Bucs Offensive Line Looked Average
September 13th, 2026
Not an All-Pro day.
Joe is trying to be disciplined and to not overreact. But it is concerning.
Consider KitKat-eating Todd Bowles has never found a way to beat an AFC North team. Never. Not even the lousy, laughable Browns.
Joe thinks that has to do with the AFC North playing rough-and-tumble, old-school football. If you cannot trade punches with the Steelers and the Crows, you simply will not win in the AFC South.
The Bucs still have that soft stench to them, though it has been stifled a bit.
The offensive line got pushed around today. Baker Mayfield didn’t have too much time to throw. When he tried to buy time or fake-pumped a pass, he usually got blasted from behind and fumbled.
Two blindside hits caused Mayfield to fumble twice. A third fumble was all on him.
The first of Mayfield’s fumbles turned into a scoop-and-score by Cincinnati. A third fumble in the fourth quarter when the Bucs looked to be mounting a scoring drive trailing 30-20, Joe cannot pin that on Tristan Wirfs. Mayfield pumped several times on the play.
Mayfield’s first fumble? He got blasted from behind after Myles Murphy first engaged Wirfs and then ran around him to the outside. Murphy kept up his pursuit of Mayfield and clobbered him just as Mayfield was about to release the ball.
So Joe thought the strength of the Bucs was the offensive line. They got pushed around today like they were a little brother.
Joe’s not going to go nuts because the Bucs often struggle with physical teams like AFC North teams. But that same offensive line for which Joe has high standards really needs to pick up its game to face the Browns in a week.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:02 pm
Maybe those ‘worthless’ preseason games aren’t so worthless.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:03 pm
One of his sacks, is baker holding onto the ball for ages..
September 13th, 2026 at 5:04 pm
say it joe…spit it out…
the line didn’t look good
September 13th, 2026 at 5:06 pm
I have always said the Bucs Offensive Line is the most overrated in the NFL
But, we can still win this season, and make noise in the playoffs
I predict we make the playoffs this season
One game is not gonna change my mind
September 13th, 2026 at 5:08 pm
third best in the league? not today thats for sure.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:09 pm
I change my forecast–instead of Bucs winning 8 games I forecast 5 wins. Factoring in a stronger Saints and Panthers teams.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:09 pm
The ‘sack’ where Baker fumbled is 100% on Baker, you can not hold the ball forever like that and have no pocket awareness.
Another sack was on Ben Bredeson – I think. He pushed a guy inside to Barton, but Barton was already double team blocking the opposite direct – so basically the defender got a free sack.
Those are the only two where I clearly saw the replay. Will have to look at ALL22 later, but basically they looked like an offensive line that didn’t practice together much, and was playing in a new offense. Maybe having all the healthy guys getting snaps in preseason games would help them learn what they should be doing considering how little they practice anymore.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:10 pm
Average? They looked awful.
Grade: D
Joe, average?
September 13th, 2026 at 5:10 pm
Overrated team from top to bottom, lead by an incompetent HC. We’ve been lead to believe by the media Joes that this is a top O line drafted by the Oline whisperer Jason Licht. Nothing could be further from the truth. Spent a first round pick on a center who ain’t a center, brilliant! This team is fools gold. What happens now? Can’t just dismiss this loss after finishing 2-7. How many 3rd and longs did they convert on us? Same as last year. Everyone got their bag, looks like the fans are left holding theirs.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:10 pm
Baker had very little time….same as last year…no time to throw downfield
September 13th, 2026 at 5:10 pm
What does the afc south have to do with anything?
September 13th, 2026 at 5:10 pm
Average? You’re awfully generous. I’d say a D at best. Well, maybe a C because the run blocking was good.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:12 pm
Next week will sink Todd’s further into a boiling caldron if the Bucs don’t plaster the Browns at home. Actually the game will probably be tight showing the rest of the world that both teams have very poor coaching and lackluster management.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:13 pm
You are incorrect. Baker fumbled 3 times. Also two of those times he was holding the ball for over 3 seconds .. one time darn near 5. He had 13 in 243, 11 last year and so far … 3 lost fumbles this year and its game one.
No, this isnt on the line. This is on Baker and his poor choices.
I dont care how good you are. You deserve to lose if you give the ball away 4 times. A better QB would have gotten the ball out in under 2.5 seconds. Better questerbacks have for this team.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:13 pm
Bucs O-line was a little rusty to start with but they settled in.
No way in hell that you give those sacks to Wirfs when Baker held the ball FOREVERRRRRRR!!!’ Dude was Josh Freeman 2.0
When you give Baker 4+ seconds to throw the ball then you did your job!!
Wirfs played fine except for the 2 false starts which was unlike him….
Baker was a deer in headlights and hung his o-line out to dry in the early game…
Ridiculous QB play…
September 13th, 2026 at 5:14 pm
Soft stench still very strong! This team better wake up soon. Saints will win this putrid division.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:14 pm
Wirfs has regressed the last few years…due to injury of course and perhaps due to
complacency. It’s a tough pill to swallow.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:15 pm
Rod Munch
The thing that l don’t understand
We sucked last season down the stretch
And these players actually thought they deserves a pay increase
Vita Vea even went as far as demanding a trade
No player should have received an extension
September 13th, 2026 at 5:15 pm
Will not get excited about week one since they were still in it late 4th and four fumbles but need to clean up line pass blocking. Btw do our dbs ever play press. Still saw Bengals receivers running free more than once.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:16 pm
ST looked better……held them to ZERO yards on punt returns
September 13th, 2026 at 5:16 pm
The whole franchise sucks
September 13th, 2026 at 5:18 pm
I think they did pretty good in certain run looks (traps/power) Pass protection was D- at best. Too many total whiff free rushers and not many clean pockets. Baker probably had a clean pocket to let routes develop less than 5 or 6 times. Overall C- for O-line.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:19 pm
O line didn’t look like they made the plane ride to cincy today. Is TW78 hurt?
