Can The Bucs Be More Than King Of The NFC South Landfill?
June 10th, 2026
What are the Bucs?
Joe knows there is a lot of Todd Bowles hate among Bucs fans. And one reason is the Groundhog Day-type seasons the Bucs have had since 2022.
The Bucs start strong, hit the brakes in midseason and then fight like dogs to win the division.
The problem was last year, after the annual midseason swoon, rather than fighting like dogs to end the season strong, the Bucs choked like dogs and missed the playoffs — but tied for the NFC South Landfill lead!
All the huffing and puffing the past four years hasn’t produced anything less than eight wins and no more than 10 wins. That adds up to 8.5 wins a season. In a 17-game schedule, that is the pure definition of “mid.”
So Raymond Summerlin of Sharp Football Analysis wonders if the Bucs are just the best team in a garbage division, or ready to shock the world and be something more?
Tampa got really good value at a position of need in Rueben Bain Jr, and they are likely the best team in the NFC South. The question is, can they be more than that?
Joe isn’t sure. If Bowles turns the offense loose, provided the offense is healthy, Joe thinks the Bucs could be something more.
But Joe doesn’t like how the Bucs are banking on three rookie defensive players to play like veterans. (Joe typed “three” because Joe thinks/hopes Bowles comes to his senses and puts Jacob Parrish at outside cornerback full-time and plays Keionte Scott full-time at nickel corner). The defense was bad last year and Joe isn’t sure it improved.
Calijah Kancey has to start staying on the field more. That sure would help.
The Bucs likely go as far as the defense allows.
June 10th, 2026 at 4:44 am
Not with Bowles as HC and DC. Defense is counting on rookies, still has a questionable secondary and a stubborn DC.
June 10th, 2026 at 5:01 am
I think the free agents and draft picks makes the defense better. Not only did we get Bain, we also got Muhammad and Walker on the edge. Even if Kancey doesn’t stay healthy, the addition of Robinson solidifies the dline. Also, David and Vos were both meh last season. Anzalone and Trotter are a huge improvement. With the addition of Scott, the defensive backfield improved. So, we can reasonably say that, at least on paper, every level of the defense has improved.
However, we can expect Bowles’ scheme to diminish that level of talent considerably! ?
June 10th, 2026 at 6:00 am
If the Bucs and Mayfield take the DC to the Dumpster…. maybe
Keep him as HC!, but Dumpster the DC
June 10th, 2026 at 6:12 am
I’m pretty sure the front 7 will be quite a bit better. Rookies or not. It will be helpful if Kancey plays more than 3 or 4 games. The back end of that defense? I don’t know
June 10th, 2026 at 6:29 am
Help me understand why the HC would throttle back the offense…
June 10th, 2026 at 6:30 am
I’m not sure they will be king of the garbage division?
June 10th, 2026 at 6:55 am
Bowles will continue to do what he’s done his entire career. Be a whipping boy for competent offenses.
June 10th, 2026 at 7:25 am
“Can The Bucs Be More Than King Of The NFC South Landfill?” Nope..not with that guy in the picture.
June 10th, 2026 at 7:33 am
Bowles definitely on the hot seat. I would really hate to waste this season.
June 10th, 2026 at 7:41 am
No.
Remember the Bills game last season. It perfect encapsulates the main problem with all 3 phases of this team. The HC couldn’t make defensive adjustments to stop big plays. The offense couldn’t capitalize on an early turnover at the Bills goalline and settled for a FG. Then the ST kept kicking the ball in-bounds to give over 200 return yards. At least they got a new ST coach but it took until the off-season to make the needed change.
Bowles can let the offense “loose” but that’ll probably lead to more turnovers than scoring.
The same HC and QB are here so how will the results change? These “leaders” have shown when you need a quick decisions and excellent execution they cant do it. Prepare to be underwhelmed this season.
June 10th, 2026 at 7:46 am
Todd Bowels
King of .500 football
June 10th, 2026 at 7:50 am
You are what your record says you are.
Bowles record screams mediocre – and thats what 2026 will be, 7 to 9 wins.
