Conor Orr: Bucs Won’t Be A Favorite In Vegas
February 22nd, 2026
At least from a public perception, Joe thinks this prediction is right on the mark.
In the eyes of the NFL public, the arrow for the Bucs is pointing down. Just when folks around the football world were starting to believe in Tampa Bay and the Bucs started getting buzz in national media circles, what happened? They fell flat on their faces.
Baker Mayfield melted down. Mike Evans got hurt. Bucky Irving had several issues, including needing shoulder surgery. Lavonte David got old. Emeka Egbuka went from Offensive Rookie of the Year to the federal witness protection program. The defense became a joke. A locally unpopular head coach was retained.
So yeah, Joe can see why folks would be down on the Bucs.
But it’s not just locally.
Conor Orr of SI.com is of the mind that when training camps open up in about five months, few people will be wagering that the Bucs will once again own the NFC South.
The Buccaneers will not finish the offseason as one of the two betting favorites to win the NFC South.
While betting against the Buccaneers may ultimately be a fool’s errand, the team has yet another new offensive coordinator, could lose Mike Evans and has seen the rest of the division change coaches in an effort to rapidly close the gap.
While Orr may be right, that doesn’t mean the Bucs won’t win the NFC South. If one believes last year’s collapse was preventable, then why shouldn’t the Bucs still be in the mix?
Consider: The Bucs lost seven of their final nine games, a collapse worthy of thinking someone at One Buc Palace should have embraced one NFL slogan and worked to inspire change at head coach. That clearly didn’t happen. But as bad as last season was, the Bucs still only lost the division by a tiebreaker.
The Bucs should be better this fall. So why shouldn’t the Bucs be the favorite for the NFC South crown again?
If the Bucs have another losing season and miss the playoffs, Joe is confident someone at One Buc Palace will be motivated to inspire change.
February 22nd, 2026 at 12:32 am
That’s funny. Vegas seems to think that the Bucs have a pretty good chance of winning the NFC South again. They currently have them at -140 on the over with 8.5 wins. New Orleans 7.5 wins, Atlanta 6.5 wins and Carolina 6.5 wins.
February 22nd, 2026 at 12:40 am
I could easily see the Panthers and Falcons battling for the division crown at the end… While IBS is failing for the hundredth time!
February 22nd, 2026 at 1:56 am
I said this the other day, that the Bucs won’t even be ‘favorites’ to win the sh!ty South, and are Bottom-5 in the NFC. Who’s WORSE!? The Cards? The Giants with Old Hairball, young talented pass-rushers all over the field, the #5 pick, a young athletic playmaker at QB with Skataboohoo and Nabers!? Washington, with a healthy Daniels set to return? What about The ‘Boys!? They just extended Javonte Williams, and will prob “Franchise” Pickens next… If Dak stays healthy, they can be pretty good. Carolina, the defending South CHAMPS!? New Orleans, who after drafting Tate, will then have 2-STUD ex-OSU WR’s (if Olave could ever stay ‘healthy’ for an entire season), or drafting Love for Kamara’s replacement, to go along with their young franchise QB!? How bout ATL… Yeah, I seriously doubt that. It’ll be a dogfight at the bottom again. “Smoke & Mirrors” people, Smoke AND Mirrors.
February 22nd, 2026 at 1:58 am
Bet the UNDER. That 8.5 is going DOWN. They are going to have a REAL HARD winning 9-Games next season. Especially, with THAT schedule.
February 22nd, 2026 at 2:03 am
OMG. I just saw where Rondale Moore “died.” I really REALLY HATE THAT. I really liked him and have been following his career since he was in HIGH SCHOOL, at Louisville Trinity. Boy, he could FLY. He was the first BIG recruit Jeff Brohm signed at Purdue. All the Brohm Boys also played HS at Louisville Trinity!!!! Damn, that so sad. Really hate that. Really, REALLY hate that. God. 25 years-old.
February 22nd, 2026 at 2:12 am
If I’m the Giants, I’m drafting OT with my first pick, and try everything possible to extend WanDale Robinson. They can find talent at WR in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. And, I would do that, too! Jaxson Dart needs all the help he can get. Nabers and Robinson is a DYNAMIC combination to start. The only problem is keeping ALL 4 of ‘em (including Skatabooboo) on the field together. That’s gonna be a fun and exciting team to watch, if they get this off-season right (draft and free agency), and can stay healthy! The East could be a DOGFIGHT, too!!!! You already KNOW the West and North will be with SEVEN ‘potential’ POWERHOUSES.
February 22nd, 2026 at 2:59 am
Todd Bowles is completely responsible for this mess !! The Glazers retained our horrible Defensive coordinator!! Mid season slumps are his forte! Fire Todd Bowles ! Feels good to say it even though his stench remains !
February 22nd, 2026 at 5:38 am
Um….
A fave for the under, duh! Its both ways, just like stocks, buy when you think its going up, short when you think its going down. And buy oil stocks right now….stuffs going down in iran
February 22nd, 2026 at 5:38 am
this team is bad unfortunately. the best player on defense is an aging vea.
