Beware Being Crowned In October
December 23rd, 2025
No use looking over your shoulder.
So Joe just finished watching San Francisco take down Indianapolis on Monday Night Football. Fun game. And damn, the 49ers have some tight ends.
It saddens Joe when he sees backups for other teams who could easily start for the Bucs. Imagine the Bucs with Kyle Juszczyk? (Yes, technically, he’s a fullback. Baloney, he’s a tight end.)
Anyway, BSPN flashed a graphic that showed after Week 8, the Colts were 7-1 and had a 90+ percent chance of the playoffs. Now? They’re like Wile E. Coyote standing on the tip of a mountain ledge, with sticks of dynamite surrounding him with lit fuses.
Reminds Joe of a team in warm and sunny Florida on the west coast of the east coast.
The Bucs once upon a time were 5-1. They seemed to be on track for the No. 1 seed. And then… implosion! The Bucs are now hanging on to a playoff berth by the skin of their teeth.
Moral of the story is, October, she is a tease. If you fall for the siren, you’re going to be walking home from the bar alone, empty-handed.
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:03 am
colts are no better off than us…
they were 8-2…now 8-7…
so we are not alone 🙂
#AliensInBothBuildings
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:04 am
or zombies…
#ZombiesInBothBuildings
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:06 am
Bottom line is the bottom line. Retain Bowles = Nonrenewal of season tix.
Bowles must go. Someone has to pay for this Debacle in December
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:10 am
This will go down as one of the greatest meltdowns in NFL History
They was 6-2, and number 1 in the power ranking
With the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL
And with a blink of an eye, they sit at 7-8
Their only win coming in a 3 point win over a 3 win team
It’s embarrassing, it’s a disgrace to their loyal fanbase
The players, coaches, executives, they all need to be held accountable
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:13 am
@ModHairKen
Maybe fans should stop going & start boycotting them. Maybe that might be the only way.
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:18 am
The Bucs losses are a lot worse than the Colts
The Colts are losing to winning teams, playoff teams
The Bucs have lost 3 straight to NFC South trash
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:32 am
I wonder if the don’t lose to the Dolphins honestly.
A backup QB might just get his 1st win next week who knows.
I honestly think I would rather them lose out than retain Todd.
Even if we make the playoffs and win a game we aren’t going anywhere.
The writing is on the wall. In blood no less.
Fire Todd Bowles.
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:32 am
The colts with Geandpa rivers would beat this Bucs team probably put up over 500 yards of offense on this crap defense. The straw that is going to break the camels back is Sunday cause if the dolphins beat the Bucs I don’t think Bowles going to make it back to Tampa without a mob of fans with signs that want him fired.
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:40 am
I’m so wise… while people were celebrating winning the week 6 ESPN Power Poll and Baker being the week 6 MVP, I pointed out the following…
Rod Munch Says:
October 14th, 2025 at 5:40 pm
In week 6 of 2020, the Packers were #1 in the power poll. The Bucs were 12th.
Winning the power poll in week 6 doesn’t mean much.
… I’d much much rather have a team that is winning on the field and not getting accolades. When is the last time a team is winning the power poll and MVP voting in week 6 and go on to win the SB? It doesn’t happen often, if at all. There is literally no benefit to being ranked #1 in week 6 as there is nowhere to go but down.
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:50 am
if we lose sunday to miami…oddly, i think bowles gets a pass on christmas weekend…i don’t think the glazers will want to be bothered with the shuffle during christmas – new years week…
i mean, he’s as good as fired at that point, but i’m just guessing the bosses let it ride at that point until black monday
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:51 am
Had season tickets back in 1976 for ten plus years and saw many,1! many bad losses but this seems MUCH worse !!!
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:53 am
The Glazers have never fired a coach before the season ended. At least, not announced a changing of the guard.
Publicly announcing a change and working behind the scenes for weeks, months to prepare for a change are two very different things.
December 23rd, 2025 at 1:00 am
seems to me that after the 50th season hoopla died down, the team did a straight nosedive…
the hoopla surrounding the bucs for the first 6 weeks was out of control league wide…
then it became “quicksand city”
it was like a switch went off and it went from darlings to dog doo, literally almost over night…
and oddly enough, even at this juncture, redemption is possible with simply just winning 2 in a row and gaining momentum for a wild playoff ride…
imagine the impossible,,,
the though is there in my head…but maybe the team’s potential simply isn’t
December 23rd, 2025 at 1:03 am
BOOTSTRAP JACK Says:
December 23rd, 2025 at 12:51 am
Had season tickets back in 1976 for ten plus years and saw many,1! many bad losses but this seems MUCH worse !!!
