When The Bucs Made The Playoffs After An 0-3 Start
September 25th, 2026
The Bucs might want to have a few old-timers lined up and ready to talk to the roster after Sunday’s game against the Vikings.
Back in 1982, Tampa Bay made the playoffs after starting 0-3. Yes, three straight losses to start the season didn’t crush the spirit of those Bucs.
On the final weekend of the ’82 season, the Buccaneers locked up a playoff berth with a 26-23 overtime win. Buccaneers Ring of Honor quarterback Doug Williams led a big fourth-quarter comeback. He also threw a pair of touchdown passes to fellow Ring of Honor tight end Jimmie Giles. The Bucs then lost in the playoffs a week later the Cowboys, the same team that beat the Bucs to drop Tampa Bay to 0-3.
What did crush the Bucs’ spirit was a brutal pick-6 in the fourth-quarter of that playoff game.
The Bucs didn’t see the playoffs again until 1997.
Joe is not handing the Bucs a loss against the Vikings on Sunday. They’ll have to go out and earn it (or win!). Joe is simply sharing that hope will not be defeated if the Bucs can’t beat a good team Sunday to shake the horrible stink off the Tampa Bay roster.
For those wondering, the 1982 was shortened by a players strike, and replacement players were not used like they were during the 1987 strike.
So the ’82 Bucs started 0-2 before play across the NFL was suspended for two months. When the Bucs returned to the field, they lost to fall to 0-3. Then the Bucs won five of the final six games to secure a Wild Card in the NFC.
September 25th, 2026 at 10:03 am
Robinson needs to look at exploiting the Packers CBs. We cannot stick to dink dunk ground pound against that weak secondary who couldn’t read simple routes and got beat by a very slow looking receiver over and over.
September 25th, 2026 at 10:09 am
Football ancient history doesn’t apply to today’s team. Today’s players and coaches are what matter. Do the Bucs have the resilience to bounce back after a bad game where they played down to the Browns? To do that, you need leadership from the coaches and players. We’ve seen how badly the team captains like Baker, Vea, and Anzalone have played. I’m not seeing any leadership.
All that said, in my pre-season predictions, I had a loss to the Bengals and a win against the Browns. So far, the Bucs are one game worse than my predictions. The Vikings? I had this as a 50/50 game. Let’s HOPE for a win.
September 25th, 2026 at 10:10 am
0-2 teams are desperate and dangerous. Wouldn’t be surprised if they win but it won’t matter. Lets not ruin the draft positioning again with 7-8 wins. Lose em all on your way out Todd!
September 25th, 2026 at 10:19 am
Bucs will never be bad enough to be top 5 and never good enough to win it all
This might be a special year where they can finish with a top 5 pick, you got this Todd
September 25th, 2026 at 11:09 am
This is a mean reversion game, even teams who stink win a few. We’ll end up with 5-6 wins possibly. But probabaly better for all our mental health if they just lose a bunch in a row now so we can walk away for the year and not feel any sense of false hope.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:11 am
The good old days. 😉
September 25th, 2026 at 11:13 am
Playoffs? Playoffs? Que up jim mora clip
This coach has zero chance.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:45 am
November 1 will be the first win. Any given how the Dixie Chicks looked last night, possibly not even then.
September 25th, 2026 at 11:51 am
Different times, different players
September 25th, 2026 at 12:10 pm
> What Joe didn’t mention is that in 1982 the NFL had 16 playoff teams because of the strike and shortage of games that season. They added more to make up for lost revenue at the gate and with the networks.
So for one season only all but 12 teams made the show. If regular playoff seeding had been used, the Bucs would’ve been left out in the cold.
September 25th, 2026 at 12:28 pm
Yall act like its so farfetched we make the playoffs. This is still the nfc south.
September 25th, 2026 at 12:32 pm
The NFC South is looking stronger this season
Except for the Bucs
September 25th, 2026 at 12:41 pm
The Bucs will win the most is 6 games this season and they should play for draft picks. They need to get an offense-minded head coach and give Bowles a pink slip and send him into the sunset. The Bucs needs to draft a qb; since Baker is not taking the Bucs to the nfc championship game and not even a playoff. The Bucs’s ship is sinking fast with Bowles as a captain.
