“Pick-Six” In Name Only
November 26th, 2025
Sad play.
Joe read something last night seemingly terribly unfair about Baker Mayfield, albeit accurate.
When it comes to official NFL stats and NFL history, Mayfield threw his first pick-six in a Bucs uniform Sunday night. But in Joe’s mind, that was not a pick-six.
Mayfield threw a pass near midfield to Cade Otton, who tried to imitate O.J. Howard imitating Magic Johnson. Sort of.
(And Magic performed his magic at the famed Los Angeles Forum, which still stands across the parking lot from SoFi Stadium.)
Anyone remember when Howard once caught a pass and was about to go in for a touchdown when he started bobbling the ball and tried a Magic Johnson routine, switching hands with the ball behind his back? Howard tried that stunt and he fumbled. Naturally.
Well, Otton had his hands on Mayfield’s pass and bobbled it and bobbled it and then got both hands on the ball and Rams defender Cobie Durant ripped the ball out of Otton’s hands and housed it for a 50-yard pick-six?
Well, it really wasn’t a pick-six. That was a fumble. But the play was labeled a pick-six and guess who wiggles off the hook and guess who gets the blame?
That play really frosted Joe. It should have been secured by Otton. At worst, he should have hung onto the ball when it first hit his hands.
Later when Tez Johnson caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield, Rams cornerback Darious Williams tried to rip the ball out of Johnson’s hands but Johnson hung on.
Lil’ ol’ Tez Johnson can secure the ball but big ol’ Cade Otton can’t?
That “fumble” by Otton was the whole game wrapped up in one play.
Joe sure hopes that Otton play doesn’t go down like Howard’s, a highlight of one of the worst seasons in Bucs history and emblematic of the Lost Decade.
COBIE DURANT STEALS THE BALL FOR THE RETURN TD.
TBvsLAR on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/SnMRjSTbWu— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2025
November 26th, 2025 at 7:02 am
No excuses will do on that one.
November 26th, 2025 at 7:07 am
oj howard, another great first rounder….. he was just terrible…
November 26th, 2025 at 7:18 am
I hope the Bucs can get a real NFL TE this off season. Cade would be a back-up on any other team…
November 26th, 2025 at 7:20 am
I would only re-sign Otten for the veteran minimum, maybe.
November 26th, 2025 at 7:35 am
Didn’t Tom Brady make Otton wear gloves for this very reason? Why isn’t Otton wearing gloves? He obviously needs them.
November 26th, 2025 at 7:52 am
We need to seriously upgrade at the position next season… not sure if he was even available for trade, but one of the most realistic rumors we were reading over the internet was us acquiring Mark Andrews. Andrews could have been a great rental for the next 1-2 years.
November 26th, 2025 at 7:53 am
Cade has taken a big step back this year. For crying out loud man get to the sticks on third down. WTF why does every Otton third down catch leave 4th and 2. I wanna throw my beer at the TV, but that would just add to the abuse I’m already taking. None of the other tight ends are good enough to equal that, then damn it Jason Licht you can trade these late picks you are wasting anyway to bring in a proven commodity. UGH. Thanks Joe for getting me fired up this morning.
November 26th, 2025 at 7:55 am
Let’s remember this was the SECOND time this year that Otton had the ball ripped from him for an interception….
So those are 2 interceptions that shouldn’t even be pinned on Mayfield…
I do like Otton, but somebody needs to give him some rage pills. Dude is too nice and he plays like it as well…
November 26th, 2025 at 8:03 am
Cade Otton is such a failure he turned a catch into an interception. Licht had a lot of work to do this offseason. And resigning Otton is not on the list. Let this low talent hack walk.
November 26th, 2025 at 8:07 am
DRAFT MICHAEL TRIGG!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
November 26th, 2025 at 8:09 am
C.Otton…slow with questionable hands. I long for the days/daze of Tanner Hudson. When you need 8 yards on 3rd down, C.Otton will bobble, juggle and hopefully not fumble for 7 yards.
November 26th, 2025 at 8:26 am
Right on, Joe. I have been raving about Otton being the guy that comes out of nowhere and makes the play. Reminded me a lot of Brate. Disappointed now.
Tez is the real deal!
November 26th, 2025 at 8:26 am
The Bucs are losing because of their mental mentality has completely tanked.
Games are won with the right mentality. The best example of that was Tom Brady.
November 26th, 2025 at 8:35 am
We’ve gotten our share of bad calls this year. Any official looking at the replay Otten had possession with left knee down doesn’t matter if defenders hand is on the ball or touching any part of Otten’s body. Clearly a completed pass.
