“Lull” On Lavonte David’s Mind
November 6th, 2025
Joe thinks it’s fair to say the Bucs have sacked their midseason annual nosedive under Todd Bowles.
Last year, the Bucs had a 4-6 record after a 2-0 start. The same thing happened wwo years ago; the Bucs were 4-7 after being carved up by Jonathan Taylor and Gardner Minshew in Indianapolis.
As Joe has written, Bucs fans haven’t sat around the Thanksgiving table talking about a winning team since 2021.
But now the Bucs are 6-2. They’ve learned how to win without all their star players. The team has matured greatly.
Still, their iconic captain, Lavonte David, seems to have those midseason fades in the back of his mind.
David joined The Richard Sherman Podcast yesterday and was asked about his team expectations for the second half of the season.
“Man, you know, I just want us to keep climbing,” David said. “You know what I’m saying? It’s been a lot of times where in the middle of the season we kind of had a lull and things didn’t go our way. But we want to kind of like just capitalize on what we’ve been doing early in the season. We still want to be that team that grinds out all four quarters. We’re a team who plays with a lot of grit and we need to continue to go out there, making plays and building on the success that we’ve had, especially defensively.”
Joe doesn’t want to ponder the worst. But the next three games are against the Patriots, Bills and Rams, all very strong teams.
The Bucs have to find at least one “W” in there, considering the Panthers (5-4) play their next two games against miserable New Orleans and messy Atlanta.
November 6th, 2025 at 12:17 pm
1-0 THIS WEEK!!!!
thats all that matters!!!!!
Heck has been playing well imo….rest Luke until next week and let him knock off the rust vs the bills….we need him as close to 100% as possible vs the rams
GO BUCS!!!!!
November 6th, 2025 at 12:37 pm
Great article 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🤙🏾
November 6th, 2025 at 1:14 pm
Why not 3-0 over the next three weeks?
This team is rising.
November 6th, 2025 at 1:26 pm
Upbeat words from Lavonte! Yes, grinding all four quarters, no lull, and keeping it going. Go Bucs!
November 6th, 2025 at 1:40 pm
Technically, mid season is upon us right now. We haven’t avoided it yet. We avoided a 2nd quarter slump.
November 6th, 2025 at 2:21 pm
You have to grade a team and a win based on the “weight class” of the opponent. Looking back Houston, Philly, Seattle, San Francisco and Detroit all were heavyweights and the Bucs went 3-2 against them. Atlanta is capable but flighty, a step down from those four, and the Jets and the Saints are lightweights. Bucs went 3-0 versus those teams.
A good team would go about 1-2 on our schedule. A very strong team wins at home and splits on the road. A 3-0 record is imaginable but quite unlikely.
Let’s see how the Bucs fare.
November 6th, 2025 at 2:51 pm
Great start but it will be 0-3 the next 3 weeks. Write it down. Being a positive minded and hopeful fan won’t help this team on Sunday. If they can sweep the Panthers late in the season it will probably be enough to secure a postseason game.
November 6th, 2025 at 4:01 pm
Play one game at a time with the available players, no matter who they are! Make plays!! Control the clock!! Find the end zone!! Get the D off the field on 3rd and 4th downs!! Execute!! Especially execute the ST plays! Get it done!
November 6th, 2025 at 5:06 pm
I’m afraid 0-3 is on the table. This one is at home so must win! Atlanta is cooked so it’s Bucs vs Panthers
November 6th, 2025 at 5:17 pm
Lavonte talked earlier about working on a first round bye. He sounds ready to grind out 4 quarters a game at a time. Who do we listen to? The Scourge? Or Lavonte David? Didn’t take me a second to answer that.
November 6th, 2025 at 6:40 pm
I’m hoping for one out of three but will be elated at winning two of them. If that (2/3) happens, the Bucs have a very good shot of having the best record in the NFC when the regular season ends.
3-0 just isn’t even conceivable in my mind. Of the three, I consider the Rams the toughest to beat.
I can also see us winning none of them. 🙁
November 6th, 2025 at 8:01 pm
Scotty Mack, seems you’re not the only one who can see us losing the next 3 games. That’s reasonable considering their records. The quickest way to quell those fears would be winning this Sunday. I hate to look at any game as a must win unless it’s an elimination game. But for this team I think it’s an important game to win. We lose this game it would be a tough one to accept. Mayfield is in his eighth year and Maye is in his second year. In an otherwise close game I’m hoping that matchup goes our way. We win it I think it would make it easier to win at least 1 of the next 2. And I have heard enough of the players saying their goal is the bye. So it’s an important game. And it’ll take a great game from everyone to win it.
November 6th, 2025 at 8:14 pm
Kenton Smith, there is historical evidence for this team losing big games in bunches year after year around mid season. Until that changes many of us are going to lack confidence in them. I don’t want to be correct. In fact, it’s infuriating but it is what it is.
November 6th, 2025 at 8:20 pm
I hope they get like some snaps this game to get him back for next week at the very least. If he’s ready of course
November 6th, 2025 at 10:11 pm
Kenton
Agree with you about the importance of Sunday’s game. I’m still an NE skeptic until they beat some good teams. The Bills and Rams are for real!!! And both games on the road and we know how the Bucs have fared in big games on the West Coast.
Win Sunday and it allays the fears of growing stale during the break and losing focus. Win Sunday and it almost guarantees the playoffs. Win Sunday and the team continues to believe in itself.