Just knock it out and not worry about it again until January
3.) Do Your Holiday Shopping - If you don’t want to go the decorating route, knock out all your shopping. You’ll see all these people freaking out about last minute gifts while you smile to yourself knowing you were done by the middle of November
4.) Head To Amalie - No Bucs game? No Problem. Head to Amalie and root on the Lightning as they take on the Devils Saturday night. They might be having a worse run than the Bucs lately after a red hot start of their own. And surely you’ll be treated to some Kucherov magic
5.) The Ultimate Lazy Day - Stay in your pajama pants, load up on junk food, kick back, and have yourself a marathon day. Maybe your better half and your kids get involved and you guys have a movie marathon, each choosing a movie to watch and just kicking back and enjoying the time together. Picks go in order from youngest to oldest because, chances are, the youngest isn’t going to make it to the end. Popcorn, candy, Pub Subs, soda - just curl up on the couch and enjoy yourselves.
6.) Game Day - Bust out those old board games, get out the cards - challenge each other to “Sorry,” “Pictionary,” “Scrabble,” and “Jenga.” But, maybe, don’t bust out “Uno” unless you want a fun day to end in a fight.
1.) Kansas City Chiefs - I just don’t know what kind of voodoo they’re doing or who sold their soul for them to keep winning like this…
2.) Detroit Lions - Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, I’m not sure there’s anyone in the NFC that can stop them
3.) Baltimore Ravens - They’re firing on all cylinders
4.) Buffalo Bills - They get stronger the more the season goes on
5.) San Francisco 49ers - With CMC back, sky is the limit
18.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Slipping to the bottom half of the NFL, but the defense just isn’t close to where it needs to be
What can you say at this point? A team that was once 3-1, then 4-2, is now 4-6 after four consecutive heartbreaking losses. To add injury to insult, they lost Tristan Wirfs, Zyon McCollum, and Chris Braswell in their 23-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Guess the bye week came at the right time for this team.
Let’s Pick Six.
1.) Is There A Way To Lose That The Bucs Haven’t Done Yet? It seems like the last couple of months, the Bucs are finding new ways to lose games. Blown lead late in Atlanta, lose in overtime without touching the ball. Toe-to-toe with the Ravens until Evans got hurt, getting blown out, battle back, lose Godwin for the season and lose the game. Lose to the Falcons again thanks to a bad touchdown call for Kyle Pitts and bad interceptions from Baker Mayfield. Score on a last minute drive in Kansas City just to go to overtime and lose without touching the ball again. Then watch an opposing kicker miss three kicks just to nail the game winner as time expires. It’s been a month of gut-punches for the Bucs and their fans, yet they find a way to stay competitive in all these games just to make the pain of the final score even worse than the week before. I think Bucs fans might need this bye week more than the team.
2.) Bucs Dodged A Bullet. Admit it - when Tristan Wirfs was helped off the field and into the locker room, your heart sank into your stomach and you had to fight the urge to get sick. Another key player - one of the best in the league at his position - leaving the game hurt. Add him to Evans, Godwin, McCollum, Dean, Dennis, Hall, Tykee, and all the other players the Bucs have lost this season for any period of time. It was another kick in the gut for the Bucs and their fans. Luckily, reports are that Wirfs is now week to week with a low-level knee sprain. Given the way his knee bent and the way he looked after the injury, that is absolutely the best case scenario. The Bucs wouldn’t have been able to withstand an extended absence from Wirfs. We’ve seen the Justin Skule experiment this season when he filled in for Luke Goedeke and it wasn’t pretty. The teams on the Bucs’ remaining schedule may not be good, but quite a few have some really good edge rushers that would be knocking Baker around from his blind side far too much. Hopefully Wirfs won’t have to miss any time since the Bucs are on a bye.
3.) What’s Best For The Future? Okay, so this isn’t what a lot of Bucs fans are going to want to hear - but it may be best for the team’s future if they don’t go on a run and wind up in the playoffs. This defense isn’t built to make a deep run. There are just too many holes. They need upgrades at linebacker, edge rusher, and cornerback - so even if they do make the postseason they won’t make it far. Yes, Evans is coming back. So are Jamel Dean, Tykee Smith, Zyon McCollum, and others. But Godwin isn’t. SirVocea Dennis isn’t. K.J. Britt and J.J. Russell aren’t suddenly going to become Pro Bowl caliber players. So, for a team that was already built to be serious contenders starting in 2025, what’s going to be best for the team next year and beyond? Picking in the early teens in the draft, or in the early twenties? No one is advocating for the Bucs to tank - I still believe they will win at least five of their last seven, probably even six to reach ten wins on the season and find themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt - but I’m not sure they have to horses to make any noise once they get there. Are they going to go on the road to Philly or Atlanta or Washington and beat one of those teams with a bottom four defense? Seems unlikely. This is a team that should be in the conversation as one of the best teams in the conference when fully healthy, but they haven’t played that way. Finding themselves in a position to draft elite talent at positions of need makes a playoff team even better moving forward. So, if they don’t make the playoffs, remind yourself that it’s not the worst thing in the world and the NFL doesn’t know what they’re in for once this roster reloads.