February 22nd, 2026 at 5:41 am
after the super bowl licht got lazy and the glazers got cheap now the bucs are in a big hole
February 22nd, 2026 at 8:07 am
Dlavid … ‘Todd Bowles is completely responsible for this mess !! The Glazers retained our horrible Defensive coordinator!! Mid season slumps are his forte!’
Just a thought, but viewing Bowles as being ‘COMPLETELY responsible for this mess’ lets too many others (who failed) off the hook. For one, Jason Licht is the one responsible for stocking the cupboard, and the defensive cupboard pretty much sucked last year. Far too many of these players didn’t deserve to be on the active roster. For another, some of these assistant coaches flat weren’t getting the job done.
February 22nd, 2026 at 8:30 am
I think the defense has sucked for a while. Whenever they do have a good game once in a while, the media says we have a great one. Just me I guess.
February 22nd, 2026 at 8:31 am
Good! They play better as underdogs with chip on shoulder vs hearing their praises on podcasts and BSPN
February 22nd, 2026 at 9:19 am
Surely, NFL executives are well aware of the financial mess the Glazer have made of Manchester United. Surely, they are not the kind of franchise owners the league desires. Might this lead to pressure to sell the team? We can only hope.
February 22nd, 2026 at 10:25 am
The main reason for the collapse was injuries. I’ve never seen them so bad.
Going into last year, we all felt a Superbowl, or a deep playoff run, was possible. It certainly felt like we were right before the bye week. That was because everyone was thriving.
Then injuries exploded, costing us the season. It was unfortunate, but it happened…but also, it didn’t mean we don’t have the talent.
Add another Draft and Free Agency to the mix, and assuming lightning doesn’t strike twice with the number of injuries, I believe we can make a run.
February 22nd, 2026 at 10:27 am
Bosch, we have great owners. Quit being a crybaby.
February 22nd, 2026 at 10:37 am
Defense Rules Says:
“For one, Jason Licht is the one responsible for stocking the cupboard, and the defensive cupboard pretty much sucked last year.”
I would point out a couple reasons for that:
🏈 We were coming of cap issues that Licht was getting under control the past couple years. Though he did an amazing job quickly in that, last year still limited spending
🏈 After focusing on the offense for years, he’d only had last year’s draft to address the defense, and even then, the first pick went to offense. It hurt to see, but EE was worth it.
🏈 Focusing on offense so long was smart,and it did pay off.
🏈 Ridick was within the price range, and though a gamble every here at the time though he was a good gamble. We were wrong, of course, but at least didn’t gamble with a multi-year contract…which it turned out to be smart.
🏈 Last year…well…we had depth, but even the depth got injured. We were relying on third strings a lot of the time.
I’ve never seen so many injuries.
February 22nd, 2026 at 10:48 am
Maybe Im not remembering correctly but the bucs played better when there were a ton of injuries? Seemed like when the players returned is when the bucs weren’t playing as good.
February 22nd, 2026 at 11:09 am
You’re wrong. The worst injuries were towards the middle and end of the season. That’s when the offensive line was totally decimated. We need more depth there, and need to have a WAY BETTER season injury-wise.
After the last 2 seasons, we are due.
We win the South and go much further this year as long as Licht brings in some free agents to help. We cannot address everything wrong in the draft alone…
February 22nd, 2026 at 12:29 pm
Winning in the NFL is hard. Bowles might just come away with 5 or 6 wins. The collapse wasn’t his fault and neither will the 2026 losing record be.
February 22nd, 2026 at 2:18 pm
When you have Todd as the head coach a losing record is a given.
February 22nd, 2026 at 2:27 pm
Todd Bowles sucks as a HC\DC.
Everyone knows that except the Glazer kids.
The Joe’s and Ira run cover for Bowles every year.
During the season when the losing streaks happen, they whine and complain.
Then the Glazers tell them what to do and say.
Free buffet lines can be quite useful when controlling people.
February 22nd, 2026 at 2:53 pm
Bucs were supposed to be better last season than the year before. Most of us predicted 11 wins. At 6-2 did anyone think we weren’t getting there?
Injuries and underestimating our coaching deficiencies across the board doomed the Bucs and those predictions.
Licht added Reddick, Walker, Roberts, A.Walker, Parrish and BMo to the D. He tried, maybe not hard enough or smart enough for many of you but hindsight is always 20/20.
He will try again this offseason and if he fails, a new regime could be in town.
February 22nd, 2026 at 3:31 pm
Draft Kings currently has the Bucs as a huge betting favorite to win NFC South.
February 22nd, 2026 at 3:51 pm
Isn’t there a simple algorithm that could move all posts that mention Todd Bowles to a single thread?
February 22nd, 2026 at 4:23 pm
Your gonna find out how good the front office is in this off season 1st time in a few years they’re gonna have to earn it,plus keeping Bowles they’re on the radar
February 22nd, 2026 at 6:48 pm
That is a matter of opinion buccaneer brown eye.
February 22nd, 2026 at 8:18 pm
Look at the schedules. Panthers will certainly not be the favorites…First place schedule. I see the bucs and Falcons as co/favorites..each going off at less than 3 to 1.
February 23rd, 2026 at 5:54 pm
Lol..bosch