Trust Issues
July 9th, 2026
Waning trust?
In a roundabout way, there are trust issues with the national media and the way it perceives the Bucs.
That’s the word from Frank Schwab of Yahoo! He (and others?) seems to have a hard time trusting Bucs coach Todd Bowles to get the most out of his team.
Schwab explained his offseason power rankings — he has the Bucs at No. 22. With the talent on board, the Bucs ought to dominate the NFC South landfill. That hasn’t been the case for a few years.
The Bucs often seem to get in their own way and as a result, Schwab believes, the Bucs are not maxing out their talent.
If we could trust the Buccaneers to play to their talent level, they would rank higher on this list. They play in the NFC South, which in 2025 became one of five divisions in NFL history to send a losing team to the playoffs. They have the type of team that should win the division by multiple games, and be a potential problem in the playoffs.
Joe cannot disagree. While the unprecedented injuries on offense last year were a major factor, it is fair to suggest that after the bye, Baker Mayfield wasn’t put into position to best succeed?
If Mayfield was too injured to be effective — and that’s not a stretch given how so many people after the season claimed Mayfield was beat to hell — then why was he on the field?
And as Joe has asked repeatedly, if the Bucs didn’t trust Teddy Bridgewater, then why the hell was he on the roster?
As for the not-so-special teams, why did Bowles not make a coaching move there until after the season? Rams coach Sean McVay launched his special teams coordinator the week of Christmas.
The Bucs defense in recent years has been at best mediocre. That just should not be with a defensive-minded head coach. Why is that allowed to happen?
(Joe remembers a time when Team Glazer, fed up with an inept offense, forced Father Dungy to upgrade the offensive coordinator position. Why is that same standard not applied to this version of the Bucs defense?)
The easiest way for Bowles to quiet his detractors and build public trust? Have a respected defense first. Second, win ballgames.
July 9th, 2026 at 4:22 am
Yeah… got nothin’. It’s not just a 2026 thing, but certain there will be more excuses at the end of the season as usual.
July 9th, 2026 at 4:50 am
With the number of Bucs starters missing numerous games with several missing extended time and Baker listed with various injuries during the 2-7 dive into the toilet, why did the league not investigate?
July 9th, 2026 at 5:50 am
Remember Devin White? Why was that compulsive loafer on the roster?
Remember Jaelon Darden? The guy who was afraid to return punts? Why was he on the roster?
Remember Kyle Trask? Why was his rag arm on the roster?
Joe, you make it sound like it was just last year with Bridgewater, but it’s been going on for several years.
July 9th, 2026 at 6:21 am
Joe … ‘If Mayfield was too injured to be effective — and that’s not a stretch given how so many people after the season claim Mayfield was beat to hell — then why was he put on the field?’
THAT’S the question for 2025 Joe, but Mayfield wasn’t PUT on the field, he was ALLOWED to go on the field. Baker would play with 2 broken legs IMO, UNLESS his OC or HC says ‘Nope, not today Baker’ and plugs in a backup QB. He’d pout hobbling around near the bench on crutches, just because THAT’S BAKER, but it’d be the best thing for Baker AND the Bucs.
I’m of the opinion that neither Todd nor Grizz trusted Teddy to be able to lead us to victory. They obviously didn’t trust Kyle because he didn’t even make the team (still amazes me that Teddy got McMillan blasted in that preseason game & yet we kept him as our backup QB).
THAT’S on Todd Bowles IMO for not grounding Baker when he was obviously injured, but it’s more-so on Jason Licht IMO for not providing his HC with a quality backup QB. They’re relatively inexpensive & he had plenty of time prior to Game 1 to find one. A LOT of our backup ‘talent’ was marginal last year, and it bit us in the butt. Jason needs to be held accountable as General Manager for his role in our poor 2025 season. HE provides the talent, good or bad.
July 9th, 2026 at 6:45 am
“THAT’S on Todd Bowles IMO for not grounding Baker when he was obviously injured, but it’s more-so on Jason Licht IMO for not providing his HC with a quality backup QB.”
Excellent points and I’ll a few logs to the GM fire. In addition to adding the players before the season starts, how about some in season adjustments before the trade deadline. Also, imo, the GM needs to hold the HC accountable for protecting his/team investments, especially a “franchise” QB. Jason should have made Todd sit Baker and save him for a playoff run. And finally, a football savvy GM should have seen the limitations of Todd the HC and dissuaded the Glazers from giving Todd a long contract extension. Th8s team does n9t lack talent, it lacks true leadership in foresight (see above), motivation (note 2025 team quit) , and intelligence (Jason is a chaser, not a leader).
July 9th, 2026 at 6:46 am
Putting Baker on the field to play like Baker when Baker is best at 50 per cent of his ability falls directly on Coach Bowles! To me, this just solidfies Coach Bowles lack of discipline and structure! Discipline and structure, the two attributes of highly successful NFL coaches and GMs! It appears the Bucs have neither of those folks leading the team.
July 9th, 2026 at 6:56 am
@ Defense, Very true I believe Jason had to fall on his sword to save Bowles for another year. The defense also had marginal starters at OLB and ILB and unfortunate ability of LVD to play at the expected level. Jason also left the special
teams in sad shape. Here again there has to be an effort to upgrade this unit.
July 9th, 2026 at 7:01 am
Here is the thing Bowels holds this team back. If our HC was Payton, Adrians or even Cohen, you could add 2 games to our win total.