4.) Mike Evans Needs To Come Back Ready. Evans is a first ballot Hall Of Fame receiver. There’s no question about it. That said, his 1,000 yard streak is in serious jeopardy after missing the last three and a half games. Evans has to average 95 yards per game the rest of the season in order to tie Jerry Rice’s NFL record for most consecutive 1,000 yard seasons. He’s never not gotten 1,000 yards. But without Chris Godwin, it’s going to be that much tougher. None of the receivers on the team have really stepped up and asserted themselves as legitimate threats without the top two guys out there on the field. Jalen McMillan has been sorely disappointing this season. Sterling Shepard has been decent, but far from reliable and consistent. Rakim Jarrett will continue to get more involved as time passes, but he’s not a player that opposing teams fear. Ryan Miller, Marquez Callaway - they aren’t a threat. So now Evans is going to go against constant double and triple teams so that Baker is forced to look elsewhere and beat the defense going to someone else - and until another receiver steps up, Evans’ matchups aren’t going to get any easier. That’s going to make that 95 yards a game that much more difficult to attain. He’ll have opportunities - and we all know that he’s going to have that explosive 150+ yard performance, but it’s going to take a lot more than one or two of those to hit that 1,000 yard benchmark that’s become the norm throughout his career.
5.) Okay, I Give Up. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve written here or said on the Locked On Bucs podcast that Sean Tucker has to get more involved in the run game. Ever since he was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his explosion against the Saints, his workload has gotten remarkably smaller each and every week. On Sunday against the 49ers, his workload was exactly as much as yours and mine - none. No carries. No receptions. No snaps. So I’ve given up trying to express my feelings on the matter. I don’t know if this is a Todd Bowles decision, a Liam Coen decision, a game script situation - but Tucker isn’t going to see the field much unless there’s an injury. It doesn’t matter how effective he would be inside the ten or how much he wears down opposing defenders because of the strength and energy it takes to bring him down, he’s just not going to get the carries. Liam Coen said he needed to get Tucker more work and since then he’s gotten less. So, that was fun while it lasted but Tucker is now an afterthought.
6.) Skating On Thin Ice. I have to imagine, at this point, it’s going to be hard to justify keeping Todd Bowles around for next season. The team has lost four in a row and five of the last six, and while they can go on a run just like last year the defense has been one of the worst the NFL has to offer in every aspect. And this isn’t a team that should have had a losing streak like last year or be forced to go on a run like last year. They were one of the top teams in the NFC in the first month and are still the only team to beat the Detroit Lions - and they beat them in Detroit. Now, they’re bleeding yards and points while the offense battles each and every week without its top two players. There’s no excuse for it, there’s no reason for it. Injuries can only be used as an excuse for so long. Evans and Godwin being out hasn’t stopped the offense from staying the top five, so what’s the excuse for the defense? Antoine Winfield Jr., Vita Vea, Lavonte David are all still out there. Zyon McCollum came into the 49ers games as the top graded corner in the NFL. Outside of coaching and/or scheme, what possible reason is there for the defense to be this bad? Liam Coen is going to get head coaching offers after the season. His offense is leaps and bounds better than Canales’ and Canales was able to parlay last season into the Panthers job. You think teams aren’t going to be busting down Coen’s door? The only way the Bucs keep him is to make him the head coach. And, for as much as I like Bowles, what’s more important - keeping the guy in charge of a top five offense or keeping the guy in charge of a bottom five defense?
4 - Rushing touchdowns by Bucky Irving, most in the NFL among rookies
10 - Straight games with a touchdown pass by Baker Mayfield to start the season, one away from the franchise record
.323 - Remaining strength of schedule, most favorable in the NFL
9 - Receiving touchdowns by Rachaad White, tied for the most by a running back in franchise history (Warrick Dunn, James Wilder)
191 - Games played by Lavonte David, third most in franchise history
138 - Career receptions by Cade Otton, now sixth most in franchises history among tight ends
1.) Family Fun Day - Take the kids out to do something as a special treat for dealing with you during this Buccaneers losing streak
2.) Put Up Christmas Decorations - I’m usually a post-Thanksgiving decoration kind of guy, but that free weekend being close enough gives you a pass. Just knock it out and not worry about it again until January
3.) Do Your Holiday Shopping - If you don’t want to go the decorating route, knock out all your shopping. You’ll see all these people freaking out about last minute gifts while you smile to yourself knowing you were done by the middle of November
4.) Head To Amalie - No Bucs game? No Problem. Head to Amalie and root on the Lightning as they take on the Devils Saturday night. They might be having a worse run than the Bucs lately after a red hot start of their own. And surely you’ll be treated to some Kucherov magic
5.) The Ultimate Lazy Day - Stay in your pajama pants, load up on junk food, kick back, and have yourself a marathon day. Maybe your better half and your kids get involved and you guys have a movie marathon, each choosing a movie to watch and just kicking back and enjoying the time together. Picks go in order from youngest to oldest because, chances are, the youngest isn’t going to make it to the end. Popcorn, candy, Pub Subs, soda - just curl up on the couch and enjoy yourselves.
6.) Game Day - Bust out those old board games, get out the cards - challenge each other to “Sorry,” “Pictionary,” “Scrabble,” and “Jenga.” But, maybe, don’t bust out “Uno” unless you want a fun day to end in a fight.
1.) Kansas City Chiefs - I just don’t know what kind of voodoo they’re doing or who sold their soul for them to keep winning like this…
2.) Detroit Lions - Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, I’m not sure there’s anyone in the NFC that can stop them
3.) Baltimore Ravens - They’re firing on all cylinders
4.) Buffalo Bills - They get stronger the more the season goes on
5.) San Francisco 49ers - With CMC back, sky is the limit
18.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Slipping to the bottom half of the NFL, but the defense just isn’t close to where it needs to be
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