Can Playmakers Save The Bucs?
December 13th, 2025
Yes, shreds of optimism remain in corners of JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters.
Despite Todd Bowles wrongly and in appropriately saying Thursday night “the coaches have done everything they can do” and it’s on players to right the ship, the Joe typing here thinks the Bucs have enough players to possibly do just that.
No, Joe’s not saying the Bucs can fix their systemic problems, only that there is so much damn talent on the roster that the Bucs have the firepower to beat Carolina.
On Thursday night, the Bucs actually got a fourth-quarter, strip-sack from Haason Reddick with 1:43 remaining in the game. Officials ruled that both Reddick and Kirk Cousins recovered the ball at the same time, so the ball was given to the Falcons. If the Bucs get that recovery, the game would have ended in Falcons territory. Atlanta already had used its final timeout.
Think about that for a moment. Bucs nation was “this close” to celebrating a defensive walk-off for the second time in three weeks.
That’s football and there’s no prize close. But Joe’s point is that the Bucs have playmakers all over the offense and defense.
As Joe mentioned previously, the Bucs now have their loaded receiving corps intact. Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan looked great on Thursday. Emeka Egbuka was rejuvenated and Chris Godwin looked good, despite Baker Mayfield not seeing him open at times. No other team in the NFL has a corps like that.
And yes, the Bucs still have a solid rushing attack with a very dangerous and versatile running back.
Scoring 28 on a very average defense like Carolina’s should be in play.
The Panthers are one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL. They’ve dropped absolute stinker performances in three of their last six games.
The Bucs are a bad team now and coaches say they are out of answers (shame on that attitude) but perhaps the team can cover those warts with enough big plays to win a bad division?
December 13th, 2025 at 10:30 am
Yo Joe
this just came to me…
no more orange creamsicle jerseys…. Get Rid of them. we never win wearing them damn jerseys.
White Creamsicle Jerseys if we need to go throwback
I still have faith in my bucs… lets make this playoff push
December 13th, 2025 at 10:33 am
all we gotta do is beat the panthers twice, take care of the dolphins
WE OWN THE PANTHERS
lets go baby!!!!
3-0 end to the season … Todd Bowles wake up !!! lets go close the damn game out
NO MERCY
December 13th, 2025 at 10:35 am
Your kidding, right Joe? We get one sack in the last drive of a game, where they are in obvious passing situation. And on top of that by a statue of a broken down QB! Look, not trying to be pessimistic, it’s just that we shouldn’t have even been in that situation. It’s called insanity Joe!! Like I said, we may be relying on JPP to save this “hoe”, let that sink in! But Todd will use the excuse we don’t have our best pass rusher on the field in Kancey, who is always hurt anyways. No accountability by the GM to get a better pass rusher or coverage LB, and using injuries as an excuse. I’m OVER it!!!! So yeah, let’s make the playoffs so we can lose in the first rd by 40 points to the rams or lions, and even worst case, Todd keeps his job. If that happens, at least I will do something better with my Sundays next season.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:36 am
there is so much damn talent on the roster that the Bucs have the firepower to beat Carolina.-
The Bucs’ D has no depth – any injuries makes the D worse and they are already bad.
Bucs’ offense needs to score 30-35 points per game minimum to win – they have the talent, but execution on offense has been an issue.
Mayfield is now in an underdog role and that’s when he usually shows up.
I think his career depends on the next 3 games.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:37 am
hey, I’m here for it.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:38 am
The falcons had a 4% chance to win at one point in the 4th qtr, and Raheem should be 4-0 against the Bucs for Christ sake. “You like that” Joe. Sorry I’m so upset, I just can’t believe we are here.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:38 am
The only thing that can save the Bucs is the Offense…..use the weapons we have….go downfield……
Atlanta had all those penalties because they couldn’t handle Evans, Godwin, JMac & Egbuka on the field at the same time…..
Carolina will be the same.
