“Coaches Are Figuring Out The Players”
November 1st, 2026
After starting 0-4, the Buccaneers seemed to have righted their ship.
Todd Bowles weighed in on that after today’s win against Atlanta, a shutout that raised Bowles’ home record as head coach to 19-20.
Tampa Bay has ridden its veteran offensive line over the past eight days and two wins, with more than 550 yards rushing, a ridiculous total.
Asked about the turnaround of the line, Bowles credited coaches.
“I think we’re figuring it out, you know, the coaches are figuring out the players, what they can and can’t do, what runs they like and don’t like,” Bowles said at his postgame news conference. “And things like that; they’re really starting to gel.”
How good is this offensive line? That’s unclear because the Bucs have attempted about 1 pass per quarter over the past two games.
Can the pass blocking hold up for Baker Mayfield? It didn’t earlier this season.
Big test ahead in Chicago next Sunday. If the O-line delivers in all phases of its game, there really should be no limit to what the Bucs can accomplish down the stretch of this season, barring injuries.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:25 pm
Play action hopefully will be there for us against Chicago next week. And hopefully Egbuka will be back for that game.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:25 pm
Stop worrying and enjoy a franchise record rushing day. Zero passes is like pitching a no hitter
November 1st, 2026 at 4:27 pm
Chicago is #3 against the run; the falcons were #4. I don’t see the need in being over worried. We’re not showing up there in -2 degrees weather. We stand a very good chance against these guys.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:27 pm
Nice job by our DC today. HC did a good job too. OC did a good job. ST coach did a good job. Hmmmm….. doesn’t fit any narratives. What to do about that.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:28 pm
I’m perfectly fine with them running the ball down the Bears’ throat the entire game, too.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:28 pm
It truly was a matter of time for the O-line. They didn’t all of a sudden lose their talent. Adjusting to the scheme took time. Now, if Z-Rob can scheme up the pass game, we will be cooking with hot grease. The defense has played amazing. Todd Bowles has shown me something. Go Bucs!!!
November 1st, 2026 at 4:29 pm
Very happy to be wrong in my previous posts.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:31 pm
Good old fashioned football game. Mayfield throws 3 times and has 2 obvious drops including a TD. Defense looked good in a MUST game.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:33 pm
Baker set a lot of NFL records for a $50m QB today.
The internet is buzzing. This is fun.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:35 pm
whaaow…….
we are playing 1960-1970’s football…
and i love it…!!!
November 1st, 2026 at 4:35 pm
we may end up with Bowles for the foreseeable future, his defense is lights out
November 1st, 2026 at 4:36 pm
The Seahawks won the Super Bowl with a great defense and a great running game.
After this week?
We are going to be à top 5 defense in most categories.
A shutout will help our points per game ranking.
Which was skewed bc our offense gave up a lot of points: which wasn’t the defenses fault.
Anzalone has looked great.
Parrish is Ronde 2.0.
We have a legit 3rd safety backing up Tykee and Winfield.
We just need Morrison to reach his potential and become a solid 3rd CB.
You guys can criticize Bain all you want, but he doesn’t get pushed off the line
He is holding his ground against the run.
He has been solid taking on tackles.
This is the best defense I’ve seen in Tampa Bay since Brooks retired.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:38 pm
“We are going to be à top 5 defense in most categories.“
We were before the game started today.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:41 pm
What I am glad about this whole mess is that the bucs didn’t listen to lees infatuation about pennix that guy sucks.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:42 pm
i don’t think anyone wants to play the bucs right about now…
marching into soldier field next sunday night just might become interesting
November 1st, 2026 at 4:43 pm
Gerald McCoy said the coach’s weren’t using the players right I guess they’re listening now
November 1st, 2026 at 4:44 pm
Im a Bucs fan since 1986 living in Chicago my whole life. This is the biggest test. I dont see us winning but if we can keep it close. That is enough for me. Just win the divison games.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:46 pm
A few thoughts
We have a top 5 rushing offense
We have. atop 5 defense
No that hard to figure out how to use these players!