June 10th, 2026 at 7:52 am
Crazyhorse54 Says:
June 10th, 2026 at 6:29 am
Help me understand why the HC would throttle back the offense…
^^^^^^^^
Bowles did it at the end of last year, when he “helped” the offense. Why did he do it? To keep the scores lower, clock running, less points scored vs. his lousy defense, to make fools like Rod Munch think the defense was GREAT the last 6 games.
June 10th, 2026 at 8:20 am
Thank goodness for Rhaheem Morris and his QB analysis skills, otherwise Atlanta would be better. Canales/Young have improved — year three for your QB is a make/break year and Young was better and gave the Rams a run in the wild card game. The Saints? We don’t quite know who they are.
I have previously commented (like a broken record), the Bucs need to charge into the playoffs, not fall backwards into them, or last year, fall out of them. Good teams win the season and there is no need to analyze losing streaks, momentum, heart, intensity, etc. So, win the season and make a run for the Conference championship. And by God, don’t give up a score with 30 seconds left on the clock!
June 10th, 2026 at 8:22 am
No we cannot. Not with this management. And when I type management I mean Todd. He is not effective at managing a full season.
And if the division improves, winning it isn’t a given.
June 10th, 2026 at 8:26 am
Can the Bucs be more? NOT with Todd Bowles. He’s everything I thought he would be.
June 10th, 2026 at 8:29 am
SHOULD BE LIAM COEN’s
2nd season as Tampa Bay Buccaneers
HEAD COACH
B
U
T
NO !
We have Todd .500 Bowels
and Jason Licht is RESPONSIBLE for all things football!
June 10th, 2026 at 8:47 am
I agree with you Joe. Kancey needs to stay healthy and the rookie starters need to avoid the wall. Both Reuben Bain and Keonte Scott had a long season last year being in the playoffs and then the draft process. We saw how that impacted EE last year. Bain and Scott are fierce competitors but can they overcome the wall?
June 10th, 2026 at 8:49 am
Nope. Not with the clown HC\DC at the helm. His record speaks for itself.
In a landfill division he’s a .500 coach. That screams mediocre football.
The Glazers had an out but they love the culture and doubled down on failure.
Todd has an automatic get out of jail free card. He can simply make excuses and blame everyone but himself.
This is what happens when you don’t earn your place in life.
June 10th, 2026 at 8:58 am
They will do great this year with Bowles. There’s lots of talent on this team that was in the training room last year and we had a rock solid draft and free agency. We will be a lot better team than we were last year.
June 10th, 2026 at 9:01 am
Joe you should write an article that shows all of Bowles positive as HC and DC.
And next to the positive mention which game it happened. But only mention positives while being a Bucs HC.
Help us see the logic of this nightmare. We are experiencing a version of the lost decade but without any logic. At least during the lost decade HCs got fired!!!
June 10th, 2026 at 9:02 am
@Stpetefloormatt
What is your definition of great? 7-10? 8-9? 9-8?
Because that’s the ceiling with Bowles at the helm.
Are you the President of the Pom Pom squad?
June 10th, 2026 at 9:17 am
12-5. Maybe even 13-4. Personally, I’d rather we get hot and healthy at the end of the season than a top record.
June 10th, 2026 at 9:36 am
Floormatt apparently gets its head stepped on a lot.
June 10th, 2026 at 9:38 am
Got to put together complete games in all 3 phases.
Offense cannot have as many dry spells as they had last year and need to do a better job complimenting the defense when they get extra possessions via turnovers.
Defense needs to improve getting tf off the field and that zero blitz we dial up on 3rd and long needs to be tossed in the trash
June 10th, 2026 at 9:42 am
I agree Joe, defense is depending on some rookies to play like starters. Yes also agree that Parrish hopfully starts on the outside. Currently I have no faith in McColumn or Morrison. Their was no excuse for McColumn last year, he showed who he is and a zebra don’t change its stripes. Maybe Morrison stays healthy and develops, but that is a huge gamble on both fronts staying healthy and developing. This defense is still highly suspect against the pass.
June 10th, 2026 at 10:11 am
The pic of creamsicle wearing KitKat lover at the top of the page says it all. Everything you need to know and what to expect is depicted right there,
June 10th, 2026 at 10:18 am
Let’s focus on winning our ‘landfill’ division 1st.