Air it out with reckless abandon.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:38 am
If Bowles said that then that is an auto eject from his job as HC. If I were the Glaziers, the next few days I would be personal interviews with key players on this team starting with Baker, Evans, LDV and down the line. Communication with potential HC replacement MUST be taking place. New GM also should be considered.
Bowels’ “retirement” should be announced ASAP.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:39 am
Finally a mention of the simultaneous possession!!! That panthers team beat up the Rams who curb stomped us. I think it’s likely that Reddick strip sack will likely lead to him being dropped in coverage more. See in Bowles system the defense has to succeed because of the brilliance of the system. Players, winning individual battles and “making a play” outside of the scheme is strictly forbidden
December 13th, 2025 at 10:40 am
I say lets just enjoy watching the bucs these last three games because the seaon is almost over don’t worry buc fans todd bowels won’t be here next year im 100% positive but thats just my gut feeling
December 13th, 2025 at 10:42 am
If it is a wrestling for the ball contest in the scrum and your edge cannot take the ball from an aged 37 year old QB that should tell you all you need to know about Hassan Reddick.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:45 am
Maybe we can rely on Nelly saving the day again, by strip sacking Young. Hahahahaha. I was so optimistic during the bye, oh how my confidence has dropped. At least Chucky wasn’t the D coordinator of the collapsing 2008 team. 3rd and28!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kirk 509. Pitts Mr 3 TDs. Gotta love it
December 13th, 2025 at 10:47 am
Play makers?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
What a freaking JOKE!
December 13th, 2025 at 10:50 am
Look Joe made some kool-aide… Everyone drink up
December 13th, 2025 at 10:50 am
That was a BS call. Didn’t we get hosed earlier this year on a 50-50 ball?? Didn’t it happen last year with JMac too?
December 13th, 2025 at 10:51 am
I’m willing to do whatever it takes to no longer have Bowles. Lose out, that’s fine. We need a new message in the locker room. We are stale.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:52 am
Only Baker is taking responsibility and not passing the Buc pun intended. No doubt Baker made some crucial mistakes. But so did everyone including b mike Evans dropping a pass in his hand. Last game,Egbuka dropped an easy touchdown in both hands at eye level..
December 13th, 2025 at 10:52 am
Again, if waykoo makes that fg week 1, Raheem most likely would be 4-0 against us. LET THAT SINK IN!!!!
December 13th, 2025 at 10:54 am
The way for the Bucs to win is to run the ball 70% of the time to chew up the clock. (not for the purpose of keeping the Carolina offense off the field, but rather to keep the Bucs own defense off the field) 😉
I’d like to be a fly on the wall in the Bucs locker room, to hear what is really going on.
December 13th, 2025 at 10:54 am
Raheem the dream who lost 10 straight to end his Bucs tenure! Bucs life!
December 13th, 2025 at 10:55 am
Mike, Jalen, Chris, and others can save the Bucs. Looking forward to the next game!
December 13th, 2025 at 10:58 am
No worries guys Kancey is coming back to save the day!!
December 13th, 2025 at 11:00 am
The only thing thats gonna save these Bucs is starting fresh. A new HC, with a no nonsense DC, And a new OC. Bowles sticks with to many players he just likes but give no results. Its time fans. Way past time. TODD BOWLES MUST GO. I actually believe Carolina beats us. I wonder if the Glazers will fire him then?
December 13th, 2025 at 11:02 am
49ers lost the heartbeat of their D, and their best pass rusher. Are they sinking????????????????? Oh well, we have 90 yr old Moore on the sideline, we can’t lose, wait……
December 13th, 2025 at 11:07 am
Please Joe, lay off the drugs and alcohol. This franchise is in total freefall. Once Bucs lose to the Panthers, Glazers should fire Bowles immediately just to send a message. Glazers should have already hire an independent consultant to help with the coaching search AND GM search.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:11 am
Playmakers? On this defense?
