Offensive Line Injuries Being Felt

October 20th, 2025

Michael Jordan (left) and Graham Barton.

Nobody would know it by watching the Bucs tonight, but the Lions do not have a special defense by NFL standards.

There was no Lions defensive metric entering the game tonight that Joe would consider special, other than forcing turnovers. Detroit ranked 17th in yards allowed per pass attempt and 12th in yards allowed per rushing attempt. Teams were averaging 23.7 points a game against the Lions.

And then came the Bucs, which made Detroit’s secondary filled with backups look like the Legion of Boom.

At right guard for the Bucs was veteran Michael Jordan, a summer pickup who played well at left guard in Weeks 1 and 2 before a knee injury took him out of the lineup. He had a very rough night against Detroit in his first game back from injury. Alongside him at right tackle, backup Charlie Heck had plenty of struggles, too.

Backups are backups for a reason, and that caught up to the Bucs tonight on the offensive line and at receiver.

Joe is not just pounding second-teamers, it wasn’t Graham Barton’s best game at center, either.

Heck may be entrenched for the season as right tackle Luke Goedeke’s foot struggles are a national conversation. Jordan probably gives way to practice squad guard Luke Haggard when he returns from a non-major injury.

Haggard did a hell of a job at right guard after Cody Mauch was lost for the season after Week 2.

Tonight, however, after weeks of standing tall and probably overachieving, the Bucs’ offensive line showed its cracks.

If Tampa Bay can squeeze one more game’s worth of Crazy Glue out of the tube for the O-line next week in New Orleans, the Week 9 bye should go a long way toward tightening up the line.

24 Responses to “Offensive Line Injuries Being Felt”

  1. Scott Says:

    Baker felt the pressure big time and was throwing while leaning back a lot

  2. Bucs Reality Check Says:

    BUCS WILL BE FINE! NO OTHER TEAM IN THE NFL DRAWS UP MORE PLAYS WITH THEIR RECEIVERS RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER THAN US!

  3. Bosch Says:

    Jordan looks like he is looking at the scoreboard.

  4. 813bucboi Says:

    Offense definitely crapped the bed but grizz got away from the run way too early

    Let’s get back into the win column vs the aints….

    GO BUCS

  5. HeartyDickerson Says:

    At some point there needs to be a conversation about Barton. He looks the part and has a great RAS, but he has not lived up to his status as a Center drafted in round 1. He looks extremely mediocre. Decent technician, not overly strong, and very little intensity.

  6. johnnythemoon Says:

    We would all take 12-5 so that means you are going to lose 5 games…This is the 2nd loss.

  7. Scott Says:

    The bad part is that the other centers drafted after Barton, even in the middle rounds are playing better

  8. Let ‘em bake Says:

    Games played with our projected starting 5 lineman ….0.

  9. Redzone Says:

    I thought Bredesen looked better at C -jmo

  10. Bucfan1988 Says:

    Mayfield called out the officiating afterward tonite with the media!!!!

    He made some comments to John Hussey who was the head of the crew.

    GOOD FOR YOU BAKER!!!!!

    We as fans are tired of seeing these officials missing calls and literally making up their own rules during the games. It’s BULLSPIT!!

    Somebody better pay his fine if he gets one.

  11. Aqualung Says:

    Oh Yay!!! 813LadyBoi says “Gawwwllleee, let’s go get back in the win column vs the aints “

    Naa. I’m sure they’d rather lose.

    And without intervention from a real head coach, it’s quite likely the Bucs will lose that aints game.

    And since we lack one, the probability of that is higher than it should be.

    Vomitous fans are a perfect fit for a Vomitous coach.

  12. CyberDilemma Says:

    They held Hutchinson to zero sacks this game vs. the 4 1/2 he got last year against the Bucs.

  13. Aqualung Says:

    Cyber – seriously? Did you watch the game? Hutch had Baker so rattled he didn’t know whether to pass gas or wind a clock. Moved him off his spot and into well crafted, well coached pass rush schemes. Again. And. Again.

    And our “head coach” did nothing to adjust.

  14. Greg Says:

    @ Aqualung Your venom increases at every opportunity. Such a toll. You laid low for a bit with the Bucs winning but your true dislike for the Bucs stepped out .Not only are you disparaging the head coach but now the fans. Step away from the alcohol and enjoy the sport for what It is… entertainment. The Bucs are obviously not your team. Your pedantic posts here make you look like a lost sole. Post on your true team’s site and enjoy that ride. go Bucs!

  15. Greg Says:

    soul^

  16. HeartyDickerson Says:

    “They held Hutchinson to zero sacks this game vs. the 4 1/2 he got last year against the Bucs.”

    Cool. And we still got dog-walked. But let’s give our boys a medal for that moral victory. Maybe hand Todd another extension too?

  17. Hodad Says:

    Jordan should’ve never started over Klien. He hadn’t played in weeks coming off injury, and he hadn’t played RG until tonight. Don’t get that move. It was obvious to me Jordan was being abused, yet the Bucs didn’t pull him. Dennis has been abused all season, and Todd won’t sit him either.

  18. Gofortheface30 Says:

    Would have to agree on the comments about Barton. A prime Ryan Jensen bringing some nastiness would be a massive upgrade

  19. Vanessa Anne Says:

    Very simply, our offense had a bad night last night.

    I’m disappointed just like everyone else.

    There’s lots of reasons and lots of examples. You can point to the O-line, the QB, the receivers, the RBs, the coaching, the playcalling… it was all off last night.

    Joe’s point about the O-line showing its cracks is a good one.

    It’s been a patchwork O-line since game one, and what happened last night was bound to happen sooner or later.

    I’m not making excuses and I’m disappointed just like everyone else. But, in some respects, good offensive play starts with the O-line.

    Ours had a bad night last night and it showed.

  20. Ben Says:

    Barton looking like a reach. Needs to play better every week. Frazier from Pitt was a better pick in the 2nd round.

  21. Kev@Inverness Says:

    Hey Aqualung, STFU!

  22. HomerSimpsonRocks Says:

    Bucs Reality Check Says:
    October 20th, 2025 at 11:40 pm
    BUCS WILL BE FINE! NO OTHER TEAM IN THE NFL DRAWS UP MORE PLAYS WITH THEIR RECEIVERS RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER THAN US!
    ——-
    LMFAO. Thank you. I needed that.

  23. D-Rok Says:

    Wasn’t able to watch the game live, but seeing the highlight reel, Holy Pressure, Batman! The Lions pass rush was ferocious, and even Wirfs looked he was struggling. (Not sure if Wirfs gave up any sacks or pressures).

    The whole O-line looked completely undermatched and Baker very rarely had a workable pocket.

  24. Davyboy Says:

    Vanessa Anne said it best 👌🏼

 

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