Same Ol’ Bucs
September 13th, 2026
“‘Bake,’ I can’t see where it says ‘fumble’ on this playsheet.”
KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles has kept his record against AFC North teams intact.
Entering today’s game in Cincinnati, Bowles had never beaten an AFC North team as Bucs head coach. That continued today in a 33-27 loss to the Bengals.
The AFC North generally plays throwback football: mean and physical. The NFC South landfill? Soft and cuddly.
But Bowles had plenty of help from his players. After a promising start where the Bucs got a field goal and the defense chased the Bengals off the field on back-to-back excellent plays by bored Zyon McCollum, this had the feel of a glorious Bucs day.
Instead, the floor collapsed on them.
Mayfield completely melted down. Three fumbles (he had a turrible pick erased on a defensive pass interference) and before you know it, a blowout was in the making.
Props to the Bucs for fighting back to make a game of it but the offense simply dug a hole too deep to climb out of.
Mayfield, too, had help. Bucky Irving fumbled. Cade Otton made three awful plays in a row — really Cade, a false start coming out of a timeout? False starts, delay of games, things that would get a high school offense in trouble with the coach.
Suddenly, the stench at Mike Brown Stadium smelled a whole lot like The Licht House last season.
Even Tristan Wirfs had a bad play. Myles Murphy, who ran around him, eventually hit Baker Mayfield, forcing the fumble that was returned for a defensive touchdown.
Joe had a former Tampa Tribune editor Twitter Joe typing how the Bucs weren’t getting a pass rush in the first half. Joe replied, “Color Joe shocked!”
It wasn’t just the offense that played awful. On Chase Brown’s touchdown run, you and Joe could have driven a Ford Escape from Bill Currie Ford through the hole.
To come out and make so, so many mistakes in the first game of the season was truly depressing for Joe. Yeah, the Bucs scraped together a nice comeback, highlighted by Josiah Trotter’s pick-six, but too much damage had been done.
The Bucs never quite were able to dig out of the hole they dug for themselves in the first half.
Lot of stuff needs to be cleaned up before the Browns game next Sunday. And this just in: The Browns play in the AFC North.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:16 pm
When Baker is healthy things will be different.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:19 pm
Baker is getting paid like a Franchise QB
The Glazer’s did their job
Now Baker has to earn his money
And today he sucked, but there’s 16 games left
He can’t have another game like this one
September 13th, 2026 at 5:22 pm
This game came down to Baker holding onto the ball too long. His timing was off in the pre-snap, and the line was off as a result. I think we only hit two rhythm passes all day (one to Godwin. One to Hurts). Graham Barton played like shid, and Otton had a huge drop. On defense, I actually was impressed with Morrison and the safeties were rock solid. The only thing missing was interior push. Did our $25m holdout even get off the plane? Cancey and Robinson had an equally underwhelming impact. Deserve to be 0-1 but still tied for first in the South lol
September 13th, 2026 at 5:22 pm
I beg to differ Lakeland. Baker needs to prove nothing. He’s already gotten paid. The time to prove himself is long over. He is not a franchise QB. Period.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:23 pm
Wow….
No Kenton Smith yet
Baker blew it hands down and Zac is overrated
GO BUCS
September 13th, 2026 at 5:24 pm
#34 was trash today….
GO BUCS
September 13th, 2026 at 5:24 pm
I’m so happy we gave Vita Vea a new contract with a raise to not record a single stat.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:25 pm
Munch,
There is online bidding for one of Tom Brady’s autographed jocks. Thinking about you and Christmas gifts.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:26 pm
More worried about Baker than vita….baker was terrible
GO BUCS
September 13th, 2026 at 5:26 pm
How is Analzone not mentioned?
He had a historically bad day.
A Chris Conte / Ryan Smith type of bad day.
He was terrible, and if Baker didn’t singlehandedly lose this game, all the talk would be about how awful he was. He deserves a week of articles solely on his terrible performance. He was WAY worse today than anything we saw from the LB’s last year, or the year before that, or literally any year I can think of.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:26 pm
One more stone on the mountain of reasons IBS NEEDS to be FIRED sooner rather than later!…
September 13th, 2026 at 5:26 pm
Trade him
September 13th, 2026 at 5:26 pm
Over reaction Sunday.