What?
December 13th, 2025 at 11:23 am
Who cares if we make the layoffs this team isn’t going anywhere better draft spot is bettter
December 13th, 2025 at 11:24 am
If the defense players were in revolt over the ineptitude of the defense coaches and Bowles with his ineffective tired scheme then it is possible that the news of the demise of Bowles and his staff could be the motivation needed for a driven effort. What happens behind the scenes is critical. The effort by the players next week will tell the story.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:27 am
It EXTREMELY rare for a team to overcome really BAD coaching!
December 13th, 2025 at 11:29 am
Wouldn’t it be ironic if this turned out to be just the opposite of the situation when the defense heard the Monte Kiffin news back in the day.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:39 am
Has Bowels been canned yet? Then there is really nothing worth discussing here.
You literally have idiots here worrying about what color uniforms we should be wearing. Seriously?
December 13th, 2025 at 11:39 am
The unfortunate thing is the Bucs only had two players to stop…..Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts. Drake London was out! Robinson ran wild and Pitts scored more in one game than basically his entire career. They knew who needed to be stopped and couldn’t even come close to doing it. Not a good sign!
December 13th, 2025 at 11:40 am
I believe the offense can put up points but the defense is so putrid that no lead is safe. Bowles stubbornly puts his players in position to lose and frankly, many have checked out on him. W=Is there a cancer in the locker room which helped this along? Certainly, but Bowles has made no adjustments to his schemes, nada. He is as predictable as loser Lovie and Smitty. Bowles has publicly admitted he cannot fix anything and that it is up to his players. He is a coach who does not adapt but demands that his players adapt to him. He is trying to put a round peg in a square hole and it has cost the Bucs their season. I hope the Glazers simply handle matters like they did with Lovie, just end the insanity, no excuses. Let Bowles coach the next 3 games, expecting a miracle but if he could not get his guys to beat the Saints or Atlanta, he has no chance in Charlotte or Miami unless he does not call plays. That will not happen. Bowles is too arrogant.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:40 am
No, the problem is the coaches. Especially Bowle who when he has on his HC hat is responsible for practicing, preparing, game plan, everything that is wrong stems from the HC office. Not to mention his failed DC hat job. He sux. Fire him …. case closed. Of course that leads us to the owners and their decisions. Also the general manager…..Time for a remodel and rebuild. The core is rotten.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:47 am
Joe, I don’t disagree with anything you typed. Problem is momentum is a sonofabitch (both positively and negatively).
After that Detroit game, and definitely after the 4th qtr in Buffalo, this team looks lifeless and answerless. QB can’t hit the broad side of a barn, when it matters, interior OLine is getting blown up multiple times a game, and the defense is what it is.
Do the Bucs have the talent? Yes
Do the Bucs have the confidence? Maybe
Do the Bucs have the coaching? Maybe- bordering doubtful.