November 26th, 2025 at 8:37 am
Turned a catch into six for the other team!
November 26th, 2025 at 8:37 am
First of all, that was a catch & he was down on not only one knee, but two. Again with this what is and what isn’t a catch BS! The defender had to rip the ball out of his hands while he was on both knees.
November 26th, 2025 at 8:47 am
Please do not draft a tight end in the first two rounds. Next year we will have multiple WR’s returning. A solid TE can be had in later rounds or through FA.
We need a couple beasts on defense, specifically the DL.
November 26th, 2025 at 8:54 am
He needs to wear gloves. What kind of moron plays in today’s NFL without gloves. Think OBJ makes that catch without gloves?
November 26th, 2025 at 9:06 am
You know, if Pat Mahomes had that happen to him in a Chiefs game, the ref or their overseers in NY would have probably ruled the TE down or at least would’ve called it a fumble. Then again Travis Kelce would have held onto the ball and he would not have juggled it like a circus clown at Ringling Brothers. Hard to trust Otten. TE is a need for 2026.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:10 am
Absolutely.
Or the Tom Brady Bucs.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:12 am
Knee down before stripped BS call…. GO BUCS!
November 26th, 2025 at 9:21 am
His knee was planted firmly on the ground so once he possessed the ball (and he did) it should have been called down. You cannot strip a ball after the player is on the ground it’s no different than the ground causing a fumble. That play should have at least been fully reviewed. I get that all scores get a cursory review and that why I said fully reviewed because his knee was clearly on the ground.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:23 am
Should not resign Otten unless there is a clause in Contract stating he has to wear receivers gloves
November 26th, 2025 at 9:38 am
He looked down by contact to me. I didn’t see any review in real time
November 26th, 2025 at 9:44 am
To glove, no love…baker needs to boycott the lad until he learns responsibility
November 26th, 2025 at 9:44 am
Time to get out the paper bags to hide the embarrassment. Fire over confident mistake prone clueless Bowles!
November 26th, 2025 at 9:46 am
It is not the first time by Otton either, time to use a high draft pick on a decent tight end. We get what we pay for.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:52 am
Bowles should have blown a gasket when that was ruled an interception but…he didn’t… just stood on the sidelines with that Joe Biden ‘I just souped in my drawers’ look on his face.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:05 am
It’s definitely unfair to Baker but if Otton was down, it’s not his fault, the play was over. For some to suggest that Otton is not tough, rewatch a couple of the games when Mike and Chris were out last season and Otton became one of the primary receiving options. He caught a lot of balls and took some vicious hits but held on to the ball. The same thing happened in the game against the Lions and that one was almost as bad a call. So neither one was Otton’s fault or Baker’s fault. Because of the referees mistakes Otton gets unfairly criticized and Baker gets pinned with 2 picks. Take away those 2 and the Hail Mary pick, Baker has legitimate picks this year and 2 lost fumbles for a whopping 4 turnovers on the season.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:40 am
Outside of that Gronk loaner this team hasn’t had a quality TE in years … there is no threat at all coming from that position, but I don’t even trust the front office or coaching staff to find one. We will be back discussion this same issue next year!
November 26th, 2025 at 10:52 am
In his first three years Otton was at least reliable and occasionally clutch. This year she just plain sux.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:54 am
Our fan base is week to week. One week we say Otten is great because he is tough, reliable, helped the OLine when they needed it, helped last year when Godwin and Evans were out… and now he’s a bum. He bobbled the ball and it was a bad play. Leave it there. He is still a solid TE. We don’t need a GREAT TE because there aren’t enough balls to go around in this offense. Also, Durham and Culp are more than capable backups. Grizz just needs to throw to them like Canales and Coen did. Durham had 21 red zone TDs playing in the Big10 and Grizz has targeted him ONCE this year and not in the red zone. Culp finished last year strong and had a great preseason. Will be very disappointed if we waste a pick in the draft in a TE or bring one in in Free Agency. We need OL, ILB, OLB, DL, CBs, back up QB, all before we need a new TE. What a fickle fan base we have.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:59 am
Baker’s other “interception” was a wish and a prayer balloon to end the half. People carping on his interceptions. Stats can be deceiving when they are too abstracted mathermatically to reflect all the circumstances.
November 26th, 2025 at 11:07 am
Just a really bad break for Cade and the Bucs. But, that ball was thrown behind Cade so he tried to make a great catch, bobbled the ball and allowed the Rams defender to take it away.
I really thought Cade had possession of that ball with both hands and both knees on the ground. Which should have made him down by contact.
Guess not, it was immediately ruled in favor of the Rams for a TD !!
