Five Things
December 29th, 2025
Joe is going to have to eat Advil all week in order to try to sound positive and giddy with the fact this awful Bucs team still has a chance to win the division and make the playoffs. Advil and gallons of coffee and Mountain Dew will help Joe fake it. Joe is that depressed. If somehow the Bucs make the playoffs, Joe knows what will happen in the first round. So let’s get to it as it sure seems inevitable that the guillotine will soon come down on some people, maybe big names in the coming days, weeks and months. Something has to give with this emotionless, losing team. Buckle up and grab your coffee.
Losers
Despite this plunge into the post-bye abyss, despite the Bucs playing horrible football, despite Bucs coach Todd Bowles without answers on how to turn around the circling of the drain, this loser team can still make the playoffs with Bucs players unable to motivate each other.
Thank goodness for the sorry NFC South!
Joe would be very surprised if once again this spring at the NFL owners meetings, another team (or teams) doesn’t try again to rewrite the NFL bylaws — mandating that a team that wins its division with a losing record forfeits its right to host a wild card round playoff game. Joe can’t blame other teams for being bitter. Why should a team that goes 2-8 down the stretch be rewarded with a home game?
The Bucs will finish the regular season as losers, there is no way around that. By losing seven of their last eight games, the Bucs cemented themselves as losers for the 2025 regular season.
They earned it.
Nothing seems to work for the Bucs. Last week they went ground-and-pound and lost. Yesterday in South Florida the Bucs ran the ball 13 times instead, trying to get the ball to their playmakers at receiver. They lost.
This team has been snakebit the past two months. The players know it. The coaches know it. It seems like when they take the field, they know they will lose; they just don’t know how it will happen.
Just like the Atlanta loss, Sunday’s was so predictable. The Bucs were playing a rookie, a seventh-round pick quarterback. YaYa Diaby got one sack and the rest of the time, Quinn Ewers had plenty of time to throw. Backup quarterbacks had averaged 313 yards passing per game against the Bucs this year. Ewers had 144 at halftime.
Finally, the Bucs shut down Ewers in the second half. Props to Todd Bowles for figuring him out but it was too late. Ewers already had two touchdown passes by halftime.
The Bucs lost again. Surprised?
Clock Ticking On Todd Bowles?
Look, Joe doesn’t know if Todd Bowles will survive this year or not. That may trigger a great many people but Joe does not know what the ownership family that makes the final decision on head coaches (Team Glazer) is thinking right now.
Team Glazer may be thinking of giving Bowles a pass for all the injuries. Or, seeing how the arrow is pointing way down, they may fire him.
Anyone saying they know what Team Glazer will do in the near future is clowning you. Team Glazer does not share intel on the innerworkings of the Bucs boardroom, what they are thinking, what they are discussing, what is or isn’t a tipping point. And nobody knows how much the Glazer siblings may disagree before showing a unified front.
And trust Joe, Team Glazer will not care about public perception. Their focus is making decisions they believe are in the best interest of the team.
However, Joe would be shocked if Team Glazer dismisses Bowles before the end of this season. They have never made a coaching change before a season ends. There is zero reason to start now.
For those looking for a silver lining, perceived inactivity does not mean there is inactivity behind the scenes. Far from it.
Joe heard that in October 2013, Team Glazer was reaching out to prospective candidates to take over in January 2014 for former Bucs commander Greg Schiano.
Predictably Unpredictable
One thing Joe has learned about Team Glazer is that once you think you figured out a pattern to their motivation or decision-making, you are thrown a curveball. But here is a pattern that may give fans pause that big news could be brewing:
In 2008, Chucky lost his last four games of the season to finish 9-7, missed the playoffs and 10 days before the Super Bowl was dismissed. Team Glazer then promoted assistant Raheem Morris to take over.
(Joe noticed back-and-forth over the weekend on social media with some folks claiming there was zero precedent for the Bucs to dismiss Todd Bowles last year and retain an assistant, offensive coordinator Liam Coen, to replace him. Didn’t Team Glazer do exactly that after the 2008 season?)
In 2011, Morris was coming off a 10-win season. The Bucs beat New Orleans at home in October to go to 4-2 and the Bucs left for London to play the Bears. They returned to America a different team. They lost to the Bears at Wembley Stadium and proceeded to lose 10 straight to end the season. Morris was dismissed the day after the season.