Do the players as a whole have the desire and the heart to want it and take it? Idk
We will see next Sunday in charlotte. And if the Panthers win vs New Orleans, that place is gonna feel like a coronation, ready to oust the king.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:47 am
Joe, you’re still going with the narrative that we have enough players. You’re still pushing the BS that we’re more talented than the teams who just beat us. We’re not, and we don’t. This roster is flawed, littered with busts, and players playing posisions they’re not capable of playing. Roberts, Hall, who are not quality NFL DTs. The coaching is crap, the roster is crap. All so overrated, now we’re seeing the truth. Embrace it, it’ll set you free.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:48 am
I wouldn’t let licht off the hook too
December 13th, 2025 at 11:52 am
Sal Volatile, if the Bucs defenders truly wanted to save their head coach we would see better play from certain players. Zyon would not be making idiotic plays game after game where Todd says he is “bored” and all smiles after a loss. Winfield would be more animated and he would be angry about losing like Tykee Smith and LVD were. Rumors were out there that Reddick did not like going into “coverage” in Bowles’ scheme, I am sure he is not alone. Dean and others may not have been happy with Bowles letting Benjie Morrison steal snaps from Jamel in Buffalo for no apparent reason except to give Morrison the reps he missed due to injuries in training camp. Then Morrison is a healthy scratch Thursday night. What gives? There is a lot of unrest with the Bucs D and Joe said he smells rot in the Locker room. I do not think several of the players on D have Todd’s back. Some do but not all and hence Todd mentioned “those few” in his tirade. The damage is down. Todd has created a losing attitude in a locker room which was 180 degrees the opposite just a few short season ago. It is a sad situation. Let’s see who shows up in Charlotte, maybe some of the loafers may realize that they need good tape if Bowles is launched as the new coach may be looking to cast off the cancers.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:54 am
‘Mayfield’s career depends on the next 3 games’? What nonsense. Mayfield played the entire season with a beat up O line that still fails to protect; a receiver corp led by a bunch of 2nd string smurfs, and yet another new OC. Through all that 22TD’s 7INT’s with at least 2 INT’s balls that were just stripped from Otton in defiance of offense player gets ties. With just a bad defense the Bucs would be 9-5 at this point. Instead we get a shockingly unprofessional bunch of guys who think good defense is synchronized hand slapping after the very occassional tackle.
/
December 13th, 2025 at 11:55 am
The Bucs D resurrected the careers of Kissin’ Cousins and Pitts. Both will get paid handsomely off that game alone!
Playmakers of defense? Maybe Tykee Smith who was out for last game. VV takes up blockers but has seen better days. Winfield with an almost Devin White drop off. It’s awful. I’m sure David can’t believe he played one more season for this nonsense.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:59 am
Look at what Robert Saleh has done with their injuries. Enough excuses get a new head coach, a GM with Howie Roseman ambition and maybe we’ll get somewhere. The Eagles just need to figure out their offense and they’d be in good shape. Their defense is good, but they sure miss Shane Steichen.
December 13th, 2025 at 11:59 am
Simply answer… No!
December 13th, 2025 at 12:03 pm
If you are a real fan you hope for no more victories. This team needs a complete overhaul defensively, not to mention the coaching staff
December 13th, 2025 at 12:05 pm
Joe, put down the bottle.
December 13th, 2025 at 12:07 pm
Not save …
merely prolong the inevitable
Have you been watching this year????
December 13th, 2025 at 12:07 pm
“the coaches have done everything they can do”
Such an absurd and damning thing to say. Final nail in Bowles coffin.
You have done squat! You don’t learn and adapt as evidenced by Cousins being Bowles daddy. As evidenced by fielding a worse D this season when it is almost fully intact compared to the horror show in the secondary last season. It’s unbelievable. I would have fired him shortly after hearing that in the presser.
You have done all you can do? Ok, you are fired and we will find a new guy to continue the work.
December 13th, 2025 at 12:15 pm
I am so sick of Joe and other posters talking about “so much talent” on this team and then listing a bunch of stars on Offense. Outside of VV and maybe Tykee Smith, the Defense has nobody. Dean is having a solid season, but he was at best a CB2 last last time we had legit CB1 that actually shut down WR1’s, Carlton Davis.
If you don’t think Vita Vea is in the playmaker category at his position, then Joe can’t help you. –Joe
AWJ is a punk, bench him and trade him after the season. He got his $$$ and he could care less. Thank my favorite Buc of the last 14 yrs LVD and wish him well in his retirement. Figure out how to salvage the stupid decision to give $48m to McCollum and either trade him for a practice squad caliber player or have him help the lawn crew.
