FOX Sports: Bucs “Need Some Help” To Make Playoffs
June 6th, 2026
“Just one playoff win?”
In the words of veteran NFL scribe Ralph Vacchiano, the NFC South collectively smells like a Porta-Potty outside after fans have gone home following a 1 p.m. September game.
In other words, the division stinks out loud and Vacchiano thinks the Bucs only need to find a way to be less rank than the others.
However, Vacchiano, typing for FOX Sports, thinks that’s the ceiling for Tampa Bay. Maybe the Bucs may squeak out a playoff win, tops. (This isn’t a surprise as Vacchiano recently ranked the Bucs as the No. 22 team in the league.)
The entire NFC South, along with the Cowboys, Vikings and Chargers, is Vacchiano’s “Tier 5” of playoff hopefuls.
Tier 5: Playoff contenders, but nothing more
Los Angeles Chargers (+1700)
Dallas Cowboys (+2500)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+5000)
Atlanta Falcons (+12000)
Carolina Panthers (+8000)
Minnesota Vikings (+5000)This group comprises the teams on the playoff bubble who’ll need some help along the way to get in. Also, if they do get in, don’t expect them to win more than one game, if that. These are not Super Bowl contenders. …
[T]he Buccaneers, the Falcons, and the Panthers, who won the worst division in football last season via a tie-breaker after all three of these teams finished 8-9. They all have more questions than answers at the moment. The Bucs can be prolific, but they lost their best receiver to free agency. The Falcons seem loaded at every offensive position except quarterback. And the Panthers probably have the most promise, but are still waiting for QB Bryce Young to play like the No. 1 pick he once was.
Joe sort of agrees with Vacchiano. Sort of.
The Bucs’ offense can be prolific, no doubt. Yes, it has question marks. How will Zac Robinson do running the offense? Which Baker Mayfield shows up, the MVP contender before last year’s bye, or the quarterback who looked washed after the bye?
And of course, how will the Bucs play without Mike Evans?
The Bucs have the pieces. On offense.
The defense is a major question mark. It’s cool to holler in June. But does that win games in September… or even December?
The Bucs have the same defensive coordinator and they’re banking on three rookies to help carry them. That’s not exactly reassuring to Joe.
And how many defenses get better the season immediately after they let their best corner walk?
June 6th, 2026 at 12:16 am
Really Joe no cares what this jackoff has say. Bet you could run a flash poll and 98% people never heard of this guy. Why do you hate this team Joe you write with such slant.
June 6th, 2026 at 12:43 am
We need a real HC and DC. Throw in a GM and we’re all set
June 6th, 2026 at 12:48 am
5-12 is coming!
June 6th, 2026 at 1:22 am
It’s a matter of trusting the GM more than the HC. Remember that Licht drafted Carlton Davis, SMB, Dean and the rest of the Undertakers. Then the spotlight turned on the OL, the WR corps, Edge and other places. But the last few years the team spent lots of draft capital on the secondary. If the talent is there then the Bucs have a shot.
June 6th, 2026 at 1:40 am
Respect to Chris Simms for watching every team’s games before evaluating their QB’s. Most of these clowns don’t watch most of the games, don’t know much about them, and then start running their mouths. No doubt the Bucs were a train wreck last season but the talent was there. Although so many were injured at various points, the season was snakebit before it even started. Having a good OC bail on you beforehand and then promoting a good guy who was nowhere ready was also a poor choice. But honestly, even if Liam stayed they were doomed anyway because of injuries. The most important question in my mind right now is Baker’s health. If he’s 100% to start the season the team will be drastically better. If they’re all 100% and stay that way, at least avoiding major injuries, the sky’s the limit. If Todd Bowles can get out of his own head a little and the new OC calls the right plays at the right time, the Bucs can beat anyone on a given day. Given night? Lol that’s a question mark. We Bucs fans know our team. We know the players strengths and weaknesses. We even know what plays to call the vast majority of the time. Why? Because this is what we do. Will every rookie pan out? I don’t know but they were all good and some dominant last season in college. Some of them, like the TE were flat out steals. It’s great to be the underdog and be doubted because you only go up. I believe the arrow is pointing straight up this season and I’ve already placed a nice wager on the Bucs winning the Super Bowl. You have to believe. This roster has few holes and is quite stacked. Baker is ready for a ring and this is the year he gets it. Don’t believe me? Just hide and watch. Go Bucs!!!
