Bucs May Challenge For NFC’s Top Seed

May 19th, 2025

Rising?

Could the Bucs hang with the Eagles and Lions as beasts of the NFC?

One former minor league pitcher thinks they can.

But wait a minute, you say: The Bucs beat the Eagles and Lions last year. Jiminy Christmas, Joe, how can you ask this?

Joe didn’t. Former minor league pitcher Steve Palazzolo said it. The former PFF tribe chieftain now recently said on a podcast with the former high priest of the PFF tribe, Sam Monson.

Speaking on podcast hosted by The 33rd Team, they claimed the way the Bucs kept the offense together and added Emeka Egbuka and defensive pieces, don’t be surprised if the Bucs hang with the Lions and Eagles.

Bucs fans hammered Palazzolo, apparently, as he begged Bucs fans to hear him out because he read the nasty feedback.

Palazzolo noted that while he’s aware the Bucs beat the Eagles and Lions, they were nowhere near those two conference heavyweights.

“Hear me out, Bucs fans … I feel like [the Bucs are] in better position now to beat the lions and the Eagles, teams like that in the NFC,” Palazzolo said. “And then the response is, ‘They beat the Eagles and the Lions, Steve. They beat them last year.’ I get they beat them last year in head-to-head matchups.

“But the Bucs weren’t as good as them. Last year they were 10-7. The Eagles and the Lions were competing for the No. 1 seed. The Eagles won the Super Bowl. [The Bucs] were not at the same level as those two teams. I know they beat him head-to-head.

“But I think the Bucs are more in position to beat them or to compete with them for the NFC [top seed]. I think they’re in better position if they can get similar play from Baker Mayfield with the pass catchers that they have, the continuity on the offensive line, some of the defensive line additions, like Hassan Reddick, and the continuity that they have on defense, right, this homegrown team.”

In fact, Palazzolo really likes how Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht has constructed the roster

“They’ve done a really nice job of drafting and developing and and then sprinkling in free agents and re-signings like Chris Godwin, where needed, and then a contingency for Godwin’s injury, bringing in a rookie this year who I think it’s going to be a fantastic NFL player [in Emeka Egbuka].”

Palazzolo also thinks the Bucs can take care of the rest of the riff-raff on the schedule, which the team couldn’t overcome last year in order to chase the No. 1 seed.

That’s a good point. The Bucs need to do a better job of beating the teams they are supposed to beat. You know, like coughATLANTAcough, and the Bucs will be fine come January.

#BeatAtlanta

23 Responses to “Bucs May Challenge For NFC’s Top Seed”

  1. FortMyersDave Says:

    First things first. Before everyone starts predicting that the Bucs are going to be in the conversation for the top seed, the Bucs do need to take care of business with the ATL week 1 and go onto Houston from there (basically avenging losses to both clubs the last time they faced Tampa) Hopefully the Bucs do not have another Bronco debacle in 2025 like they did last year against someone like the Jets. Hopefully Bowles will manage the clock and his timeouts better. Hopefully the edge rush will get the D on track, no more being picked apart via soft zone coverage. A lot of hope and ifs but Palazzolo is not wrong, barring injuries and poor coaching, the Bucs could be a player to do some damage in 2025.

  2. Mike Johnson Says:

    The only way our Bucs challenge for NFC or Superbowl is IF…they have fixed their sorry non-existent pass rush problem. And we had better pray to the football Gods Reddick’s poor performance last season was a mirage.

  3. BucFanDMV Says:

    The 4 game stretch of Phil, Sea, SF, and Det will tell us everything we know about next years team.

  4. Jeffrey Becker Says:

    he should have argued the Eagles and Lions weren’t rolling yet, and we were whole

  5. JimBobBuc Says:

    I’m tired of the Bucs playing down to division opponents – and yet showing they can play well against the big boys (not necessarily winning). To me it’s focus and confidence. Focus on beating up the teams they should beat – like division opponents and Denver last year. Confidence to beat the top teams like the Chiefs and 49ers last year. Focus and confidence comes from leadership on the field, and the coaching staff. The Bucs can make a deep run this year with some health…

  6. View from 132 Says:

    Commanders … since they just beat the Bucs?
    Eagles
    Lions
    Green Bay
    Dallas (with Dak returning)
    LA

    … the NFC will be 10+ teams separated by a game or two. Media hype will be over the top for some of them, and others – the Bucs – will be ignored.