We have little or no talent on Defense, Joe. Period. Rave all you want about Egbuka, but we needed STARS for this DEFENSE and we draft a WR. Stupid. Drafting Egbuka was not stupid.–Joe
And there’s the smell of dead fish coming out of the locker room. What’s that about. It started after the Bye week. The demeanor of the team totally changed. No more talk of, “Grit” or “Resiliency”. No more talk about Baker for MVP. No more talk about Bowles as possible COY. Richard Sherman knows. Gerald McCoy knows. Go find out, Joe.
The answers are on the field. Plenty of good teams overcome internal issues. The Bucs had them in 2020. Leonard Fournette was benched for a game. Current Bucs are not good. –Joe
December 13th, 2025 at 12:43 pm
How can anyone think the Bucs are gonna win out. What have we lost? 5 of 6? And to some awful teams, like the Saints and Falcons.
December 13th, 2025 at 12:57 pm
We beat the Panthers twice and we win the division period. Even if we lose to Miami, we just have to beat the Panthers twice. Sounds simple enough except we are in a free fall, our defensive scheme sucks, the defensive players have quit, our offensive coordinator is clueless and our quarterback is wildly inconsistent and hangs on to the ball too long. Other than that we’re fine.
December 13th, 2025 at 12:59 pm
the defense is better with reddick in there
December 13th, 2025 at 1:13 pm
I;m actually LMAo here. I mean its one thing to love our Bucs. Hell, we all do. But to deny this team is in total freefall is like saying, Lets forget this dreadful 2nd half of our season. I just hope when our Bucs lose to Carolina, and they will, the Glazers will finally show us the fans, they have a Pair. And FIRE BOWLES.
December 13th, 2025 at 1:16 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHA WHY???
WHY???
WHY would any Bucs fan want us to actually win the division at this point? We all know this team has NO CHANCE in the playoffs.
We need to LOSE the division and miss the playoffs to have any chance at a bright future with the coaching staff being replaced.
If we end up winning the division it will be the same ole medicore stuff next season with them keeping the same coaching staff.
GO PANTHERS!
December 13th, 2025 at 1:30 pm
It’s quite clear Bowles has lost the defense. The edges are tired of playing corner and the corners are tired of playing 10 yards off the receivers. They’re playing just as they have been coached and sick of taking the blame for the awful scheme. There has to be unbelievable unrest in that locker room that somehow has not seeped out into the public domain. Bowles blaming the players won’t motivate them. The coaches have done all they can do teaching a system that doesn’t and hasn’t worked for 4 years. The players have checked out. They’re doing exactly what they were taught and no more. This won’t end until the head gets chopped off. Fire Bowles now. Waiting until the season ends is a mistake.
December 13th, 2025 at 1:32 pm
We have playmakers on defense. The problem is the make plays for our opponents. And we have a coach that will not bench a problem child. He allows them to create chaos while they are BORED!!!!!!!
SMH
December 13th, 2025 at 1:37 pm
MJ your right, Reddick makes them better, instead of Kirk “509”, he was Kirk “374”. So I guess.
December 13th, 2025 at 1:38 pm
I don’t know what anyone can do about the defense, but I’m with TBBF: air it out and put on a show!
December 13th, 2025 at 1:50 pm
At this point, might as well cross our fingers and hope that old man JPP is the guy who saves the D. Really, what other reason for any hope is left?
December 13th, 2025 at 3:34 pm
Carolina has more talent and is far better coached. It’s over Yuc’s fans. Bowles blew it again.
December 13th, 2025 at 4:38 pm
On Thursday night, the Bucs actually got a fourth-quarter, strip-sack from Haason Reddick with 1:43 remaining in the game. Officials ruled that both Reddick and Kirk Cousins recovered the ball at the same time, so the ball was given to the Falcons.
———–
Wait, we learned in the Detroit game that in 2025 we got new rules, and ties go to the defense. Oh wait, this is the same refs that gave the Falcons 2 TDs, and a mystery fumble recovery where no Falcons player was ever shown with the ball.
Give me two TDs and two reversed turnovers any day of the week over 19 penalties for 5 yards a piece.