“They Can Beat Anybody”
August 22nd, 2026
“Listen Beckles, with this talent, the Bucs can do damage. You hear me?”
Tonight is going to be a special night.
And no, it’s not that Connor Bazelak may play his last game as a Bucs quarterback in Tampa. No, no, no.
Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Chucky returning to the broadcast booth to call the Chiefs-Bucs worthless preseason game. Not as a play-by-play man, which Chucky seems to think he is.
Chucky will join Rondé Barber in the booth and if the two play their cards right, this could change NFL broadcasting.
Yes, Joe is serious. Networks have been broadcasting football the same way for 70 years. Play-by-play professional calls the game. Ex-jock, too often an ex-quarterback, offers his two cents before moving on to the next play.
If Chucky and Barber have more of a sports talk format rather than the decades-old same ol’ same ol’, this could be revolutionary. Be creative. Take risks. Have fun.
This could be awesome; this could be a disaster. But at least WFLA decided to try something unique after veteran Bucs preseason TV play-by-play man Chris Myers had a work conflict with his FOX Sports duties. Suits don’t like different because it’s potentially dangerous to their careers. Props to WFLA.
Joe hopes Chucky addresses what he said about the Bucs a couple of weeks ago when he showed up at One Buc Palace.
Chucky believes the Bucs have the talent to win the division, make the playoffs, and who knows what? Chucky said the Bucs have proven they have the talent to beat the big boys.
And he’s right. The Bucs thrashed the Seahawks last year in Seattle, historically one of the toughest road games in the league. The Seahawks went on to win the Super Bowl.
“Well, I think when healthy, I think from top to bottom, [the Bucs] can beat anybody, and they’ve proven that,” Chucky said. “You know, I think that’s number one. They got a lot of talent.
“They’ve got some depth now because a lot of kids got to play last year. I think that’s big.
“I think secondly, the front seven on defense has been rebuilt for a good reason. … They added some pass rushers [and] some girth inside. I can’t wait to see that.”
Chucky isn’t wrong about that. He seemed to think the only thing holding the Bucs back from a fantastic season is the same thing that Pearl Harbored the Bucs last season: injuries, including Baker Mayfield getting beat up.
“So let’s hope Bucky’s healthy and some of these young receivers emerge,” Chucky said.
The Bucs need the Emeka Egbuka who was on the field the first half of the season, not the Egbuka who vanished in the second half.
And Joe wants to see Ted Hurst start carrying over his success in practice onto the field of The Licht House. Hurst, the past few days in practice, has absolutely been lighting up the Bucs defense.
If Hurst starts doing in real games what he’s been doing in practice, look the hell out.
August 22nd, 2026 at 11:08 am
Amen! Well written, Joe.
August 22nd, 2026 at 11:25 am
Good grief. It’s a preseason game. The purpose of announcers is to fill the silence with information to make the game easier to understand and digest.
It’s not Phil Donahue or Oprah’s or the View.
There’s nothing revolutionary about this game or how they are going to yack.
Journalism schools are not going to chronicle this as some watershed moment.
About 12 people are even going to listen. These are two nonplayoff teams. And it’s only the Tampa feed.
This self indulgent overinflated importance.
August 22nd, 2026 at 11:36 am
Yes, the Bucs, if healthy can beat anyone. But with an abysmal HC / DC who has his team play down to lesser opponents they can loose to any
August 22nd, 2026 at 11:38 am
..to anyone. Falcons, saints, Dolphins Panthers. They were favored in all of those losses last year.
August 22nd, 2026 at 11:46 am
Come on, ModHairKen! It’s something to listen to while the future furnitures get to show what they can do. Don’t be a Debby Downer! I just hope I get the Bucs feed and not KC’s up here in Detroit!
August 22nd, 2026 at 11:55 am
“If Hurst starts doing in real games what he’s been doing in practice, look the hell out.”
Now the games are “real”, lol make up your mind man.
Are they worthless or not?
August 22nd, 2026 at 12:40 pm
I just realized we won’t get the game til tomorrow up here in NC.
Moth$=fu%@er
But yeah, any given Sunday we can beat anybody.
August 22nd, 2026 at 1:19 pm
@SimpleT
You should look if they’re live streaming via the team app. Might be able to catch it there for the free
August 22nd, 2026 at 1:23 pm
@Simple T: NFL+ for $6.99 will get you the Bucs live for their next two preseason games…then cancel. I do it every year.
August 22nd, 2026 at 2:10 pm
ROFL…Chucky is a trip. What a weasel.
August 22nd, 2026 at 2:10 pm
Bucs website has the game!!
August 22nd, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Wish he would be on radio. Hard bargain to replce the wonderful Gene. He was so good.
August 22nd, 2026 at 3:09 pm
Joe … ‘Joe hopes Chucky addresses what he said about the Bucs a couple of weeks ago when he showed up at One Buc Palace. Chucky believes the Bucs have the talent to win the division, make the playoffs, and who knows what? Chucky said the Bucs have proven they have the talent to beat the big boys. And he’s right.’
The Joe who wrote this piece sounds quite positive about the Bucs. Doesn’t sound like a 7-10 team or a 8-9 team. Sounds a lot more like a team that’ll have a winning record, make the playoffs AND do some damage once they get there.
I for one agree with that (sorry Marine Buc). I’m convinced that our ‘floor’ is 10-7 this season, but IF we can stay healthy then 11-6 or 12-5 is possible. The key IMO, like in every good season, is to avoid extended losing streaks. Lose 7-out-of-8 like we did last season and the BEST we can do is 10-7. Bucs have suffered 4-game losing streaks for the past 3 seasons, and those are hard to overcome.
The best season we’ve had in recent memory has been 2021 when we went 13-4. The secret was avoiding extended losing streaks; the most games we lost consecutively in 2021 was TWO GAMES. Our next best year was 2020 and again, the most we lost consecutively was again, TWO GAMES. Hopefully that’s a primary goal for this year: avoid extended losing streaks. IF we can do that, we’ll be OK. This team has a lot of talent, but that doesn’t mean diddly if they don’t approach each & every game with the right ‘motivation’.
August 22nd, 2026 at 3:28 pm
I’m not getting carried away by the Seattle win last season. They were down both safeties and maybe another defender.
August 22nd, 2026 at 3:49 pm
JimBobBuc – exactly. They weren’t exactly playing with all their cards.
Seattle’s a good team but they were lucky to have that nfc championship in their house. I won’t knock the win in Seattle. It was the best win of the season by far. But last time I checked every team that has won a superbowl since the dolphins in the 70s lost a game. Do we think all the teams that beat those teams had the potential to be world beaters? Of course not.
We have a coach that’s past his expiration date and an OC that no one else wanted.
Licht did a great job this offseason restocking the roster deficiencies but as long as we have the same management running the day to day during the season the nfc south championship is the top of tops for us.