Bucs Expect “A Whole Different Chris Godwin” Next Week
September 30th, 2025
It sounds like Chris Godwin might have a lot less rust on him than some believe.
Godwin returned to action Sunday after 11-plus months on the shelf with a dislocated ankle that needed two surgeries. Not only did he play 80 percent of the Bucs’ snaps, he was targeted 10 times.
Godwin looked very rusty, though. Understandable. He acknolwedged it after the game, as did his former teammate, NFL Network analyst Gerald McCoy.
It was obvious. But Todd Bowles sounded very confident that rust won’t last long.
The head coach was pumping up the Godwin hype to the extreme on his radio show. (Joe listens via the Buccaneers channel on SiriusXM.)
“Just having him out there, seeing No. 14 out there is unbelievable,” Bowles said. “I mean the things he did to get back, the work he’s put in, the person he is, the toughness that he shows and how smart he is as a player and makes us 10 times better — you can’t wait till he gets his feet underneath him and he really starts helping us because he is gonna be a terror.”
Bowles said the Bucs didn’t gameplan around Godwin’s expected rust versus the Eagles and the coach is not expecting a repeat performance in Seattle.
“The more he plays the better you’re gonna see him look, and we expect to see a whole different Chris next week,” Bowles said.
Joe loves hearing this Godwin hype from Bowles. That kind of talk was not flowing in 2022 when Godwin returned on opening day following knee surgery (ACL).
September 30th, 2025 at 7:13 pm
I feel a dominant performance coming on Sunday
GO BUCS
September 30th, 2025 at 7:19 pm
YES! LFG!
September 30th, 2025 at 7:48 pm
2nd after a layoff best time to bet on a champion thoroughbred. Goodwin gets 75+ yards and a touchdown. Seattle is #1 in DVOA. This game will tell us a thought.
September 30th, 2025 at 7:49 pm
Heck yes, with CG 14,EE 2, SS 17, CO 88, BI 7, RW 1 and others on the field, I’d say Baker (with a better OL performance),will lead the Buccaneers to a victory over Seattle!!
Go Bucs !!
September 30th, 2025 at 7:54 pm
I think it is amazing he played as well as he did!! Are you kidding me, a year off and to play 80 % of the snaps. Sure he has rust, missed most of last season, no training camp, no mini camp. Then there is the psychological part coming back from that, getting hit ,running full speed. It is obvious he has put in a tremendous amount of work. Nobody sees it because he is not around.
Glad Bowlers is giving him props!!!. I don’t know how he does this week, but rest assured he is coming hard with all he’s got!!. Take your hat off Boys!!!, give that man an ovation!!!.
September 30th, 2025 at 8:11 pm
I have to admit that CG14 was not going to play as many snaps as he did this last game. With ithat injury no way but he did! A testament to his grit that is unreal. CG14 you indeed are very uncommon. Looking forward to you kicking butt1
September 30th, 2025 at 8:34 pm
Good speech, Todd. Now get to work, you’ve got to be Special Bus coordinator in addition to DC and HC, so maybe ratchet back the radio and podcast appearances. Ensure your defense didn’t just show an anomalous pulse in the 2nd half Sunday, fix the corpse that is your special teams, and see about getting your OC to show us some of that genius stuff on 3rd down he’s renowned for. No more distractions. Get busy on the real priorities.
September 30th, 2025 at 9:12 pm
He may take a few games to show up in the stats.
He’s definitely on the field with E2 in 2WR sets.
But for 3WR sets, please have Shep in there. He plays with his hair on fire and has come up huge for the Bucs this season, after his best game as a Buc, Gizzard only gave him a token few touches. Gizz needs some help. Yes the OL and all, but, he is being as or more predictable as Canalwater was.
Maybe Jason can tell his consultant BA to do something with the Gizzard.
September 30th, 2025 at 10:02 pm
We need a reliable tightend in who can block n catch cause Cade Otton seems to have butter fingers. He’s gone ghost.
September 30th, 2025 at 10:29 pm
“We need a reliable tightend in who can block n catch cause Cade Otton seems to have butter fingers. He’s gone ghost.”
Literally averaging 2.75 targets a game through 4 games, what in the blue hell are you on about?
In order to recieve the ball, your QB actually has to find him after the ball snaps and the way the target share is looking through 4 games Mike & Egbuka have had 44% of the of Bakers 134 targets. Cade has 8% of the targets through 4 games and he’s played 1 more game than Mike. For reference, Godwin was 1 target away from matching Cades total target in ONE GAME. C’mon man
September 30th, 2025 at 10:41 pm
I have Godwin in every fantasy league I have, but I didn’t play him vs the Eagles and won’t be playing him this week either as I’d like to give him another week to get back up to speed, and going all the way across the country to face what will likely end up being a top 5 defense in Seattle, well, I’ll pass for this week. I don’t think he’ll be bad or anything, but this situation and matchup is bad I think, in particular if we’re losing even more starters again this week.
September 30th, 2025 at 10:44 pm
I didn’t see a whole lot of rust Sunday. I wasn’t dialed in on CG and I am sure there was rust, whether the dropped balls where an Eagles DB was hanging on him is rust or not I dunno.
I do know young Quinyon was having to pull on his shirt a bunch to not get burned, so that was telling me Chris still has it and is gonna be a big help for us sooner than later.
Bucs were hiding him a bit. Matthew Berry had that preseason article where even he said, from his sources, Godwin is not as injured and as far away as many would have you believe and the Bucs were clearly playing into that.
September 30th, 2025 at 11:00 pm
Anyone knocking on Otten needs to get a grip. When I started watching the Bucs in 2023 I think the guy actually played 95% of the offensive snaps. DR would probably know the exact numbers…anyway, he was a good and determined blocker and a great safety receiver for Baker. In 2024 he was just as good and had to act more as a primary receiver. Missed a little injury time from the beating he took, but not very much. In 2025 he has been anchoring an offensive line that has him doing more chipping and even more assigned run blocking than ever. He is 100% team guy. He is fixing to get his. Same with White. I’ve watched him do 2500 total yards and 18 Touchdowns in 2023-24 and he scored the game winner against Houston. He played about 35 plays last week but he has been doing what Otten has been doing. The dirty work. No excuses but as an offense, it definitely starts with the offensive line. Tight ends and backs help more because the opponent knows we’re injured there, and sends more pressure. We would be making one Big Mistake not getting both of these talented team first players signed, pronto!
September 30th, 2025 at 11:15 pm
Can’t wait to see Chris back at his best. God bless Chris Godwin! We should be back to almost full strength in a few weeks.
October 1st, 2025 at 4:23 am
I keep hoping that. Let’s hope nobody else gets hurt.
October 1st, 2025 at 5:12 am
did they try to protect him with the game plan? was he running his normal routes or a ‘non-contact’ version of them for his first game in a year?
October 1st, 2025 at 8:11 am
Jonny come lately
October 1st, 2025 at 2:41 pm
We and Bucs are damned lucky CG14 did NOT decide to retire after enduring another dirty, season-ending injury. He and his family sure don’t need the coin. I hope he quietly gets in Grizzard’s face about getting creative and spreading the ball around. 4 OCs in 5 years is just pure nuts!
October 2nd, 2025 at 7:18 pm
Please wear a smaller undershirt CG14. Refs don’t believe in defensive holding