The Bucs, this season, beat the 49ers at home to go to 5-1 and it seemed they were in the running for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Instead, they have now gone 2-8 since that win.
The 2025 season has been a meltdown not quite as bad as 2011 but much worse than 2008.
So if you want potential insight into what Team Glazer may do, there you go. But Team Glazer is predictably unpredictable. Guess at your own peril.
Baker Mayfield’s Bag
Joe figured a stir would be created yesterday after typing and Twittering hesitancy about giving Baker Mayfield franchise quarterback loot.
Mayfield’s contract ends after next season. Damn right he wants to get paid, but is it smart, right now?
Don’t you want a top-shelf quarterback to be playing good ball in December? Shouldn’t he be making clutch plays when the playoffs are within reach?
Shouldn’t a top-shelf quarterback put a team on his back and win close games?
Look, Joe loves the intangibles Mayfield brings to the Bucs. Perhaps no quarterback in the game has better intangibles. And Mayfield did put the Bucs on his back a few times and win games with his arm early in the season, not just his legs.
But in crunch time in the final weeks of 2025, that hasn’t happened. When the Bucs needed him most.
Yesterday was the third straight game, in a winnable game, that Mayfield threw a pick in the fourth quarter. That is the opposite of clutch.
Joe has no idea what happened to Mayfield. Maybe he’s more hurt than he or the team is letting on. If so, maybe he shouldn’t be on the field.
Maybe Mayfield and Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard are not on the same page? Joe really doesn’t know but recently Joe saw stats claiming Mayfield has been playing his worst football since he was in Carolina.
Joe is not saying Mayfield isn’t worthy of being paid. But “this Joe” wants to see how Mayfield plays next year. Don’t be in a rush. If Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht would pay Mayfield, say top-10 quarterback money, and Mayfield never escapes the rut he’s in, that could eff up the salary cap and this franchise for years.
Joe absolutely wants to see Mayfield get paid because that means he is balling out. But right now or even this offseason? Joe’s in zero hurry.
More Hollering, No Results
Joe has never seen this. And Joe is pretty sure there are no fixes outside of a roster reset this winter.
Let’s go back a little in time:
* After the loss to the Patriots on Nov. 9, right after the bye, Baker Mayfield unloaded on his teammates in the locker room after the game for lacking a “killer instinct.”
* Two weeks later Lavonte David did the same at halftime of the Rams blowout in Los Angeles.
* The next game, Todd Bowles had a tear-them-apart, come-to-Jesus meeting with his defense on the sidelines in the fourth quarter. .
* Two weeks later, Bowlesd dropped his profane postgame rant saying the coaches are out of answers and until the players start to give a “s(p)it,” nothing would change.
* Two weeks later, yesterday to be precise, David again tore into his teammates after the Dolphins game.
What has the Bucs’ record been during that span? Try 1-7, with that one win coming at home against the rotten Cardinals 20-17.
Joe has never heard of a starting quarterback, a star linebacker (twice) and a head coach destroying their locker room all within two months, and apparently the words fell on deaf ears.
That tells Joe this roster badly needs a reset. The Bucs know who the malcontents/unmotivated are. Outside of Tristan Wirfs, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, maybe Luke Goedeke and Jacob Parrish, Joe doesn’t see any irreplaceable players.
Joe has never seen or heard of an NFL team resorting to desperation pleading so often in the final two months of a season and getting virtually no results.
That tells Joe just enough players are checked out, have tuned out Bowles and have their heads already in Cancun.
December 29th, 2025 at 5:05 am
Thanks for bringing back the memory of the bears beating us at Wembley – was in the crowd that day. Urghhhh!
December 29th, 2025 at 5:19 am
empty words. actions would carry more weight.
if panthers strike next week,
Swing of the Ax should follow to Rile young bucs up like strong Gale
December 29th, 2025 at 5:31 am
100% correct! Every single thing and memory lane.
Yes, and I am thinking total reset. I love Baker. He scurries and plays his heart out. But his throws are not consistent. It’s to the point that Mike isn’t making him look good either. And Mike makes QBs look great. And that is another signal on the QB, OC, … At the end, finally a good throw to Mike. Too late for a win.
Injuries… Miami had a few yesterday on top of their listed ones.
Similar to another one of your posts is watching film. Yes preparation. Did they practice this past week? Did they have meetings along with watching film over and over again this week? It didn’t seem that way.