    Healthiest team, especially on O and D lines, will pull away.

  7. Fred McNeil Says:

    Last year doesn’t have much to do with this year. That said, the BUCS have a very good chance of taking the conference if the defense as a whole plays better. When SVD went down they had absolutely no one to line up next to DVD. The safety play was sub par. When Dean wasn’t healthy we didn’t really have any viable replacements. It wasn’t just the pass rush. It seems to me that we got some viable depth all through that unit this offseason. Fingers crossed.

  8. pancake block Says:

    this team is Trey Hendrickson from dominating

  9. SlyPirate Says:

    DIFFERENT TOPIC – SHILO SANDERS

    Have you seen his 2023 stats? 70 Tackles, 1 INT, 4 FF.
    2023 was the last year of the P12 with Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington. Those are legit stats against legit programs. He’s 6′, 195 lbs, and runs a 4.5.

    Why’d he go undrafted?

  10. KABucs Says:

    We lost games last year to teams we shouldn’t have normally because we were very injured. Seems like half the fans here constantly forget about how many injuries we had last year and just rag on the team sucking were the coach being terrible. Most teams suck a bit when a lot of key people are hurt. despite the injuries, we 10 games. if Winfield and Godwin never gets hurt, we went in 12 IMO. If the Bucs have some key players hurt, like Mayfield, Wirfs, Winfield again, Mike or Chris for any amount of time, we will barely squeak by and maybe not win the division. Hoping our luck changes this year and we have a lot fewer injuries. I think the big intangibles are how healthy we are and how Griz does play calling. The roster is solid and the schedule is not that hard.

  11. toopanca Says:

    The Bucs began the year last year in the top tier. Expecting them to return to the top tier this year is reasonable.

    The collapse of the Offense in the loss against Denver was anomalous; that Denver’s two touchdowns were surrendered by ILBs were the first exposure of the Bucs Achilles heel. Then, injuries exposed weakness at ILB and DB. And, simultaneous injuries to the #1 and #2 WRs was an extraordinarily heavy blow for any team to face even with as much depth as the Bucs had at the position.

    The Bucs became second tier last year because:
    1. Multiple problems in the Bucs Secondary
    – injuries to Winfield, Izien, Dean, Hall; all presumably have recovered
    – Whitehead’s play was deficient – cut; Izien or Smith should be an improvement
    – Adding Morrison and Parrish who should be significant improvements
    The Bucs Secondary has improved and is a strength.
    2. Multiple problems at ILB
    – injury to Dennis; he presumably has recovered
    – Britt’s was play deficient; Anthony Walker, Jr. should be an upgrade
    ILB has probably improved but depth is questionable.
    3. Injuries at WR coincident with the four game losing streak
    – Godwin has presumably recovered or is expected to recover
    – Adding Egbuka and Johnson should be significant improvements
    WR has improved if Godwin is healthy and is a position of strength either way.
    4. Deficient Production of Sacks and Interceptions
    – Replacing JTS with Haasan Reddick is an improvement
    – Adding David Walker and Elijah Roberts should increase the number of Sacks
    – Adding Morrison, Parish, and Anthony Walker, Jr. plus the recovery from injury of Winfield and Izien should produce more Interceptions.
    – Combined improvements at DL, ILB, and DB should allow more press coverage which should produce more Interceptions.
    The Production of Sacks and Interceptions should not be Deficient and may become a Strength.
    5. Scoring Offense Sporadic Deficiencies
    – Denver – 6 points; Dallas- 24 points that should have been 34 points, Washington playoff game – 20 points
    – injuries were not a factor against Denver
    – against Dallas, poor play calling and poor execution turned the ball over on downs and took the Bucs out of scoring position after they reached the red zone.
    – 17 point scoring decline the second time the Bucs played Washington
    The Bucs seemed to be sharpening their focus on failure analysis. With the same core group plus a couple of improvements, with the same general system of Offense, and with Godwin presumably healthy soon, improvements should be expected. The new game caller brings uncertainty, but the Bucs Scoring Offense has the potential to avoid last year’s Sporadic Deficiencies.