1) do you not realize Zac is not Coen? Has that not set in yet?
2) Hero ball is never the answer. There is no one on this staff that can get thru this dude
3) the next 4 Sundays will produce a 2-2 result. Not good. The schedule will burry Todd. Thank the heavens
September 13th, 2026 at 5:26 pm
Agreed, Baker cannot have another game like that, and right after getting paid… he was embarrassing to watch, but it was one, and I didn’t expect them to win this one.
They better be buried in game film this week.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
Rod Munch Says:
September 13th, 2026 at 5:16 pm
When Baker is healthy things will be different.
lol some things never change
September 13th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
Cade sucks 3 years 30 million for him is disgraceful. Alex anzalone listen to me @joe will be a BUM all year. Mark it down he’s absolutely washed. He’s worse than lavontes version last year. There’s a reason why Detroit didn’t want him back. From the looks of it gonna be a long year David walker,Rubin bane bueller? Where are you?
September 13th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
I wont blame Bowles but this looked like the same defense we’ve seen for 4 years. No pass rush, too many easy runs given up, its the same as its always been.
Nothing has changed.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
Great job Jason Licht. We way overpaid for a QB that was already under contract for the year, and who is prone to long stretches of complete garbage play, also way overpaid for a subpar Tight End, and then way overpaid for an overhyped DT whose main purpose is to clog running lanes.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
Bright spot Hurst. Keep him playing. Get rid of Anzalone and Buster Bain along with Otten.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:28 pm
Get paid as 3rd highest qb in the league and he jameis winston’d the game. Can’t happen
Our 30 million dollar nose tackle is too out of shape to play. How many big runs up the middle did cincy have? How many plays in goal line defense was on the field and vea wasn’t even in the game? 30 mill for a guy who can’t get in the game is a joke
Ruben Bain looked small out there. He also looked like a liability in the run game and ineffective as a pass rusher. He’s a rookie so he gets time but first look test didn’t pass.
Anezolone misses a lot of tackles and can’t seem to stay on his feet.
Wirfs did not play to his standard period.
1 loss down 10 more to go. Bowles just as bad as DC and HC there is in the league. A team that couldn’t buy a win last season continues the same trend. Should have fired him but instead we are forced to suffer through this for another year.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:28 pm
Yep Looked just like 2-7
September 13th, 2026 at 5:28 pm
Place wreeks of toxicity……nothing has changed
September 13th, 2026 at 5:28 pm
Like I said, all the hype articles, videos and interviews don’t mean a damn thing until the ball is snapped. The ball was snapped and this team picked up right where it left off from last season. Absolute definition of insanity!
September 13th, 2026 at 5:29 pm
Gipper Says:
September 13th, 2026 at 5:25 pm
Munch,
There is online bidding for one of Tom Brady’s autographed jocks. Thinking about you and Christmas gifts.
————–
I know you’re a clueless Baker Boi, but you shouldn’t want to remind anyone of Brady today, kiddo.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:30 pm
This loss is on Baker.
He better step up and own it.
But he had help. Otton is a clown. Wirfs looked lazy. Bain was MIA. Morrison was a great surprise. Egbuka and Godwin looked good.
Bucky looked awful.
Yaya had a big tackle. But no pass rush. Vea looked like he did at camp: not playing.
Robinson better get the damn plays called sooner.
Every mistake is fixable.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:30 pm
What a testament to these players and this coaching staff to be so unprepared for their first game. All off-season in preparation for this game. The offensive line was a sieve, the defensive line applied no pressure, the tackling was poor (Did Anzaleone get any solo tackles?), if it wasn’t for the pick six and several plays that Benjamin made as DB I would have nothing positive to write about the Bucs defense today. Baker was and is Baker. Tried too hard to make something out of nothing and get’s pummeled enough times to fumble three times. An indicative two play sequence in the first half was when Otton missed an easy catch and the next play Bucky fumbled. Tells you everything about these Bucs one needs to know.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:30 pm
Anzalone fell down a lot for no reason when he was trying to tackle
September 13th, 2026 at 5:30 pm
Oddly enough our corners did a good job. Even the depth. The front 7 so far look over hyped.
Ok yeah bright side. Our punting didn’t look awful right?…
The worst part was the tow but contracts we handed out were disappointing. They ran at vote a few times with success and he was quiet.