June 6th, 2026 at 2:36 am
it comes down to 3 things schedule wise:
come flying out the gate for the first 4 games…
finish strong – last 4 games…
and how can we avoid the classic “june swoon” type event that happens with bowles basically every year…
my bad on the baseball statement…june swoon…
but how will bowles and the gang hold up in the meat and potatoes of the season – weeks 5 thru 14, if i remember correctly…
play .500-ish ball during weeks 5-14…or close too it…
whoop azz to open, and close the season…
and the division is ours – and we can talk playoffs…
the bowlzinian mid season collapse must be avoided at all costs
June 6th, 2026 at 2:37 am
yes i think i came up with something new in the lab…
“the bowlzinian effect”
June 6th, 2026 at 2:44 am
i hate to correct…
but i gotta here…
we were not the undertakers…lol…that’s a wrastler…
we were the “gravediggers”
and that squad of defenders won us a superbowl in 2020…
so “gravediggers” live on in bucs lore……….forever!
June 6th, 2026 at 5:17 am
It’s all about being hot and healthy at playoff time. Rolling with ahead of steam on all phases to go on a 4-0 run against good teams. You don’t want to be scratching and clawing the last few games of regs withered and beat up. Need a good enough winning record to get in and hitting stride during the push even as a wildcard. You know what teams got it around week 14. Even some of the bubble teams hit stride around then. It’s a 4/5 team marathon of nutrition by that point.
June 6th, 2026 at 5:51 am
Bowles, as a HC, only plays not to lose, which equals mediocrity. Everyone should just admit it so we can all get along and enjoy our 5th pick in the first rd. next year.
June 6th, 2026 at 5:57 am
We didn’t lose our best receiver, we lost our most famous and expensive one
June 6th, 2026 at 6:23 am
If the Bucs win 5 games it will be worth celebrating. Bowles might go for oh.
June 6th, 2026 at 7:41 am
Bigmac. Paragraphs.
June 6th, 2026 at 7:44 am
Grave diggers was and still is a ridiculous name.
June 6th, 2026 at 8:36 am
Top of the turd pile. Nothing screams Todd Bowles more than that.
Against mediocre opposition inside the division he barely backs into division titles.
When the real games start, his record gets even worse somehow. 1-3 in the playoffs.
Until last year when he couldn’t even rally the team to 9 wins down the stretch.
It was easily his worst performance as the HC\DC of the Bucs. And he kept his job……..
June 6th, 2026 at 8:39 am
So many are questioning Baker Mayfield’s ability to play quarterback. He was a MVP player until the bye week and fell off the remainder of the season due to a lot of injuries on the defense and offensive line particularly. He played hurt, so now he is labeled 🏷 a meme player.
The stupidity (bias) of these dimwited analysts is at new highs. There’s no shortage of these idiots.
As long as key players remain relatively healthy this season and this offensive season acquisitions and draft picks play as well, than the Bucs have a team to win their division with a record of 10-7.
The Super may be a reach in 2026 but another draft year and key players added in the off season the Bucs could be a power house next year
June 6th, 2026 at 9:50 am
BigMacAttack,
Sometimes I Like to say D@@m the torpedoes, and that’s Exactly what you’re saying here. The thing about torpedoes is, they go “Boom”!
It’s actually a wonderful point of view. I miss it and wish I still truly felt like that.
@We DESERVE BETTER! @bringbackthesunshine
June 6th, 2026 at 10:08 am
I think fans have been saying this for three years. Why the Glazers don’t is beyond me. And why he gets credit for winning a division that is bad to keep his job is alarming. Is the the standard?