July 9th, 2026 at 7:07 am
The team got healthier down the stretch, so its not injuries. Besides, the team was healthy in 2024 for the playoffs with a better OC, how much did being healthy help then? The HC isnt good and this roster isn’t that great. No excuses for the “leadership” and players on this team, they all choked. No one in the organization could stop the tailspin and the plan for this season is to do the same thing as last season.
Not a great plan.
July 9th, 2026 at 7:26 am
DR. I’m gonna have to call you on Baker costing our team in the win/loss column due to injury. Seriously, narratives get started that defy reality. I’ve watched game film this last week. Lots. Baker had a bad Rams game. So did the team. You have mentioned the 2 interceptions against the Rams- one was a Hail Mary and the other was a Otten Strip- come on DR. Give us some more! Your advanced analytics are appreciated, but try to watch some film and tell us what plays that Baker boned up due to injury.
July 9th, 2026 at 8:06 am
KS says: Give us some more!
GO WATCH THE MIAMI GAME FILM and get back to @DR lol….
imo, that was his worst game of the year…a game in which we needed in order to make the playoffs….fumbled twice, lost 1 and had ANOTHER 4th quarter INT with the game on the line….
GO BUCS!!!!
July 9th, 2026 at 8:12 am
Kevin Smith, the last time that Baker played for a HC that had any structure or discipline toward his team was Stoops at OU but everyone is hung up on the physical aspects of Baker’s injuries and in doing so fail to add the mental aspect to the equation. Difficult to navigate through both and the only cure is rest! My opinion, if Naker is not seeing a contract extension, trade him now and move on! It will be best for Baker and the Nucs.
July 9th, 2026 at 8:28 am
Kenton … ‘Baker had a bad Rams game. So did the team. You have mentioned the 2 interceptions against the Rams- one was a Hail Mary and the other was a Otten Strip- come on DR. Give us some more!’
Hey, if you insist on ‘more’, try this …
o Baker was 9-of-19 for 41 yds, with 1 TD & 2 INTs (of course neither of those INTs were his fault; ya, let’s go with that). We scored a total of SEVEN POINTS in that game. He was replaced by Teddy to start the 2nd half (gee, I wonder why; could it be because we were already trailing 31-7 at the end of the half?).
o Or how about the Saints game 2 games later. Baker was 14-of-30 for 122 yds, with 1 TD & 1 INT. We provided him with a decent running attack (39 rushes for 179 yds, with 1 TD), but that wasn’t enough to keep us from losing 24-20. Did I mention yet that the Bucs were 3-of-13 on 3rd down conversions and only 2-of-7 converting 4th downs? We had FIVE drives that game that ended on DOWNS. But hey, THAT had nothing to do with Baker I’m sure. And just as an aside, each team had 1 turnover; Bucs scored a FG after our defense intercepted; but Saints got a TD after their INT of Baker (4 pts was the game difference).
Is that enough Kenton, or do we have go game-by-game for the rest of the season? I’ll give that he was hurt, and shouldn’t have been out there. A ‘better Baker’ would’ve won at least half those close games. My point was that we NEEDED a better backup QB & that Jason is the one who stocks the cupboard. If you want to defed Baker’s poor play in some games, be my guest. IMO his poor play shouldn’t have been a factor since he shouldn’t have been out there & we should’ve had a better backup QB.
July 9th, 2026 at 8:35 am
If you expect the person causing the annual long sustained losing streak to fix the defense and win more games, you are in for a ton of disappointment.
That genie cannot be put back in the lamp. No point in wishing it would happen.
Bowles has one year with double digit wins in 2024. That was only because Coen was able to get the best out of Baker. It covered the stench of Bowles defense until the playoffs started.
A new HC and a new DC is the only answer. Until then we’re stuck in reverse.
July 9th, 2026 at 8:40 am
Joe doesn’t think the Bucs win the Super Bowl without Devin White.
What happened to him afterwards is a major mystery.
July 9th, 2026 at 9:26 am
DR. The 2 previous games to the Rams our defense was historically bad. Not bad Bucs historically. NFL bad historically. I just rewatched the Saints game. We kicked off. They returned it to our 43. Their rookie threw and ran it down our throats in 2 minutes. 7-0 Saints. Mayfield and our offense took 4 minutes, TD pass, 7-7. Still 1st quarter, our ball, 4th and 1. In Saints territory. We inexplicably pitch right to Bucky, and after blocking breakdowns lose 3 yards. I’m not going further. Baker was plenty healthy enough to win. We fired our Defense, we fired our special teams coach, and we fired our offensive coordinator. Haven’t fired Baker yet. I suggest you watch some film DR- may jog that memory.
July 9th, 2026 at 9:45 am
Rasul Douglas to Washington. Don’t get up from your nap JL.
July 9th, 2026 at 9:54 am
Baker Mayfield did things the first 4 games of the season that NO OTHER QB in the history of this league has done DR. Final drive victories. So when the Munchestoomuches of the world claim that Baker singlehandedly blew 4 games- in reality he didn’t win those games by putting together last minute drives to win them. Because the defense, the special teams, and yes, the offensive game plans doomed the season. We weren’t nearly deserving of a playoff spot- we’d have gotten our a$$es handed to us. Baker was plenty healthy enough to have played every game last year. He isn’t Superman. But he’s a QB savant. I may tick people off defending Baker, but I could give a rats a$$ about. I’m a fan of good football players and I know a good QB when I see one.