September 25th, 2026 at 12:47 pm
Ant Says:
Yall act like its so farfetched we make the playoffs. This is still the nfc south.
**************
You’re acting like Tyler Shough isn’t playing extremely well this season. I’d take the Saints against the field in the NFC South right now.
September 25th, 2026 at 12:58 pm
Bill Capece was actually clutch that 1982 season, kicked 18 field goals (over 9 games) at almost 80% and made all his extra points. Now 1983, that was when he went Kaput… was 10-23 on field goals (43%) and missed 3 extra points. McKay said those infamous words after a 12-9 OT loss in which Capece missed a field goal and an extra point. The following week, last game of the year they brought in David Warnke and he proceeded to miss an extra point and a field goal in a close game, so that lead to one of the greatest moments in Bucs History, when McKay was so frustrated with kickers, he had Offensive Lineman George Yarno kick an extra point, which he made old school, straight on, not soccer style.
1983, someone should do a documentary just about that season, including the offseason before and the break up with Doug Williams (due to Culvermiser’s stupidity). I remember we had to trade with Cincinnati for the “Throwin Samoan” Jack Thompson, so we could have a starting quarterback. That guy was thrown into a horrible situation, and he wasn’t that great, but I remember he was able to put up good stats in garbage time. That was the year we played the Repus Bowl against the Oilers. Does anyone remember the Repus Bowl? This was the 13th game of the season. Both teams came into that game 1-11. We won that game but still ended up the year with worst record, which of course, the #1 overall pick, which we no longer had, because we gave it up for the “Throwin Samoan”. FYI, that #1 was traded by Cincy to New England, and they drafted Irving Fryer, who ended up with over 10,000 yards receiving in his career and is definitely considered a member of the Hall of “Very Good”.
September 25th, 2026 at 1:35 pm
Yeah, if we had John McKay Coaching. Jimmy Giles At Tight end. LeezRoy Selmon at Defensive end- I’d still have faith.
I still had faith in that ‘82 team.
But this ain’t that team.
Our defense is one of the worst I’ve ever seen.
3 of Our best players have quit. Wirfs, Godwin, Vea are already planning their vacations.
Both our lines are horrible. LBers are really bad. WRs are horrible. TEs are below average.
Yeah, No faith in this team.
Mayfield, Goedeke, Tykee, Zion, Morrison, Trotter, are playing like they wanna go to the playoffs.
The rest of the team know they are playing for a lame duck Coach and GM.
They just wanna stay healthy, so they can start fresh with the new coach.
At least we’ll have some high draft picks!
Go Rays! Go Lightning!
It’s gonna be a long season
Vikings, 27-10
September 25th, 2026 at 1:50 pm
Why are we talking about playoffs when we are just trying to win a dam game im sure there are better things to write about then playoffs playoffs you got to be joking
September 25th, 2026 at 2:07 pm
Joe, go get some medicine. You were posting last week about a blowout against the Browns. This week, you’re saying they can still make the playoffs after starting 0–3.
I get that readership of your site is going to fall off as a season continues because the Bucs are just flat out garbage, but don’t try to sell us a bag of dog mess.
They are not going to make the playoffs.
September 25th, 2026 at 2:37 pm
0-3 is coming.
September 25th, 2026 at 3:36 pm
There’s a 0% change this team makes the playoff if it doesnt run off 3-4 straight wins.The playoffs just dont happen in the modern NFL when you start 0-3
September 25th, 2026 at 5:29 pm
omg memories joe…i was a kid…
i think the bucs lost that playoff game in dallas like 31-0…or possibly 38-0…
for whatever reason i was sitting in a connecticut winter lodge…torrington connecticut to be exact…
and watching the game on a very big old school monitor tv…all by myself at the tender age of about 13…
the bucs never really showed up, and doug williams was completely terrorized by dallas’ defensive line, if i remember correctly…they had him for lunch – i kid you not…
sad day and sad game,,,,,,memories