Baker will be fine we have no weapons at wr so play action will help him.
We win next week and Todd Bowles is officially off the hot seat. That is crazy!
However if his defense plays like this and we keep winning no chance he gets fired.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:48 pm
I live in Chicago and will be at the game next week. Lets be honest with ourselves, I dont see us winning against the Bears but keep it close is all I ask for.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:50 pm
Not looking past the next game. It’s one game at a time. Playoffs came early. Win or go home. Best part is Bucs are playing playoff football. Good/great run game and defense. Let’s go Bucs
November 1st, 2026 at 4:50 pm
I worried that we rushed Baker back too soon from the thumb, turns out you don’t need a throwing hand if you just hand the ball off 50 times a game.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:52 pm
Of Baker gets consistent protection, this team could be scary.
Still sticking with my original prediction: 10-7
November 1st, 2026 at 4:53 pm
We already were a top 5 defense. #3 in DVOA going into this game. Atlanta was totally over-matched. I was following the Atlanta NFL site all week. After beating the 49ers, a team ravaged by injuries, the fans and beat writers were urging the front office to sign Penix to a long-term contract. Man, that guy really throws some lollipops. Go ahead make fun of Baker, but remember the pass he threw to the rookie was a drop. It was perfectly thrown. It remains to be seen whether the passing game will improve, but nobody in the league wants to deal with the Tampa run-blocking over the past 4 weeks. If Bucky doesn’t fumble on the goal line, this would have been a 23-0 score.
November 1st, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Great job by Bowles today to have the team prepared by the first snap. He did and Stefanski clearly did not. Todd out did him today and it wasn’t even close.
I have no issues giving credit where credit is due.
Three questions for all the people that want to continue with the delusion:
1) Do you think the panthers took us seriously?
2) if the weather was ok and no tsunami do you think the result is the same?
3) do you think we have any chance to win against good teams when the qb can’t throw the ball?
Again, credit where it is due. But we will not run the ball like this forever.
November 1st, 2026 at 5:02 pm
Who wants the Buccaneers? Get some, baby!! GET SOME
November 1st, 2026 at 5:04 pm
So much BS with this team–group think. Go back to preseason and look at fan comments. Everybody thought the offensive line was going to stink and the defensive secondary was “garbage.” Now I’m not going to put much weight on beating Carolina and Atlanta, but close losses to the Packers, Steelers, and Bengals is nothing to ashamed of either. Bottom line: this team has enough talent to win 10 games, but an 0-5 start means you can only lose two games. Not likely given games at Detroit, at Chicago, and the Rams at home.
November 1st, 2026 at 5:04 pm
If only Todd wouldn’t have gone into a prevent defense in the 4th quarters of the Browns and Steelers games. We could’ve been 5-3 right now. Somehow we need to win one of the next two at Chicago and Detroit and beat Carolina and the Chargers to get to 6-6.
November 1st, 2026 at 5:06 pm
Baker got his revenge on Stefanski with his 0-3 performance today. LOL
November 1st, 2026 at 5:06 pm
@Obvious, are you a BUCS fan?
November 1st, 2026 at 5:38 pm
Even at 0-3 his QB rating was higher than Penix, heh
November 1st, 2026 at 6:42 pm
Who the hell is FrontFour?
Never seen you before. Bowles burner account.
November 1st, 2026 at 6:48 pm
Credit to the coaching staff for learning your players (all 11 starters returned on offense).
Only took all off season and 7 weeks. You see and talk to these guys every day. Congratulations. Very professional stuff.
Listen I don’t wanna be Debbie downer. Bucs are playing hard, the run game is working now which is what the coaches want and this team needs considering the OC, QB and what we have seen of pass protection this year.
They haven’t earned getting anyone’s hopes up. Tough games and the bye week coming. If this turns into a division win and retaining Bowles, we all lose.