December 29th, 2025 at 5:48 am
What’s funny is people thought Baker, the backup QB to Sam Darnold on the Panthers, would all of a sudden turn into an MVP and Superbowl winner with the Bucs. Lol…peak delusion.
Bowles and Baker don’t have what it takes and what were seeing now is what we saw in Detroit, in the playoffs, when Baker first got here. Bad decisions from both “leaders” including 4th qtr turnovers.
Time to move on from these two.
December 29th, 2025 at 6:04 am
I think I have the answer Todd Bowles is a going to take a 3 hour tour of the Gulf of Mexico / America and get stranded on a deserted island all week
Shell Key Preserve (Near Tierra Verde/St. Pete Beach): An undeveloped barrier island with no roads or buildings, known for bird nesting, clear waters, and abundant shells. You can get there by private boat or the Shell Key Shuttle from St. Pete Beach. Primitive camping is available with permits.
They won’t be able to to find him and the Balloon Headed Glazers will be forced to hire an interim Head COach and they will beat the Panthers and go on a a run to the Super Bowl
December 29th, 2025 at 6:06 am
Bowles should have been gone three years ago. If Moe, Larry and Curly Glazer were not born into Daddy’s money, they would be busboys, hotel clerks, or uber drivers.
December 29th, 2025 at 6:24 am
Team Glazer should sell and cash in.
December 29th, 2025 at 6:29 am
This is the issue BA fixed and I’m we’ve fallen right back into it
December 29th, 2025 at 6:29 am
has injuries been a problem? on defense its mccollum who kept getting burned when healthy and kancey who is always hurt. since the super bowl licht hasnt added anyone good to the defense. licht probably works in tandem with bowles when drafting defense. on offense whats the main problem, griz? who was responsible for that hire? when things were going good earlier in season fans were saying bowles was responsible for the great hire of griz. lot of bad choices being made
December 29th, 2025 at 6:32 am
One of the hardest things to do as a coach (anyone in management) is to motivate grown professionals. After watching the Bills vs. Eagles game its apparent that Bowles can no longer do that. The Bucs are playing like they don’t even want to be on the field. Even Mike Evans who gets emotional about it dropped one of the most important passes of the game. Hit him in the chest! Glazers better start looking for someone who can motivate grown men.
December 29th, 2025 at 6:37 am
baker doesnt play like an injured qb, at least the last 2 or 3 weeks. before that, maybe.
now, i think it is just too many bad throws, bad choices, and especially the INTs, layer on top of that, amateur hour in the OC position and the offense is what it is.
seems like the one person the bucs should have extended long before they tried was the one person they really needed. the ego and hubris that struts around one buc place thinking that great OCs were a dime a dozen and todd could just pull them out of thin air has proven to be fatal.
FATAL.
December 29th, 2025 at 6:40 am
Glazer kids are not good owners. Malcolm Glazer was. Once he passed away, Manchester United has fallen apart and other than the Brady years, so have the Bucs. Even if they fire Bowles, they’ll hire some scrub on the cheap to replace him. Dark days ahead
December 29th, 2025 at 6:42 am
My thoughts on Baker not being Baker is this: The OL hasn’t been stable all year and even at times when he thinks it might be, it isn’t. I think he has been playing injured all year and perhaps taking something to dull the pain, and that dulls his awareness. He needs to figure out a way to get the smelling salts that were banned, back on the sideline whatever it takes. For those saying get rid of Baker when kicking Bowles to the curb, careful what you wish for. We have a bad habit of not finding franchise quarterbacks. A new coaching staff and a season off could make him right as rain.
With that being said…Fire Todd Bowles & Company along with the strength & conditioning staff.
December 29th, 2025 at 6:43 am
The Bucs have Mayfield, Evans, Godwin, Ebuka, McMillen, Erving, White, Tucker & even Otten. They can only score 10 points through late in the 4th quarter? The only way that can happen is if a team has lost all desire to be on the field. Sorry coach time to retire. They’ve completely stopped caring from top to bottom!