We couldn’t even do that last year.
Rught now, the Panthers are the best team in the division until we can prove otherwise.
June 10th, 2026 at 10:20 am
Rueben bain changes everything just wait and see.
June 10th, 2026 at 10:21 am
10-7 or 11-6
Adjustments will be made. More worried about distractions at this point than coaching.
June 10th, 2026 at 10:28 am
“Joe knows there is a lot of Todd Bowles hate among jbf trolls”
Fixed that first sentence for you Joe….
June 10th, 2026 at 10:38 am
Todd Bowles seems like a good dude, a fun guy to pop a few cold ones with, would make a great neighbor. It’s very unlikely anyone hates the man. I don’t hate him.
What is loathsome is his coaching performance.
2-7
3rd and 28
4th and 14
NFL’s worst red zone defense
NFL’s worst special teams
62-77
One playoff win in 8 seasons
And the beauty is, he’s an equal opportunity Regressor. Everyone gets worse playing for the dude.
Great dude. Terrible coach.
June 10th, 2026 at 10:44 am
It’s simple really. It’s a make or break year for Bowles. Whether you like him, or cant stand him, it all comes down to this season.
I’m not a big Bowles fan, in fact I was screaming to promote Liam to HC before he bolted. Big mistake letting him walk. But, I also care more about the Bucs winning than being right or wrong on Bowles.
Some in here seem to want Bowles to fail, which makes absolutely no sense if you’re a real Bucs fan.
Bottom line, if the Bucs win the division and the defense shows marked improvement, Bowles will be back again. If they have another mediocre season and the defense continues to stink, he’s gone.
We will see how this shakes out in the coming months. As a Bucs fan (not a Bowles fan) I hope Bowles proves his worth and the Bucs don’t well. But also, as a Bucs fan, should he continue to call poor games and this team has a losing record, he better be canned. No more excuses
June 10th, 2026 at 11:02 am
Not with this coach or this qb they suck
June 10th, 2026 at 11:09 am
IBS has been HC for several years and has yet to produce an impressive season ..
It’s never going to just miraculously happen….. Highly likely doesn’t even win the nfcs landfill division!
June 10th, 2026 at 11:30 am
WOW! IT looks like I’m not the only troll here on JBF. The Glazers are playing with fire by keeping this clown. another year like last and the stadium will be empty. I can remember back in 80-90s when fans were giving away tickets.
June 10th, 2026 at 11:53 am
Going into last year, I honestly felt it was our year to go to the Superbowl again. The way the team played before the bye week reinforced that feeling.
But then the injuries started happening. More than I recall seeing since the Bucs started. We saw the result.
So, I have to ask…if not for all of those injuries…would the team have gone all the way?
I don’t see how anyone could claim it was not realistically possible.
This year we have a better team. I have no doubt about that. Some might point out no Mike Evans…but we didn’t have him much last year either.
We’ll have a better offense. A better defense. And a better Special Teams (surprisingly better).
Making the playoffs is a no brainer, barring another injury curse. And by then, the defense should be incredible.
June 10th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
BucsfaninOregon Says:
“WOW! IT looks like I’m not the only TROLL here on JBF. The Glazers are playing with fire by keeping this clown. another year like last and the stadium will be empty.”
You said it…you are not the only Troll.
I get keeping Bowles another year.
I have a theory that they would have gladly replace him with Tomlin, but Tomlin wanted a break from coaching. Next year, he might be willing.
But if the Bucs fired Bowles this year, they would be on the hook for another coach for the next few years minimum…keeping them from hiring Tomlin next year.
So giving Bowles makes sense this year.
Meanwhile, the Bucs showed commitment to building the defense…which will entice Tomlin next year.
Bowles who is close to retirement, gets one more year to try to get a ring.
June 10th, 2026 at 12:14 pm
Not preferring the “pure definition of “mid.” does not make you a Troll. The majority of posters on this site would prefer a different coach. Unfortunately, the likelyhood is Bowles will produce another slightly better than middling record and be retained for yet another year next year. So sad.
June 10th, 2026 at 12:29 pm
Hodad … ‘I’m not sure they will be king of the garbage division?’
