Bucs Expected To Open Week 1 On The Road
May 2nd, 2026
Joe is smelling a fun Bucs-fan watch party on Sunday, Sept. 13, as Tampa Bay hits the road to open the 2026 season.
Bucs super fan “Skip” (@its_skip_b on X) tipped Joe off that Bruno Mars has stadium shows at The Licht House on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13. In addition to that, Joe’s research shows the Mars stadium setup takes multiple days, so it seems ridiculous and impossible that the Bucs would open this season at home.
The official schedule release is expected in about 10 days.
Joe loves the Bucs opening on the road. They seem to play better on the road with Todd Bowles, and Week 1 on the road builds more hype for the home-opener.
Tampa Bay’s away games this season are at Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Dallas, Cincinnati, Atlanta, New Orleans, Carolina. One of those games could be in Europe.
The Joe typing here would like to see the Bucs open at Detroit.
Lions QB Jared Goff eats a lot of sacks (the Bucs dropped him four times last year), and Joe wants to see the revamped Bucs pass rush gain confidence early in the season. A division matchup would be a nice second choice.
The other Joe wants the Bucs to face the Bears to start the season, to avoid any chance of a cold weather game in Chicago. Sage of Tampa Bay Sports Ira Kaufman wants the Bucs facing the Panthers in Week 1 — to “show Carolina who’s boss.”
May 2nd, 2026 at 2:47 pm
Yeah let’s hope for a road start against the Bears. Seriously?
Ben Johnson is a vastly superior coach to Toad Bowels. It’s not even close.
Just imagine how many yards and TDs Caleb Williams will have against the wide open Swiss cheese pass defense.
That will be the cherry on top of the start of the season.
All the Pom Pom waivers will find anyone except Todd to blame.
He’s a defensive mastermind and a complete Guru.
May 2nd, 2026 at 3:01 pm
Vastly superior huh?
This Pom Pom waiver has been a Super Bowl count at 0 as a coordinator
May 2nd, 2026 at 3:20 pm
We can’t predict the outcome of these games, based on the 2025 teams
May 2nd, 2026 at 3:20 pm
Def would rather play in Chicago Sept instead of December. Come on football gods!
May 2nd, 2026 at 3:33 pm
Lynchmob:
Why do you bother logging on to a Bucs site just to bitch and complain about EVERYTHING?
Sad person.
JL just had fantastic draft. Smile my man. Life is short
May 2nd, 2026 at 3:35 pm
The Bucs have to play the Bears on the road. So why not in September as opposed to December?
I swear people on here just bitch about everything.
May 2nd, 2026 at 3:57 pm
Yes they do and we play very strong in September- it’s before the typical injuries start setting in. Let’s have an atypical season with *NO* major injuries. I’d love to see how far we get in those circumstances!
May 2nd, 2026 at 4:15 pm
I just want a W regardless. A 0-2 start to this season will create a lot of fire people noise early. I don’t want to march for Arch 2027 just yet. With that said it’s going to take a strong playoff push to not want change up top. Kind of the same spot Bills were in last year. Close but not enough to get over the mountain. I would wait till the mid season slump with Mayfield’s contract talk. It’s happened every year but last year the team didn’t pull through at the end. There’s a reason why two HOF players are done. I hope it’s due to age and not because somebody knows something, but can’t say something. I got a new hat to throw around the living room just in case.