September 13th, 2026 at 5:26 pm
They didn’t look great and it was wirfs worst game potentially but I don’t think any oline would look great with how long Baker was holding onto it
September 13th, 2026 at 5:30 pm
I think after years of evidence it’s clear that Licht’s o-line “magic” is overblown.
He’s decent in that regard but by no means is he a guru.
This line has a lot of work to do just to get to average to above average, and a million miles to go before they are considered elite.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:32 pm
Joe … ‘Two blindside hits caused Mayfield to fumble twice. A third fumble was all on him.’
BucsfanT … ‘Baker fumbled 3 times. Also two of those times he was holding the ball for over 3 seconds .. one time darn near 5. No, this isnt on the line. This is on Baker and his poor choices.’
I agree with BucsfanT, all 3 of those fumbles were on Baker. His first fumble he was holding the ball out at arm’s length like a loaf of bread when the defenders knocked it loose (hold it in Baker). He had it tucked in on the 2nd one, going for the goal line, but the defender knocked it out (hold it tighter Baker). And I believe it was the 3rd one that he was blind-sided on, but if you’re gonna scramble, like he was, you have to have much better awareness than he showed today because the defenders will be going for the ball.
The Bucs’ defense didn’t play great, but they played good enough to win. Baker, excluding his fumbles, actually had a very good game; good enough to win. But a QB fumbling 3 times & getting sacked 4 times makes it hard to sustain drives and score enough pts to win.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:40 pm
Cincy’s defense played a very good game. Their DLine in particular was very aggressive & solid.
I think back to the preseason games when our starting offense sat on the bench during those ‘worthless’ games. I also think back to some of the comments you wrote Joe about our scrimmage against the Jaguars (and how terrible we looked in one scrimmage in particullar).
After watching our OLine play today, I’d say that they could’ve used a LOT more work in preseason. Cincy’s defense was good, but giving up 4 sacks & taking several key penalties was not a good look.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:41 pm
What happens to bowles if we go winless in the first 4 games? What is his record now over the last 10 12 games plus today
September 13th, 2026 at 5:46 pm
Its not the OL, high school 7 on 7 is 4 secs. THIS IS THE NFL, Shake N Bake cant hold the ball so long. He should be releasing the ball within 3.5 secs, running or throw it away. He’s too cocky and thinks he’s Cam Newton.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:49 pm
Let’s not forget this oline only had one good year running the ball (‘24). Last season we ranked 24th in YPC. The 2 seasons before ‘24 we ranked dead last.
This ain’t the group of elite maulers the media makes it out to be.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:50 pm
We can’t afford to get in a 21-3 hole before halftime
It demotivates the players, especially on defense
We shouldn’t come out flat, like we did today
The early turnovers are hard to overcome
Hopefully, this was just a bad game
And , this isn’t the norm with this team
We still make the playoffs this season
I’m not concerned about this game
September 13th, 2026 at 5:53 pm
those sacks where Baker held the ball to long he has to learn to take his check downs an not hurt the team an live to fight the next down
September 13th, 2026 at 6:03 pm
Amazed the Bucs came away with 27 points versus Bengals while fumbling 4 times. One time Baker was on verge of getting in the end zone. Crazy–wtf was that all about–seems like the O-Line could shoulder some some of that.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:07 pm
It wasn’t pretty but there were some positives ,,, not going to get overly concerned about a loss on the road to a Super Bowl contender , out of conference game . Clean up the fumbles and penalties and they will be fine
September 13th, 2026 at 6:10 pm
I’m not as high on the O-line as some, I think they’re middle of the road. Today, they looked downright abysmal.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:15 pm
It is average
September 13th, 2026 at 6:20 pm
Have you watched 78 play the last few years? Hes not what he was. Inquires, i.e. bone on bone knee. Not good. Hes missed too much camp over the years and is too heavy. I like TW and screamed that we draft him as I watch a ton of CFB. But he has not aged well. This is what happens when you miss all that training camp and think you could just come out there. Week one and play like a pro. Baller, it just doesn’t happen. It’s not electricity, you just don’t flip a switch
September 13th, 2026 at 6:22 pm
Why won’t our local media call Wirfs out? He’s soft. Wants to be Mr Funny in the PR videos In The locker room instead of being a dog. And none of our media will ever call it out. Scared I guess.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:24 pm
Lets be clear. The bucs OL coach is decent at coaching run blocking but is so much worse than our previous coaches at coaching up pass protection.
We keep getting worse and worse every year he is here. Meanwhile in Carolina that unit is becoming a force essentially pass blocking.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:51 pm
As Bill Belichick famously said: Players win em and coaches lose em. Bucs are continuing to waste their roster. They have needed a new head coach for years.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:54 pm
First fumble – no protection, no one open, tried to extend the play. He has to throw that away. lucky he did not land on his shoulder.
Second fumble – simply a good defensive play/not sure how he got stripped with two hands on it.
Third fumble – horrible protection, the play was designed deep and was not open, with this oline you don’t have time to pump and reset, if it is not open you have to go immediately to the check down.
Overall most of the passing game success was passes to the flat, otherwise no time. sure hope this gets better. Otherwise some games Baker will make the heroic plays, others he will fumble. And most importantly the hits will add up soon.
September 13th, 2026 at 7:15 pm
NOTHING will change with this current head coach…gonna be a long season! Thanks Glazier’s!