December 29th, 2025 at 6:47 am
food for thought:
maybe bowles said to someone quietly that he was going to retire after the season, and it leaked throughout the locker room…
say, around the bye week…
and players got word and knew big changes were coming once he’s gone, so many just started coasting…to the point where everyone is getting roasted and toasted – and now with the worst 2nd half record in the league…
something had to set off this demise…it’s way beyond just a few injuries and a missed assignment here and there…
we went from first to worst literally overnight…
it’s gone way past zombie mode…now it’s like zombies walking into quicksand…and that quicksand is leading all the way down to china
#RoadToNowhere
December 29th, 2025 at 6:47 am
Zero reason to start now on firing a HC during the season???? SEND A MESSAGE!!! This is the worst collapse we’ve ever seen…
December 29th, 2025 at 6:47 am
Sam Darnold was originally the back-up to Mayfield not the other way around.
How no one holds the Offensive Coordinator responsible is beyond belief.
December 29th, 2025 at 6:48 am
Why was Bucky and Wirfs arguing on the sideline? Anyone else notice that?
December 29th, 2025 at 6:50 am
bucnjim – Agreed, we need the Brady effect. Thinking they brought Teddy and JPP in to motivate. Didn’t work.
December 29th, 2025 at 6:51 am
like the colts collapsed…but they lost danny dimes for the year…
i can’t come up with a straightforward logical answer to the bucs scenario of first to worst in overnight fashion…
can’t rap my numb skull around it
December 29th, 2025 at 6:54 am
i did hear about a bucky and wirfs argument…but never got the details…other than wirfs supposedly saying he’s going to take care of the oline or something like that…
not sure what it all means…but i’d like to know more as well…
a new 30 for 30 is in the works:
“the uber unravelling of the tampa bay buccaneers 50th season”
December 29th, 2025 at 6:56 am
Many fans on the run have checked out. The bag they will bring is for their heads.
December 29th, 2025 at 7:02 am
Beat Carolina or Not Beat Carolina?
Which of the above are Bucs fans pulling for the most?
December 29th, 2025 at 7:12 am
Yes todd bowles is a terrible head coach and should be fired but the number 1 reason for this epic crash and burn is BAKER MAYFIELD!
December 29th, 2025 at 7:15 am
Adam and NorthGaBus: I heard on anther blog that Bucky was going off on the now starting OL and Wirfs simply had enough of it and jumped in to have his OL teammates’ backs.
December 29th, 2025 at 7:33 am
this team is built for a baker X gruden combo, with a side order of receivers…
and gruden likes to mix his tight ends in nicely too…he uses his #2 and #3…
i can see a chucky rebirth on the horizon here with a solid DC brought in…chucky will get the right staffers by his side…
i think even with whatever happened in the 2nd half of the season, the glazers just might think we are not too far off…a few tweaks and add a few guys up front…and gruden just might push us over the top like he did when he replaced dungy…
i could see it
December 29th, 2025 at 7:35 am
From above…
“They have never made a coaching change before a season ends. There is zero reason to start now.”
Well, here’s one reason, from Joe’s article yesterday….
“Obviously, Team Glazer wants to make the playoffs and rake in the millions that come with hosting a game. And in the playoffs, anything can happen. So Joe understands squeezing every last drop of juice from the rotten orange that is this season, hoping for a few sweet sips to end the torture.”
As shocking as it would be, it actually makes some sense to pull the pin on that grenade right now.
December 29th, 2025 at 7:41 am
on a grander scale:
a real issue is that somehow this team has never developed any real identity – style or personality…absolutely nothing defines this football team…it’s crazy…literally absolutely nothing…no ground and pound, no defense, no grit, no high powered passing attack…nothing…and it’s approaching week 18…the team has absolutely no identity…it’s wild man…!
but yes recently they’ve developed the worst identity in pro sports………losers…
a real crazy undefinable season, marked by a massively long losing stretch…
the team needs help or something…no leader is coming to rescue my bucs…tommy b is up in the booth…probably giggling
December 29th, 2025 at 7:47 am
ONE THING!
Fired !