Bonzai … ‘Making the playoffs is a no brainer, barring another injury curse. And by then, the defense should be incredible.’
Erik with Clean Athletics … ‘Right now, the Panthers are the best team in the division until we can prove otherwise.’
Lots of different takes obviously, but Erik is absolutely right: Until the Panthers are dethroned, they’re King of the Landfill and have bragging (?) rights. I’m convinced that the Bucs have made the best improvements DEFENSIVELY and we’ll end up with a Top-10 defense, BUT … other NFC South teams focused more on OFFENSE than we did this off-season IMO, and I’m not at all sure how that’ll flesh out.
The big question in my mind deals with the coaching staff as opposed to the players. Can this revamped coaching staff bring all these new pieces together to form a true SB contender in ONE year? That to me is what Raymond Sumerlin is really driving at when he asked … ‘The question is, can they be more than that?’
June 10th, 2026 at 12:46 pm
Baking with Robinson
The logic to keeping Bowles is so the team can tank and get the high draft picks needed to improve talent. The positives are that this is his last year with the Bucs. Thats about it.
June 10th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
I dont care at this point….too many trolls around here and you Joe’s do nothing about them….
June 10th, 2026 at 1:57 pm
bucs made nice additions but so did saints and panthers. im not sure what string rb saints used to beat bucs in that december game but now they have etienne and a top 10 wr draft pick with an offensive minded head coach. Lets not forget moore shredded bowles defense in the playoffs in bradys last game. panthers over took the bucs last year and made nice additions. and the talent is there in atlanta what is stefanski capable of with actual toys to play with. bowles struggles vs head coaches that excelled at being offensive coordinators. this division isnt a lock . it wasnt last year and the bucs lost evans and dean.
June 10th, 2026 at 2:41 pm
Mad max, Defense Rules and Buccaneer Bonzai you know who the trolls are around here. Just skip their posts like I usually do. I’ve engaged with them too often lately and regret it. Im going to focus on communicating with other fans like you more…Go Bucs! Barring injury, I think we are heading for a HUGE season. If the Bucs sign Baker and another outside corner I like our chances to go far in the playoffs too! I also think Egbuka is about to start following JSN’s career trajectory since they are virtually identical in combine stats and work out together.
Exciting- to say the least.
June 10th, 2026 at 2:44 pm
“DO YOU REALIZE THIS”?
I’VE GOT TO point out something the die hard Bowles supporters seem to be missing AS WELL AS those like myself that SEE the DIRE NEED to change this regime OUT.
HERE’S “A POINT THAT NEEDS TO BE COSIDERED BY ALL”
Let’s look at the “OC situation” Closely… and I’d like to make a quick but MISSED by the masses. Once you think it over it becomes pretty obvious. It’s an EYE OPENER!
“2023”
And That starts with the “2023 season”.
In those days Bowles was Actually Trying to Win… He promoted a Promising young OC with some experience and IT’S WELL KNOWN that Bowles ALWAYS targeted a “certain teams” guys as his (Bowles) “fishing hole” for OC talent.
THIS is a KNOWN FACT… That new to the Actual OC position prospect “Dave Canales” ended up being a pretty decent OC. And was rewarded with a Head Coach offer and has Now led his team to now WINNING the NFC South…
“2024” ….
It’s now 2024 and Once Again Todd Bowles goes fishing for OC talent in his favorite talent pool. HE CATCHES another promising OC candidate in a guy who’s had a bit “MORE EXPERIENCE” yet still quite unknown prospect in “Liam Coen”! Expected to be just a bit more experienced and to possibly be able to take our offense to a “higher high” . AND A HIGHER HIGH…. IT WAS!
Liam Coen was able to UNLOCK Baker Mayfields best qualities and attributes AS WELL AS vitalize the Entire offense and had it running “almost” as smoothly as our 2020 offense that WON A SUPER BOWL!
In fact the “ONLY REASON” we didn’t have AT LEAST two More Wins in 2024 was because of the “typically Poor Performing” defense! MANY IN FACT BEGGED FOR CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP AND THE MASSES POUNDED THE TABLE FOR “LIAM COEN” AS THE NEW HEAD COACH…. And THAT scared the H3!! out of Todd Bowles!
