“Bad Wins, We’ll Still Take Them”
September 22nd, 2025
Antoine Winfield speaks.
Is there such a thing as an ugly win? Yeah, there is.
Stud Bucs safety Antoine Winfield knows all about it.
Without talking about the specifics, Winfield acknowledged on CBS Sports HQ last night that the Bucs haven’t been notching style points in their three victories. He credited Baker Mayfield for being a “gamer” since he arrived in Tampa — and especially in every game this season.
“Baker, I can’t say enough about him, man. Clutchest quarterback in the league,” Winfield said.
“Like once we know that he’s going in with two minutes left for anything, any situation, he’s been showing the past three weeks he’s been taking care of business. So I gotta get my hats off to him and the offensive for making those drives and winning these games. You know (laughs) bad wins, we’ll still take them. No matter how they come, we’ll take the win regardless.
Fans can nitpick “bad win,” as Winfield called them, all day long. It’s fine but it should come with the perpective that good teams find ways to win when they don’t play their best.
Heck, the Chiefs rode a stack of ugly victories to a 15-win season and a Super Bowl trip last year.
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:46 am
AWJ is a baller. Good to see him back!
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:48 am
The Chiefs were exactly who I thought of today. Please get healthy Bucs. Be ok Mike! Go Bucs!
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:04 am
I wouldn’t even call it a bad win. It was a bad quarter that was exacerbated by a freak play. The Bucs of old lose all these close games. It’s a great time to be a fan
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:05 am
UGH! That game had no business even being that close.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:08 am
Sapp Brooks Ronde & bunch of others were there. THEY SHOULD’VE GIVEN THEM THEIR JERSEYS & HAD THEM DRESS UP & PLAY.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:25 am
Thomas McGaughey, the Bucs special teams coach, should be on the hottest seat in the entire NFL. The Bucs kicking units are the worst in the league. From the complete meltdown of the kicking game last week in Houston, to McLaughlin’s kicking woes to the blocked FG attempt that nearly cost them the Jets game – the Bucs should be in 4-alarm fire mode.
It’s going to cost them games. How it hasn’t so far is due to the magic of Baker Mayfield. But if the Bucs keep forcing the issue by not fixing special teams it will cost them their season.
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:28 am
the game was kind of non competitive as the bucs were comfortably up 23-6…
then poof, i start to like zone out at home on the game, and i’m looking at texts and getting preoccupied with other things…
meanwhile the game is still on – and i figured we’d both add maybe a touchdown in the final quarter and the game would fin out like 30-13…
i predicted 27-13 anyway…
then as a i said…POOF…….all of a sudden it’s like we’re down 27-26…
i was like wtf………..it happened pretty fast…!
i started stressing and was shocked…
then the cameras cut to baker on the sidelines…
and his face had “we’ve got this” written all over it…
and i just knew baker would lead them down the field for the win………i wasn’t stressed, but maybe slightly worried…
then they did it…
the new cardiac kidds…?
maybe
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:40 am
Baker will do that until he doesn’t. Better learn to get and keep a lead.
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:45 am
Great win guys…and shout out to our patched frakenstein O line….we had a run game and some protection for Baker.
Philly will be tough, and with all our injuries, we dont need anyone else getting hurt. I dont want to, but going a little easy here will be fine with me. Its a long season and many more games to go.
September 22nd, 2025 at 3:22 am
Bucs need a alternate white helmet for their non throwback uniforms.
September 22nd, 2025 at 3:25 am
MVP
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:30 am
Three close wins is certainly better than what we endured during The Lost Decade. But that’s three last-play wins against crappy teams. We’ll hope the Bucs get healthier and better but they won’t do much post-season damage playing like this.
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:46 am
Reason the fans are nitpicking is we could easily be 0-3. We know if we had a defense that could choke out an opponent we’d be SB bound. Giving up 2 long 4th quarter TD drives at home to the Jets makes fans want to nitpick. This defense still has trouble covering the middle, still has trouble on 3rd down, still loses contain on QBs, still gives up long drives. Where’s that killer instint?
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:47 am
As a Buc fan since 1978, I assure you there are no bad WINS. ugly, beautiful, smooth or bumpy..a win is a win, and I’ll take it
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:48 am
I was much more animated watching (yelling at the TV) during the Falcons and Texans games. I guess this is who we are — kind ok like the 24 Chiefs. Maybe we can get to the SB.
So I enjoyed yesterday’s game more calmly. If it weren’t for another special teams foul-up, the win didn’t need to be so ugly.
Coach Bowles sure is running the clock down at game end to avoid any chance of a defensive collapse. I was hoping the Bucs would play more aggressive at the end of that final drive, but Chase came through.