December 29th, 2025 at 7:49 am
Sorry Joes, I didn’t bring myself to read the article
December 29th, 2025 at 7:54 am
O coordinator and staff have been inept. They keep wasting carries on Bucky who is not producing. Sit Bucky and demote Grizz now. Let White and Tucker be the Rb’s.. How does a 9 yard rushing average the three games by White go unnoticed by our offensive staff. Last I checked Tucker was also way more productive than Bucky and he has scored multiple TD’s.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:04 am
Excellent article, Joe. I look forward to this every week I agree with you on the irreplaceable players. I’d put Egbuka and Baker on there. That may be it. I would not put Bucky Irving on that irreplaceable list. He seems like he’ll be one of those players who has a nice rookie season and that’s it. Not For Long…
December 29th, 2025 at 8:05 am
Winfield is a out of the locker room first guy, he might be the guy with the “bag” problem.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:06 am
The Brady effect was mentioned in the comments. Pfffft. That’s gone. The only reason bowlzo has lasted is because we play in the worst division in football, bar none. The Sisters of the Blind Bible College could beat us right now. I especially wish to call our Tykee Smith. I don’t have all that digital recording stuff. I only see the tv replays. On several really long TD plays against the BUCS defense this year I see him kinda jogging behind the play like he has given up. If bowlzo has one drop of manhood left in his shrivelled sac he will bench that lazy bum for this last game. I hate lazy bums who refuse to pursue. I can’t remember, but I think it was Bill Walsh who coined “good things happen to those who pursue”.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:10 am
As far as irreplaceable ..id say “237505674567745676543346956345”. What does that number mean? No one’s. The answer is no one.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:11 am
Is Advil code for goofballs?
December 29th, 2025 at 8:13 am
Beating Carolina should not save Bowles job.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:13 am
ROD MUNCH REPORT 12.28.2025
Rod Munch Says:
December 28th, 2025 at 8:04 pm
Baker has now single handedly lost 4 games in a row with 1st place in the division on the line. FOUR!
Rod Munch Says:
December 28th, 2025 at 5:01 pm
How about a QB that doesn’t single handedly lose you four games in a row, that would help.
Rod Munch Says:
December 28th, 2025 at 4:34 pm
Baker has literally single handedly lost 4 games in a row.
Rod Munch Says:
December 28th, 2025 at 5:20 pm
I’m telling you, if players ripped into Baker for loses these games, it would be by far the best thing for the team
Rod Munch Says:
December 28th, 2025 at 11:15 pm
Remember this: If Baker isn’t complete inept and terrible these last four games, the Bucs literally win all four of them.
Rod Munch Says:
December 29th, 2025 at 12:04 am
If the Bucs win next week, and the Rams win out, then the Bucs will face the Rams again.
If that happens, I wonder if Baker will fake another injury when he’s thrown for 13 yards and 2 INTs in the first half of the game?
Rod Munch Says:
December 29th, 2025 at 12:21 am
Baker, most of the day, had plenty of time. His two INTs were terrible, and had nothing to do with pressure.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:16 am
Coach Derp is the problem. His football intellect is severely lacking. Bowles is Dungy Stubborn and Schiano Stupid.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:17 am
Grizz has also failed to design plays to get Mike open and a bigger part of the offense the last two weeks. Baker is throwing dangerously high passes to Mike
at times risking injury and limiting YAC yards because he has taken some hard hits before he can get his feet on the ground. we need more 10 yard out routes that move the sticks.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:17 am
Rod Munch is not a objective observer.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:24 am
SB~LV, just ignore Rod Munch. He’s a troll who wanted the Bucs to give Jay-Miss the long term deal. Broken clocks are right twice a day.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:29 am
Too bad, Jerry Springer is not around. He could get to bottom of the bye week collapse. Maybe someone’s baby found, not to be his baby? About par for the course.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:33 am
Where the hell are the smelling salts? That’s the guy to blame, whoever banned smelling salts is at fault for all of this. It took 8 weeks for the lingering effects of the salts to wear off and that happened to be at the time of the bye week. Bring back the salt!
December 29th, 2025 at 8:34 am
Ok , I finally read the article out of respect for the Joes put into it.
1-drawing conclusions based on Glazers actions 10 plus years ago do not necessarily reflect what they are thinking and likely to act in 2026, but yes they are conservative, to a fault sometimes, and not likely to make any change until the season is mercifully over.
2- Baker does have some questionable decisions throwing the ball but my GAWD there is so much disfunction swirling around him on offense. I did start looking on YouTube last night for QB’s coming out next year because we DONT have a #2 primed for taking over for Baker for any reason.
So unfortunately we need to take a QB of starting quality EARLY.
I would let Mike Evans go to Houston and have a chance next year to play in front of his home town and with a SB ready team.
Evan’s is not the Mike Evans we think he is, Father Time and a broken down body.
TODD BOWELS MUST GO!