AGAIN the OC Todd Bowles fished out of that “certain teams” pool was a BIG Winner and went on FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR IN A ROW TO CHAMPION HIS OWN TEAM. In fact Liam Coen took his team to the playoffs in his Very First year as their leader and Head Coach… AMAZING!
And NOW… what the lost just don’t seem to get .. THE POINT!
“I myself spoke of what an AMAZING SKILL Todd Bowles has of picking OC’s, “once upon a time”. His keen eye for THAT talent was NO ACCIDENT! It’s SPECIAL…
“2025” Todd Bowles “is not” going back to where the “big fish” ARE..
And with Incredible Expectations! And with Todd Bowles “OBVIOUS HIGHLY ELEVATED ABILITY” to pick More Than Winners from his nose…. ALL OF BUCCANEER FANDOM and quiet frankly the Entire League thought to themselves that SURLY with Bowles clear ability to “Read Offensive Leadership Talent” many were Excited to see whom Todd Bowles would pick to lead “HIS OFFENSE” (Remember… he has picked TWO NEW HEAD COACHES IN A ROW!) to even Greater Highs!
And as the drum roll, ROLLED and with the excitement of ALL of Buccaneer Land we all waited with baited breath and bells on our excited toes to hear JUST “who” Our Next OFFENSIVE SAVIOR WOULD BE.. ………
And with the Explosion of Expectation, it turned out to be “No More than a toot in the wind”!
it was announced that a guy with UTTERLY NO REAL EXPERIENCE whom “helped” put plans together by doing what LIAM COEN TOLD HIM TO DO “SORT OF PART TIME” KINDA as Liam Coen used his Big Red Pen…… Todd Bowles CHOSE an “OBVIOUS TO HIM” GUARANTEED FAILURE!
A KID WHO HAD NO CLUE BARELY AT ALL of “how to” manage Baker Mayfield??? Or ANY QB At All!
DO THE BAKER BOYS UNDERSTAND WHAT DAMAGE BOZO HAS DONE TO THEIR SAVIORS CAREER? ALL of THIS fighting of whether or not Baker deserved a new contract “by now”…. Wouldn’t EVEN EXIST… Another example of the damage Todd Bowles has done to the ENTIRE TEAM.
With the pick of the literal kid that had NO BUSINESS being the OC of a professional football team, Todd Bowles BETRAYED US ALLLLLLL!…..
WE GOT SCAMMED BY TODD BOWLES SO THAT HE WOULDN’T BE CHALLENGED FOR HIS JOB AGAIN! “HE PICKED A BIG TIME UNPREPARED GUY AND HE VERY SURLY KNEW IT! THE KID IS ON HIS OWN STAFF AND HE KNEW DAMN WELL THAT HE DIDN’T QUALIFY! THIS! THIS WAS ON PURPOSE!”
WE ALL SHOULD REALIZE BY NOW THAT WE GOT SUCKERED BY TODD BOWLES!
Bowles picked this guy so that he could attempt to keep his job! AND IT WORKED!
And there are The Blind out there RIGHT NOW that HAVE THEIR THROATS CUT BY TODD BOWLES WHO ARE FOOLISHLY SUPPORTING THE VERY MAN WHO CUT THEIR THROATS! “THE GUY THAT JUST F…..D YOU OVER!
HE IS IN IT FOR HIM AND HIM ALONE! NOT FOR YOU and NOT for ME! NOT FOR THE BUCCANEERS! AND NOT TO WIN THE GAME!
Todd Bowles “equals” …. BUM!
How he still has his job after betraying the Glazers????? Maybe I have a “misconception” of money and power ~ equals intelligence. Well…. “OBVIOUSLY…. NOT NECESSARILY”!
June 10th, 2026 at 2:49 pm
Thanks StpeteMatt, im trying….its just frustrating sometimes.
