Rookie Celebration Or Nightmare Embarrassment
October 8th, 2026
Consider the Joe typing here excited for tonight’s Bucs-Cowboys game.
First, it’s Buccaneers football. There are only so many games in ones lifetime. Joe savors all of them. Every year brings 60-plus hours of action and about 100+ times that in hours of analysis. Yeah, those hours pay Joe’s bills, but the games are what is special.
So tonight Joe (and Ira Kaufman) believe the Bucs are poised to get hammered by the Cowboys and suffer their first loss by multiple scores since the debacle in Los Angeles last November.
However, Joe is eager to see rookies Rueben Bain, Josiah Trotter and Keionte Scott on the field together on defense, along with quarterback Jalon Daniels and Ted Hurst in a No. 1 receiver role. They’re all healthy and ready to roll. That’s five rookies, and Joe sure hopes coaches’ egos get put aside and rookie guard Billy Schrauth (fifth-round pick) gets activated tonight and plays if the game is a blowout. Schrauth getting reps is far more valuable than Ben Bredeson or Cody Mauch finishing a lost game.
There’s a lot to examine tonight and to hopefully enjoy. It’s a safe bet half the current roster will be with the Bucs next season. Pay attention.
If the Bucs do get clobbered, Team Glazer needs to decide if they want all their young prospects under a head coach that no longer seems equipped to lead their professional development.
October 8th, 2026 at 11:53 am
yeah could get ugly in a hurry…cowboys smell blood in the water….
if the offense cant score over 24 pts, Zac needs to find his own way back to Tampa….
CHRIS SHULA HC!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
October 8th, 2026 at 11:57 am
My prediction 42-10 we can just leave the coaching staff in Dallas after this game.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
“if the offense cant score over 24 pts, Zac needs to find his own way back to Tampa….”
Been about 4 games my boy, but there’s a first time for everything lol
October 8th, 2026 at 12:01 pm
“Schrauth getting reps is far more valuable than Ben Bredeson or Cody Mauch finishing a lost game.”
Haha Cripes. When will you Joes learn? Our coaching isn’t that smart.
Bowles will give up on a playoff game (Lions) but he held onto hope down 2 scores vs Baltimore. Goodbye All Pro season from Godwin.
Please don’t fire any coaches at this point. The player development is shot either way. You have a whole offseason program next year to get the Bowles and Robinson stink off. Get a top 5 pick. So sad that this is where we are when 1/2 the fanbase has been telling you for 2 years that this is the road you were on. Embarrassing.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Bucs get absolutely boat raced in humiliating fashion.
Licht and Bowles get extended and use Robinson as their scapegoat.
Joes applaud like compliant seals begging for spare change and donuts.
Fans get the middle finger as always.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Well I’m glad someone is excited unlike you joe this is my release from work and it’s a train wreck some people may like looking at that but I sure as hell don’t. You are right there are only so many games you can watch in a lifetime and bowels and the glazers are wasting the ones I can watch by making it trash with their trash decisions.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:10 pm
I’ll be watching to see if Bain has ANY direct communications with Bowels. I doubt it. Those guys mentioned plus JMac and EE, Bauer Sharp maybe Josh Williams are the future here.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:13 pm
I am taking the Cowboys and laying the 8.5…
There is no way – and I mean – NO WAY that you can come from my loins.
Dis franchise be far away from the TB12 years of glory..
It can’t get any darker in this den of depression.
But it’s always darkest before we find a new HC/GM and QB…
Go Bucs!
October 8th, 2026 at 12:15 pm
@Joes… Don’t forget to hit up Hutchins, and get yourself a Texas Twinky!
October 8th, 2026 at 12:16 pm
I’m thinking this is a trap game for the cowboys.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:20 pm
They make you play the games for a reason…..anything can happen.
Sure, we will probably lose….maybe by a lot.
When the game is lost, I start looking for individual performances….
I’ll be rooting for Jaylon, Ted & Ruben tonight
October 8th, 2026 at 12:22 pm
We’ll see. If Bucs win it will be a miracle for them, and then the won’t keep their standing for a 1-3 draft pick. 🤔
October 8th, 2026 at 12:25 pm
Lots to learn and enjoy in a public humiliation. This is the best Bucs season ever.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:25 pm
Wait why would the Bucs get boat raced when they have a better more efficient, accurate QB who is “more poised and calm in the pocket than Baker, and has a better arm, and can scramble better and waits patiently to find open receivers and doesn’t give up on plays in a hurry like Baker!?? I’m confused…did the Packer game change perceptions? You would think with another start Daniels would be even better than before and hitting his stride, no??
October 8th, 2026 at 12:27 pm
Have we ever faced a game with lower expectations? Think of that. This is the state of the world in Buc land. And no November vote to change it. Sad.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:27 pm
Joe thanks for setting the stage for this game. I will be watching closely to see which rookies shine.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:31 pm
I hope Baker Jr. (Daniels) plays better tonight. I cringed watching those interceptions last game. Would love to see him check it down or throw it away. Instead of trying to force it into double coverage.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
Fire Bowels and bring back Bucco Bruce asap, hes still on staff, right ?
October 8th, 2026 at 12:42 pm
i hope they go down fighting, if they do lose. this coach and his staff is not going to outlast them. be a pro and lets see some of that violence that we have been constantly told since the preseason was going to erupt. win or lose put dak on his @ss.
October 8th, 2026 at 12:53 pm
These rookies are not the problem
I have more confidence in them than I have in the overpaid veterans
It’s common sense, the problem lies with the underperforming veterans
October 8th, 2026 at 12:55 pm
If we can get the veterans to play at 50% of their potential
We will be ok, we will win
But we’re getting absolutely nothing from most of them
October 8th, 2026 at 12:57 pm
It’ll probably be a close game and we’ll almost win…..but some boneheaded todd decisions will screw things up….like always!