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:54 am
First time in 20 years Bucs have started 3-0.
There are only 6 teams in the NFL that are perfect and we are one.
First time in history a team has come from behind in the last minute to win it 3x
ME13 gets 2 or 3 weeks off for yearly hammy tune up.
Egbuka is the best rookie WR in the league.
These are good things.
September 22nd, 2025 at 6:59 am
Hodad, my sentiments exactly. Although I’m not so sure that the play of those on the field deteriorates so much as the play calling gets much more conservative when we’re playing with a lead. Turtle mode! You can’t get eaten if you’re tucked inside your shell.
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:28 am
Hodad … ‘This defense still has trouble covering the middle, still has trouble on 3rd down, still loses contain on QBs, still gives up long drives. Where’s that killer instinct?’
Agree Hodad, and especially on the ‘losing contain of QBs’. That totally blows my mind. If our OLBs aren’t gonna put the QB on the ground, at least keep him from being a running threat.
Tyrod Taylor is mobile, but he hasn’t been a rushing threat since he was Buffalo’s starter almost 10 years ago. Yet yesterday he runs 8 times for 48 yards. Jets leading rusher by far, with 3 of his rushes going for 1st downs. Our contain on a number of those was simply non-existent. On the good news side though, we did sack him 4 times, and Tyrod ended up fumbling on 1 of those.
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:56 am
The combined record of the three teams we beat is 1-9, so let’s not get to crazy here! Still a great accomplishment for as banged up as this team is!
TB needs to give his defense permission to have a “killer instinct” and trash the prevent defense!
Let’s roll!
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:57 am
The combined record of the three teams we beat is 1-8, so let’s not get to crazy here! Still a great accomplishment for as banged up as this team is!
TB needs to give his defense permission to have a “killer instinct” and trash the prevent defense!
Let’s roll!
September 22nd, 2025 at 8:23 am
With all the injuries I wouldn’t call this a bad win. I’d say this was the first time we’ve seen this kind of mental toughness in a long time.
September 22nd, 2025 at 8:59 am
A ugly win feels better than a pretty loss…some of y’all wasn’t around or forget where we all was for many many years. The cellar, the pit, the Yucs, Yucaneers, we sucked. Stunk for 3/4’s of my life. A lot of pretty losses those years, very few ugly wins came our way. Joe’s 1000% right. The good teams will find away to win, even the ugly one’s
September 22nd, 2025 at 9:18 am
Once again the Buc defense fails miserably in the 4th quarter.
September 22nd, 2025 at 10:05 am
This definitely would’ve been a game in the “L” column in daze gone past. My heart sank on the blocked kick returned for a Jets TD. just to think the Bucs were up 23-6 now down 27-26 with 1:40(+ -)! The whole house was deflated less those donned in green & white who were doing their celebrations! I told my son from our view on top of the world (section 312 Row DD) there was still enough time on the clock! I have been there before but this year there was much more confidence backing that thought up! Man-O-Man the reception robbed from Egbuka made me cringe! But a great play from Shepard healed that wound fast. I literally held my breath until the ball went through the uprights to win it! yes we won a game by all right could’ve been easily lost! but not this team! Not this squad! Not this DAY!!! Also to come away with an NFL record for 3 4th quarter come from behind wins is just icing on the cake! GO Bucs!
September 22nd, 2025 at 10:53 am
“Could be 0-3” has as much validity as “Could be 3-0”.
You either win or lose
September 22nd, 2025 at 10:53 am
The offense with the Frankenstein line really overperformed, especially in crunch time.
As usual, the defense failed. Under Todd, there is no “choke them out at the end.” It’s the same formula as teams start games with. QB rollouts , passes to the backs, maybe a playground play or two to find a wide open guy in the middle somewhere. 8, 10, 12 yard chunk plays in hurry up mode and suddenly the lead is gone and the Bucs are behind.
Maybe against vintage Mahomes, or Josh Allen, you nod to the quality of your opponent. But Tyrod Taylor? Desmond Ritter? Cooper Rush? Penix, who just got benched because he in fact sucks? CJ Stroud, who suddenly can’t play except against us?
Enough. But by now we know, Todd’s not changing anything. He talks about things. “Drrr, err, umm, we took our foot off the gas.”
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:54 pm
Ugly win, huh? Well, mebbe if the refs had done their “jobs,” the scenery would have improved. For 46 years, I have been a steadfast fan. And no, I refused to do the bag over my head trip. I remember a pile of heartbreaking losses. An ugly win…okay, if you say so.