——–
You mean the Carolina loss or the slide in general?
I don’t go quite that far back, but to me, the Panthers loss in particular was expected, so I’m not sure why people are getting so upset about it. For the slide… um. I don’t know, it sort of feels like it’s supposed to happen. The winner of the NFC South should have the worst record of any of the divisions since it’s such a weak division.
For all the whining about Bowles, it’s Baker that has lost these last 3 games with some awful play – and of course he could also get hot at any time, and if he does, then the Bucs not only win out, they have a chance in the playoffs.
Anywho, in 2 weeks if know if this slide ranks near the top collapses or not – or if we’re talking about a playoff matchup.
December 23rd, 2025 at 1:14 am
if somehow we win these final 2…there is a chance the team and baker flips a switch and the lights come back on again…
it is possible with this group…(not a homer perspective)…slim chance, but they could possibly all of a sudden wake up…
the team does have the firepower………but that OC is an issue too…
as of now things are very dimly lit
December 23rd, 2025 at 1:20 am
Some fun Baker Mayfield stats for you…
Baker’s 17 game pace this year: 3,563 yards, 26 TDs, 9 INTs
For all the talk about how bad the offensive line is, last year Baker was sacked on 6.56% of passes, this year it’s 6.10% — so quite a bit less. In fact his sack rate is lowest of his years in Tampa, and he’s on pace to be sacked just 34 times after taking 40 in 2023 and 2024.
The huge dive in performance mainly comes in yards per attempt, which last year was a very high 8.07 yards per attempt, this year it cratered to 6.8 yards per attempt, which is only slightly better than his last year in Cleveland, and obviously his worst since being here.
Baker’s TD rate dropped from 7.9% last year, the best of his career, down to 6.6% this year, which is only slightly better than his time in Carolina (6.4).
Baker’s 209.6 yards per game is the worst of his career.
Also, Pro Football Reference offers up a number called success rate, which means you gain at least 40% of the yards needed for a 1st down on 1st down, 60% on 2nd down, and 100% on 3rd and 4th down. Last year he had a 53.9% rate, which is extremely good. This year, he’s at 40.9, the second worst of his career only behind his time in Carolina.
On a good point, his INT rate is 1.7%, down from 2.8% last year. Of course last year the Bucs scored 30 points a game, compared to 23 points a game this year, so I’ll gladly take the 1.1% increase for an extra touchdown a game. Throwing picks without scoring points, well, that’s an issue.
As for those demanding Baker throw deep more, well, he has. Last year his intended air yards per pass was 7.0 yards – this year it’s 8.1 yards. Maybe there’s a reason, that we’re seeing, as to why Coen wanted a short ball offense, and why some of us spent all offseason talking about how Wiz Kid isn’t going to look so smart if he starts having Baker air it out. All Grizz had to do was copy and paste the play calling from last year, and he’d be a HC candidate right now, instead he’s going to be on the unemployment line in a couple of weeks unless the Bucs have a big ending to the season.
December 23rd, 2025 at 1:22 am
The bucs are busting a titan submersible
December 23rd, 2025 at 1:24 am
adam from ny Says:
December 23rd, 2025 at 1:14 am
if somehow we win these final 2…there is a chance the team and baker flips a switch and the lights come back on again…
it is possible with this group…(not a homer perspective)…slim chance, but they could possibly all of a sudden wake up…
the team does have the firepower………but that OC is an issue too…
as of now things are very dimly lit
———
For all the people who think I’m just non-stop bashing Baker, I keep saying, and I mean it, he can catch fire at any time.
In 2023, he was awful the week before going to Green Bay, when, up to that point, he had the best game of his career. It was after a long slog of bad and middling games, it looked like the Bucs were out of it, but then he just caught fire. It can still happen. Even last year, before the bye, Baker was pretty middling, up and down performances, wasn’t anything special, then post bye, he caught on fire and the last month he was on fire. He burned out before the playoff game, but hey, if he times it to catch fire now and take it through the playoffs, I’ll gladly accept that and deal with the mostly bad 2+ months we’ve been seeing.
December 23rd, 2025 at 3:29 am
Rod you need to get ahold of Baker and tell him all that. He’s got insane weapons. He needs to roll out away from the crummy guards and USE THEM.
December 23rd, 2025 at 4:56 am
I don’t understand all the hate the Rod Munch gets on here from other fans. That was some of the most enlightening and interesting analysis I’ve read on this or any site. Thanks Rod