Even Jason Licht is on thin ice in my book!
He is after all the big picture guy and can call any and every player into his office to lay down the law.
Please no post season humiliation!
December 29th, 2025 at 8:37 am
Thanks for helping with the super bowl and all the division wins in worse division in football. If it wasn’t for nfc south todd would of been gone two years ago and candles or Coen would be coaching this team. Time to go.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:44 am
Bee Says:
December 29th, 2025 at 5:48 am
What’s funny is people thought Baker, the backup QB to Sam Darnold on the Panthers, would all of a sudden turn into an MVP and Superbowl winner with the Bucs. Lol…peak delusion.
Bowles and Baker don’t have what it takes and what were seeing now is what we saw in Detroit, in the playoffs, when Baker first got here. Bad decisions from both “leaders” including 4th qtr turnovers.
Time to move on from these two.
Wrong again Baker hater. Sam Darnold was the backup to Baker.
December 29th, 2025 at 8:56 am
Your last sentence says it all. “That tells Joe just enough players are checked out, have tuned out Bowles and have their heads already in Cancun.”. This a slam dunk reason to get coaches fired anywhere. Notice the Dolphins kept playing hard for a losing season coach. As for the Glazers finances play a role and there is no info on the Bucs because it is privately held. However, their other team ManU is public with shares sold on the New York, London, and Frankfurt stock exchanges. Revenue is way down because theg did not make either of the 2 Euro wide competitions. Current!y with half the season over they are in 6th place just outside a championship league and Euro League slot. Those 2 are massive tv money. Plus they are carrying 1.6 billion in debt. Cash flow is positive this Q due to cost cutting. Remember that. What do teams do when cost cutting. I think.we are looking at a rebuild with a cheap former assistant coach and some high priced stars let go. No way Baker gets a raise of any kind. The old receivers will be let go with young ones retained.
December 29th, 2025 at 9:00 am
This collapse is all on the coaching staff. People calling for Baker to be cut are fools. Different OC last year and he was good. Slightly better OC the year before and he was also good.
I am not saying Baker is a future hall of famer but clearly the OC change had a major impact along with the injuries to the offensive line.
December 29th, 2025 at 9:05 am
@ChuckysBucs…that’s golden! Johnny One Note is an idiot. Steps over quarters to pick on nickels.
December 29th, 2025 at 9:06 am
With respect, Joe, the collapse in ‘11 vs ‘25 is not comparable.
Every commentator here, myself included, predicted we would win at least 5 of our last games this season. Most thought we would win the last 6.
This has been an epic meltdown.
Our coaching is atrocious. Period.
From not knowing when/when not to go for 2, to HS level offensive play calling, we’re out coached every week. Which game was it where the “miked” opposing players were calling our plays prior to the snap? Embarrassing!!
Where is play action? We only used it twice yesterday, and maybe once the previous 5 games? How about qb rollouts? Mayfield has great wheels & vision. Our pass routes are basic AND stale. Rarely are our receivers open. Conversely, when are opposing teams receivers NOT open?!
You can see defeat on the faces of our players every single game. Look at Mayfield and Evans yesterday. They both know this team is has already circled the drain.
By all accounts, Bowels is a good and decent man. But, that does not excuse him from being a BAD coach. If he was a D coordinator on any other team he would have been fired 2 years ago. As a HEAD coach he should not be exempt from the same fate. HE is ACCOUNTABLE for everyone on this team, including coaches.
Look at his coaching record in NY. One winning season, followed by 3 years of basement dwelling. He inherited a 13 win team here and, in his 1st year, only had 8 wins. He’s mediocre at best!
This team has given up. Even the few leader we have on our roster have. Their faces say it all.
December 29th, 2025 at 9:08 am
If the Glazers don’t care about what the fan base thinks, they are even dumber than I thought they were over the last two years.
December 29th, 2025 at 9:10 am
Bee at least get your facts straight. Baker beat out Darnold at Carolina in training camp and Sam backed up Baker not the other way round Bud. Baker got injured. Eventually the interim coach went with QbB that is now in the CFL to finish out the season. Baker asked to be released. The Rams picked him.up and Mcvey gave him a pep talk.
December 29th, 2025 at 9:27 am
So Joe doesn’t see McLaughlin as a keeper?
December 29th, 2025 at 9:27 am
It’s coaching. Ask the Jaguars and Liam Coen.