    Overall, Bucs fans should be disappointed if the Bucs are not a top tier team this year. ILB is the obvious position most in need of improvement at least in depth.

  12. gotbbucs Says:

    Bowles is good for 3-4 loses per year on poor clock management alone. 11-12 regular season wins in a year is probably his ceiling.

  13. Joe in Michigan Says:

    gotbbucs Says:
    May 19th, 2025 at 2:40 pm
    Bowles is good for 3-4 loses per year on poor clock management alone. 11-12 regular season wins in a year is probably his ceiling.
    ^^^^^^^^
    Maybe Bowles listens to the clock management coach this year…I doubt it, but we’ll see.

  14. ballwasher61 Says:

    Clock management, as in needing it, should only come into play a few games a year not constantly if we’re putting teams away the way Bowles says he wants to. Score TD’s instead of FG’s, run the clock out with a lead and you won’t need to worry about it as much. Not saying you don’t have to be smart with the time you have and use it correctly but try as best you can not to have it come down to that.

  15. GoneGator Says:

    Can’t wait to spank Atlanta’s, Phillies, and Detroits a$$ this year.

    Sad that some of our “fans” are too prejudiced to get on board.

  16. GoneGator Says:

    @gotbbucs
    You said Todd loses 3-4 games per year due to clock management alone.

    Could you give us 3-4 examples (per year) of clock mgt leading directly to losses?

    Multiple years preferably since that’s what you’re stating as if it’s a fact.

  17. adam from ny Says:

    at this point the bucs slot in at the number 3 slot behind the eagles and lions…

    i think we split those games this year, beating the eagles at home in the heat, and losing in detroit rock city…

    the #3 slot ain’t all that bad…

    maybe a team from the nfc west like the rams is number 4…or green bay…

    long shot – the niners…?

    we’re right in the middle of the top 5 nfc teams at #3…

    the niners are slipping…and crock turdy isn’t the answer over there

  18. stpetebucsfan Says:

    Injuries hurt but again the talent level wasn’t there yet.

    DW45 played an incredibly important role in the Bucs SB run. AW also was a giant contributor. Who replaced JPP, Suh, Shaq, Davis, Dean (he missed too many big games last year so I call him gone)

    The D rebuild had barely begun with Calijah and YaYa, Zyon shows promise.

    THE TALENT, EVEN HEALTHY WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE SB TALENT LEVEL!

  19. Gipper Says:

    The defense hasn’t been improved enough. The team should have made a move for Hendrickson and drafted Emmanwori at SAFETY/LB. Both deals were doable but GM elected to add a receiver who is not going to get that many touches this year. For those who still applaud Egbuka selection, let’s see how things go late in a number of games this year when opponents drive the length of the field for game winning TD. I am a fan of Licht but he got this year’s draft all wrong.

  20. Anyhony Says:

    “The team should have made a move for Hendrickson and drafted Emmanwori at SAFETY.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Yeah, draft a second round talent ay 19. Super Bowl Baby!!!

  21. Rod Munch Says:

    Nothing like setting the bar so high that you’re wanting to throw yourself off the Skyway after a week 2 loss.

    I’ll keep my expectations in check and enjoy the season if they overperform. If you start off the season awarding yourself the Super Bowl, I literally don’t understand how that’s enjoyable since you’ve won nothing, and there is nowhere to go but down.

  22. Mike Johnson Says:

    I hope you are wrong Gipper. But something keeps telling me you are Right.

  23. Sal Says:

    This team is thin at linebacker and defensive end didn’t make enough moves on defense #!! Add that with a new offensive coordinator and they keep saying that braswell is going to shock the world I don’t see it #!! The bucs are a playoff team but not a super bowl team stop over hyping this team #!!