June 10th, 2026 at 3:46 pm
I hear ya mad max. And for the other troll…Bowles didn’t pick a lousy OC. In fact, the Eagles have already hired him for their organization. The much more obvious reason why our offense tanked was INJURIES. Baker had no time to throw the football before his own guards were sitting on his lap. And no room to step into passes. He no longer had time for timing passes so all those got shredded from the playbook. What was left to avoid the interior rush was short, quick outside passes, screens, and inside runs. That’s all we had remaining that we could do.
Sure made it easy on defenses playing against us. They could even switch to man coverages and attempt to jam our receivers on the line so Baker had absolutely nowhere to throw the football. What an awful situation especially to be losing money over!
June 10th, 2026 at 5:22 pm
“And for the other troll…Bowles didn’t pick a lousy OC. In fact, the Eagles have already hired him for their organization.“
Grizzard was lousy dude. Eagles interviews him twice for the OC position and hired Sean Mannion who has 0 exp as an NFL OC to be their actual OC. Grizz is pass game coordinator, which in the scheme of things is a demotion from his job with us.
That says way more than you trying to reroute every problem this offense had to just injuries, saying the same thing in different threads. That angle of spin is old, tired, and I can almost guarantee way more than half your posts mention that.
Yet, you got the nerve to point people you don’t agree with out as trolls.
June 10th, 2026 at 9:34 pm
There’s two reasons why we won’t and they both lead this team. Slightly less to middling are the some of both of their careers.
June 10th, 2026 at 9:52 pm
What I see of the Bowles defense is the same year after year, I have watched and re-watched every season multiple times.
With a few exceptions, the Bucs do a decent enough job covering most of the wide receivers, although the #1 on every team they play seems to still have a pretty solid day. Bowles’ defense never seems to have a plan for tight ends and running backs who catch the ball, though, and never has.
If I’m playing daily fantasy, I will ALWAYS take the tight end who is playing the Bucs if there is any past indication that they are pass catchers. They feast on the Bucs. Always take a #1 wide receiver, too. You’ll pretty much never get floor numbers. The RBs are hit and miss. If the majority of their fantasy numbers come from runs, don’t take them. If they are at least 50/50 pass/run (someone like Rashaad White comes to mind), play them.
Hopefully this new defense with a better pass rush and better middle linebacker play solves that, but until I see it happen for the first time, I’ll stick to that as my daily fantasy formula.
How that translates into actual wins and losses, who knows?
June 10th, 2026 at 10:25 pm
So tired of hearing and people wholesale accepting that the NFC South is garbage and the worst division, by far, in the league.
The AFC South is at least as bad. The AFC East is even worse.
Sure, both divisions may or may not have one team each that are slightly better than the very best team in the NFC South and maybe even their second team is the same or slightly better than the second best in the NFCS. The bottom team in each of those divisions is far worse than the bottom team in the NFC South and their second to worst team is certainly no better than any of the NFC South teams.
If I didn’t want the Bucs to win the division so badly, I’d root for every single NFC South team to kick total ass outside of the division just to show the know-it-alls that they know absolutely nothing!
June 11th, 2026 at 1:37 am
Kings of the NFC South?
Joe wake up, we lost the nfc south to the panthers
June 11th, 2026 at 2:00 am
Standing ovation for Warren Brooks Lynch.
June 11th, 2026 at 2:40 am
Bucs finish 3rd in NFCS …
Carolina – Finished 1st and getting better
Atlanta – Removed Rah
Tampa Bay – 5-12
New Orleans – Still a young and rebuilding
June 11th, 2026 at 10:02 am
Can The Bucs Be More Than King Of The NFC South Landfill?
Not as long as the KitKat-eating Incredibly Average Todd Bowles is on the sideline.
June 11th, 2026 at 10:06 am
ScottyMack Says:
June 10th, 2026 at 10:25 pm
So tired of hearing and people wholesale accepting that the NFC South is garbage and the worst division, by far, in the league.
The AFC South is at least as bad. The AFC East is even worse.
—————————————–
The NFC South is the only division since division play began to send an at-or-near .500 team to the playoffs for multiple consecutive years. I realize you’re looking just at last year, but I’m looking at the last 5. Over the last 5, the NFC South has a historically bad win pct. And when I say “historically bad,” I don’t mean you can make a case where they’re a little better than another division over that division’s bad years. I mean they’re the worst and it’s not close.