December 29th, 2025 at 9:33 am
i like cancun cozumel is better bet they all have there private yacht rentals lined up for Jan wit the hos
December 29th, 2025 at 9:34 am
Props to Todd Bowles for figuring him out but it was too late.
Really? Scoring 10 points in 1 half is now the standard for the offense?
The D lacks talent and stinks, but the offense, with all the weapons, is pathetic.
December 29th, 2025 at 9:51 am
Win or lose, the writings on the wall. A rebuild is awaiting. The player nucleus is there. Coaches should be expecting the hammer 🔨 to fall. Finding the right solution must be the goal.
Good Coaches would love to lead this team. It’s up to Owners (first) and Management to implement and make it happen.
Doing nothing will only cost the Glazers MONEY. MONEY is the biggest motivator in business and in life for most people.
JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!
December 29th, 2025 at 9:58 am
As a Bucs fan it is very depressing to think there is any chance the Bucs would bring back Bowles. If they do they will be lucky to get 30,000 at home games next year.
December 29th, 2025 at 10:02 am
2 weeks in a row the defense allowed 20-23 points which was good enough to win. Our anemic offense led by the king of third n long Grizzard lacks any understanding of situational football, run up the middle into the weakest part of the o line all the time, barely any pass action, run when should pass, pass qhen should run, and operates the most predictable offense outside of Jeff Jagodinski. Philly showed what a bad oc could do to a team and what the next season with a competent one can do. Go get an oc who is qualified for the position and send Grizz to coach high school where he belongs
December 29th, 2025 at 10:04 am
Toughness on most teams starts with the defensive line and offensive line. While we have some great talented players, we have too many nice guys and no dogs. That has become the identity of this team. Nice guys finish last and that’s what has happened to us. Suh would stomp your face, and Jensen would pick a fight and get in your head. When is the last time anyone on either side of the ball has been that guy? Not since Bruce Arians left. They tried to bring back Jason Pierre Paul to rekindle that fire but too little too late.
December 29th, 2025 at 10:10 am
This team lacks player leadership in my opinion. The team culture is broken. The formula of players on this roster doesn’t fit Bowles’ personality. He’s not the type of leader to pull this team out of its funk without there being a player leader presence in the looker room. If you think about all of the failing units on this team, the offensive line has done okay. That’s because that unit has leaders in Wirfs and Goedecke. The receiver corps has leaders. There’s nobody on defense who’s a leader.
December 29th, 2025 at 10:15 am
@Joe—so who are the locker room cancers on this team? Also, where is the criticism for Licht. He built this roster (ignoring the pass rush and MLB spots for years now) with an emphasis character and intangibles that are noticeably lacking and he is going to likely pick another Head Coach? I get the pitchforks for Bowles but don’t understand why Licht gets a pass.
December 29th, 2025 at 10:17 am
The current group running the football side of things for the Bucs are responsible for not being able to correct the mistakes and build a culture of hungry players. GM and HC are at the top of the operation so they are at fault for not making enough personal improvements and not implicating a system that has the players wanting to to put more energy and effort into making plays. There is way too much “going through the motions”, “missing assignments”, “bad communication”, “dropping catches”, “missing tackles”, “making mistakes”. Whatever you want to call it its up to management to correct and get players focused. Not happening, Licht and Bowles are at the top of the chain. They are the ones who built this team and they have made a mess of it. They can’t even lose in an entertaining way. I watch all the other games and the Bucs are not entertaining to watch they just can’t match the intensity of the majority of NFL teams. There has been no development of their young players and these are the guys Licht drafted. After this season and some new management coming in on the football side, many coaches and players will not be retained. The new boss, whoever that is will watch the film of the team and see the mess and look to the future to get the arrow pointing upward. I have faith if they get a new GM with a coaching staff of younger dedicated coaches from teams with good systems, they can straighten out this mess and give Tampa Bay a team we can enjoy rooting for.
December 29th, 2025 at 10:20 am
What if Vea is the cancer?
What if he stopped caring. He looks bigger than ever.
Our defensive line just doesn’t crash down hard on offensive lines.
Our D-line plays with no “pop”
Watch other teams. Their D line crash hard in unison on the opposing offensive line.
Our D line seems SOFT.
Like GMC soft.
Hall has never replaced Gholston.
No one has ever replaced Suh.