Well yes the Rams flogged us on national TV. Can we move on now and talk about how the Bucs can beat the Cardinals?
Go Bucs !! Beat the Cardinals!!
November 26th, 2025 at 11:20 am
This was the second time that Kate Otten had a ball ripped out of his hands leading to a turnover. That was no typo the man seems like he has no strength. Later in the game there was a short pass by Teddy Bridgewater to him on a down where they needed two yards it was a one yard pass and he didn’t have the strength to break a tackle on the safety to get the first down. I used to really think highly of him but I am quite disappointed in his play this year and think that this is another position that we will have to invest in in free agency or the draft.
Problem is that so far this season between injury and lackluster performance I’m seeing too many positions that need to be upgraded. I feel like we need to either draft a center or guard as I do not think that Barton is a starting caliber center as it currently stands and is another wasted first round pick. He might be serviceable as a left guard however.
Then between the Mike Evans Chris Godwin agent injuries we will need to get another replacement for at least one of them who knows if Jalen McMillan will ever return to the same player after that neck injury.
We likely on defense need a starting defensive taco and rusher interior line backer and because of what seemed like a smart move at the time we will likely lose Jamel Dean who has been our best corner this year as we allowed him out of his contract.
November 26th, 2025 at 1:26 pm
Happened in the Lions game. Imagine being Baker, putting it all on the line for teammates that could give a crap.
November 26th, 2025 at 1:27 pm
Bartow Buc Says:
November 26th, 2025 at 11:07 am
Just a really bad break for Cade and the Bucs. But, that ball was thrown behind Cade so he tried to make a great catch, bobbled the ball and allowed the Rams defender to take it away.
—
A great catch?? Nothing wrong with the pass.
November 26th, 2025 at 1:38 pm
BEGINNING OF THE YEAR = CONTENDERS
Best group of WR, Best OL, loaded with pass rushers, tons of DB depth.
3 MONTHS LATER = FULL REBUILD
Damaged WR, broken OL, zero pass rush, DBs who can’t cover.
What a difference 3 months can make.
November 26th, 2025 at 2:12 pm
Sly,
To be fair, our WR group, if healthy would be a great one. We are missing our top 3 receivers from last year.
Similar to above, our Oline thrived on its cohesion and this season has been musical chair at Oline. The switch messed up Barton, our starting RG is out for the year, Wirfs seems to have taken a step back (possibly injury related) and Goedeke has been injured part of the year.
Not sure who was hailing our pass rush but it was weak and extremely reliant on Reddick being back to peak form.
November 26th, 2025 at 4:27 pm
@Canabuc – the short pass to Otten he had no chance to “ break a tackle”. He had his back to the defender on that route and was moving sideways looking back for the ball. If anything it was a terrible play call. Once caught the DB was right on him and actually wrapped him up. No chance to break a tackle. Your comment insinuates they were running straight at each other head to head and he got outmuscled. Watch the game man.
November 26th, 2025 at 5:08 pm
Cade Otton, the gloveless wonder
November 26th, 2025 at 7:43 pm
Otton gets the same hate that Brate got. Glad we got him. None of yall weere hating last year when Godwin and Evans went down and he carried the passing game. HATERS GON HATE. it’s cool tho cause he actually plays in the nfl and yall just watch it haha
November 26th, 2025 at 7:53 pm
It wasn’t a fumble or INT, Otton had the ball and both knees down – it’s a dead ball. Another blown call by the NFL, just like the BS call in Detroit where, for the first time in my entire life, they changed the rules of the game to award a tie on a catch to the defender. Both BS calls involving Otton. Not sure what he did, but the Bucs should be going ballistic behind the scenes at those BS calls – but instead we get, “you just have to make the catch,” even though he literally did make the catch.
November 26th, 2025 at 7:56 pm
#1bucsfan Says:
November 26th, 2025 at 7:43 pm
Otton gets the same hate that Brate got.
———-
Huh? Brate literally got no hate. Even when the guy was slow as molasses and couldn’t block, all the people here would constantly say how great he was. And, to his credit, he was good vs zone and had good hands. Unless it’s 4th down with the game on the line vs the Texans, and he has the easiest pass in the world thrown to him and he drops it, and loses the game. But Winston threw that pass, so people didn’t care – but man, if Baker threw that pass and it’s dropped, everyone in here is talking about how Baker got screwed. Amazing how that works.
November 27th, 2025 at 10:45 am
Why did not Bowles throw the red challenge flag Rod? I think we blew it by not making coen co head coach. Also Otten should have been screaming to throw the red challenge flag. The BBA players,do that.