October 8th, 2026 at 1:03 pm
Bucs 28 – Dallas 10
October 8th, 2026 at 1:10 pm
If you count on Rookies you don’t have a plan. You have hope.
Hope dies on NFL fields.
Said that in March. It’s still true now.
Jason Licht counted on Rookies to correct the huge flaws we all saw in the last 11 games last year.
It will, along with many other horrible decisions, cost him his job in Tampa.
You can’t count on rookies to win games. But you do see flashes of who they might become with good coaching.
Scott, Hurst and Trotter have been fun to watch.
Bain just needs more time to develop. DLine is a biiiig adjustment.
Jaylon Daniels threw 2 interceptions early, because he couldn’t read the defense.
The team were to mostly screen passes the rest of the game.
Don’t know if the Cowboys will confuse him very early.
If they do, expect more early interceptions- then nothing but quick passes to the flats. He’s just a rookie. I like him. He may be a quality back up for years- If he can figure out NFL defenses
That’s a pretty big if.
Watching the rookies will be the only good thing about this game. I’m expecting a curb stomping. I just hope we don’t lose by more than 21 points.
Cowboys are in a bad mood. A lot of bad press this year.
They will enjoy beating the stuffing out of a weak team.
October 8th, 2026 at 1:24 pm
Jason Licht, best qoute; “Hunger. I feel like we got a lot to prove.” More like hunger for mediocrity. Hunger for more money. He Jason, the fans are hungry for a win.
October 8th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
This game will be on at the station tonight my Sr firefighter is a Cowboys fan so I’ve told him if it gets to bad as his Capt I’ll send him to the dorm room to finish watching it. Lol
October 8th, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Jose, I agree.
October 8th, 2026 at 2:16 pm
Is Ted Hurst starting?
October 8th, 2026 at 2:21 pm
Tampa2, Hurst has been starting all year.
October 8th, 2026 at 2:25 pm
Joe … ‘If the Bucs do get clobbered, Team Glazer needs to decide if they want all their young prospects under a head coach that no longer seems equipped to lead their professional development.’
Team Glazer painted themselves into a corner & now have no viable options. There’s no one on this coaching staff who’d do better running this defense than Todd Bowles. There’s also no one on this coaching staff who’d do better running this offense than Zac Robinson. Sad state of affairs, huh.
There MIGHT be one saving grace tonight: Bucs have a lot of veterans who MIGHT have gotten totally fed up with the way they’re playing as a team. And IF that happens, Cowboys MIGHT just end up in a dogfight. And it could be a really ugly dogfight.
Cowboys weakness is their defense (ranked #28 after giving up 112 pts … 28 PPG average).
o Giants beat them 28-20 by running the ball 55% of the time (37 rushes for 165 yds … 4.5 YPC).
o Ravens beat them 34-31 by running the ball 65% of the time (38 rushes for 192 yds … 5.1 YPC).
o Texans lost to them 34-30 but only ran the ball 37% of the time (19 rushes for 62 yds … 3.3 YPC).
o Commanders lost to them 37-20 but still ran the ball 48% of the time (32 rushes for 182 yds … 5.7 YPC).
The 2 teams that beat the Cowboys ran the ball about 60% of the time, AND held Prescott to about 65% completions. The 2 teams that lost to them ran the ball less than 50% of the time AND let Dak throw for 70% completions in 1 case and over 80% completions in the other case.
I haven’t been super impressed with the Bucs’ RBs this season, but if our OLine is gonna come out of their funk, I’m thinking they’d do better focus on run-blocking as opposed to pass-blocking. And keep Jalon moving; he’s not a real good pocket passer. Go with a bunch of designed runs for him, as well as slants and a lot of short outside ‘dump off’ passes to our RBs & TEs if the Dallas defense overcommits on his rollouts.
We won’t beat them in a low scoring game like Bowles loves, but IF we can get our offense to come alive focusing on a run game (that eats the clock), we MIGHT be able to pull off something like the Ravens did in their 34-30 win AT DALLAS.
October 8th, 2026 at 2:29 pm
Capt Tim … ‘If you count on Rookies you don’t have a plan.’
I agree Tim. We’re starting THREE rookies on defense, plus Walker didn’t play last year as a rookie so he’s 4. And our rookies are making rookie mistakes. Of course, so are our veterans, but still, starting 4 rookies is almost unheard of. Especially in a defense as complex as this one is.
October 8th, 2026 at 2:32 pm
Is there a rule for forfeiting the rest of the season in favor of the 1st pick in the draft? I feel that it would be better instead of tanking 🙁 Sad that it has come to this.
On the other hand, i have a feeling that Tampa beats Dallas by 3 points . Fingers crossed.
October 8th, 2026 at 2:44 pm
Oooh and it’s prime time game as well. What team shows up tonight? How bad will it be? Will they show up this session? It’s a 3-28 Bucs life.
October 8th, 2026 at 2:49 pm
Short of Dak Prescott getting caught in the sack with the head referees wife I don’t give us much chance. Watching the game anyway I suppose.
October 8th, 2026 at 2:51 pm
Dallas 31 Bucs 20.
October 8th, 2026 at 3:04 pm
Defense Rules is right. Dallas defense is bad. If we can start fast (fingers crossed) and give our offense some confidence while humiliating their D, we could realistically pull off the upset. We just need to stop Bowles from giving away a lead.
October 8th, 2026 at 3:53 pm
Not only are these players being underdeveloped But you have to think you want to see what these coaches can do without this horrible head coach in the building as well. I want to see bowles Zac Robinson gone because all he had to do was follow Liam Coen blueprint since they run the same system