Diaby is awesome for a 3rd rounder. But he should be our #3 OLB. Not #1.
Braswell sucks for a 2nd rounder.
Watts is not good on special teams.
December 29th, 2025 at 10:20 am
NO ONE could play QB for this team and succeed… the o-line is an absolute mess. Barton has regressed this year, we have turnstiles at both guard positions, and Wirfs has missed what – 5 games while Goedecke missed 7?
It also blows my mind that we keep running 6 yard patterns on 3rd and 8… etc.. I was taught from peewees on up – if it’s 3rd and 8, you run 9…
December 29th, 2025 at 10:37 am
How could Todd survive this EPIC collapse??? If he somehow does, that will tell us all we need to know about the Glazers!
December 29th, 2025 at 10:47 am
Other teams are doing well despite injuries because their staffs gets the most out of their players; and they are held ACCOUNTABLE if they don’t make the effort in preparation at practice and during games. The current staff and head coach look inept and running scared to boot.
I was 23 when TB started at the old Sombrero. They had an identity with Tony Dungy and with Bruce Arians. They had a culture of winning. This coach has the advantage of a weak division. Most other divisions, he would have been fired years ago.
We need a coach that establishes a winning culture; and then demands that players perform. 1-7 is telling. Look at Chicago. Losers for years, They get the coach right, draft decently, and they are in the playoffs.
Bowles isn’t capable of what the team needs, The next head coach better be thinking on winning culture, accountability. He needs to be a professional that’s respected within the league so that he attracts other solid coaches to the staff. This bunch looks washed up.
December 29th, 2025 at 11:01 am
“And trust Joe, Team Glazer will not care about public perception.”
Have to call total BS on that take, Joe. Why such lazy writing? You literally just reminded us of this little nugget from 2009:
“Our fans are our stockholders. They’re what we play for — the people in our stadium and the ones that watch on TV. That’s what it’s all about: winning and how they feel about the team. If they don’t feel good about the team, then there’s something wrong.”
If THAT isn’t caring about public perception, then nothing is. The Glazers care VERY MUCH about what you just falsely claimed they care nothing about.
December 29th, 2025 at 11:27 am
Pop had Genco..LOOK WHAT WE GOT..
December 29th, 2025 at 11:29 am
POP had GENCO..LOOK WHAT WE GOT
.
December 29th, 2025 at 11:47 am
FLBoyInDallas Says:
December 29th, 2025 at 11:01 am
If THAT isn’t caring about public perception, then nothing is. The Glazers care VERY MUCH about what you just falsely claimed they care nothing about.
^^^^^
Don’t be naive.
December 29th, 2025 at 11:53 am
I didn’t realize how fat Bowels got!
They usually only show from waist up!
December 29th, 2025 at 11:59 am
Two things, neither the Bucs or Panthers deserve to be in the playoffs, regardless who wins the devision, the Lions should take that spot. Secondly, Baker mayfield has under thrown every ball over 20 yards for the last 6 or so weeks, I don’t think he is capable of throwing the ball downfield due to injury and if I notice this, believe defensive coordinator’s not named Bowles notice it too
December 29th, 2025 at 12:01 pm
The owners need wisdom imparted upon them. So who are they gonna call ? Ghostbusters !
December 29th, 2025 at 12:08 pm
What I find astonishing is that so many of the commenters are still trying to focus on some meaningless stats such as why Baker did this or why did Grizz do that.
December 29th, 2025 at 12:27 pm
Joe is going to have to eat Advil all week
———
Don’t do it Joe… I knew a chick that ate a bottle of Advil, I think because she was high but I’m not sure, but it ruined her stomach. Think about your health Joe and always use medicine as prescribed on the label.
December 29th, 2025 at 12:42 pm
It was stated here on this site that Jason’s lack of activity during the trade deadline sent a message.
The lack of activity by ownership during this debacle is sending a very clear message to the fans. That message is ” We don’t care about you.”
Bowles is sending a very clear message. That message is ” I continue to obfuscate because the owners and players union won’t allow me to reveal the truth even if I wanted to do so.”
Some are commenting about the size of Bowles waist.
I think we should look at the length of his nose.
December 29th, 2025 at 12:48 pm
Baker is not a top 10 QB. He’s a good mid tier option. If he wants top 10 money, he can go play in Arizona.
Bowles has lost the team. It didn’t look like a pro team.