The young guys all looked mostly good except need to see more form Bain.
Anzalone looked like a jag
September 13th, 2026 at 5:31 pm
Baker is the 2-7 guy still and Anzalone is awful
September 13th, 2026 at 5:31 pm
Itzok Says:
September 13th, 2026 at 5:28 pm
Get paid as 3rd highest qb in the league and he jameis winston’d the game. Can’t happen
———–
The one and only time Winston lost 3 fumbles in a game, he also threw for 375 yards and had like a 144 passer rating.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:31 pm
It’s not the same old Bucs until we hear …
“No excuses.”
“Have to watch the tape. It’s never as bad as it looks.”
“Coaches gotta coach it better. Players got to play it better.”
September 13th, 2026 at 5:31 pm
Well, Baker Cade and Vita had something in common, they got generously paid, and also the three of them played like s@it……
I never wanna hear again that Baker has been disrespected, or Vita said he wanted a trade, or the fat a@@ Suh, moanning about someone else’s contract.
Theirs game is starting to get a little bit predictable and boring
September 13th, 2026 at 5:32 pm
Bowles sucks. What more needs to be said?
September 13th, 2026 at 5:32 pm
im more concerned with godwin than baker hurst may need to take over godwins spot. there is a reason baker was holding on to ball too long
September 13th, 2026 at 5:32 pm
I was in the Bucs for 8 wins this year, now I change that to 5 wins. O-line was not even average–that is bad–they have regressed. Ted Hurst came alive for 3 catches, not sure why he was featured much more after those 3 catches in a row. Mostly Panthers and Saints are markedly better teams–they count as 4 losses.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:32 pm
Josiah Trotter was a steal at least lol
September 13th, 2026 at 5:32 pm
The stench of Coach Bowles.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:32 pm
If we are going to call out Baker then don’t forget Vita and his 1 tackle game. Regardless, it’s not a surprise. Typical Toilet Bowl defense and result.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:32 pm
My biggest positive takeaways are Trotter and Morrison. Baker was simply AWFUL. He’s a pretty average QB who is making an obscene amount of money.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:33 pm
Ted Hurst needed to be featured more
September 13th, 2026 at 5:34 pm
Bowels is 36-37 as a Buc.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:35 pm
Ive been asking for YEARS what is it about the decision making of Baker and Bowles that makes you believe they can win a chip? And all I get is crickets or I get called a hater and being too negative. You can’t keep using the same losing strategy and expect to win.
The owners saw what happened the last 9 games of last season and paid for more of it. Oh well, its a Bucs life!
September 13th, 2026 at 5:36 pm
Will there ever be any accountability at One Buc Place? Ever?
September 13th, 2026 at 5:36 pm
Bowels and Analzone.
We need a colonoscopy to clear all the crap out of Tampa Bay.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:37 pm
Why is he still a HC…. mediocre at best…gave a winnable game away… nothing has changed…
September 13th, 2026 at 5:39 pm
As bad as they played I can’t believe we still scored 27 points.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:39 pm
I agree with Rod Munch 100% Anzalone sucks worst than Dennis
September 13th, 2026 at 5:40 pm
Man, My wife looked at me the beginning of the 4th qtr and said, Hon, lets go to the movies. SOB’s (Same Ole Bucs). She was right and off to the movies we went and are.All the hype. New Sack Jaguanauts, the 50 mil a yr kid, New OC. !st game though. But somebody might be walking the plank handcuffed and blindfolded if this continues. I won’t mention his name. Everybody knows TB.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:44 pm
Unfortunately all of our highest paid players were kinda let downs this game, especially the ones who just got contracts. The young guys looked pretty good except need to see more from Bain. Anzalone looked meh. I thought McCollum didn’t look to bored.. he did have chase lol. Secondary in general did good other than maybe Winfield. Front 7na let down.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:45 pm
TED Hurst made 3 catches in a row an one incredible contested catch i think he is the future he’ll be starting before year out
September 13th, 2026 at 5:45 pm
Gruden gruden gruden, chants ala rocky lore how long glazers gonna put up with this coach
September 13th, 2026 at 5:46 pm
It’s clear as day. This team is poorly coached in all phases and has been since Bruce moved on. Watching the other teams play today it’s evident. Not coached well not prepped well. Players that come here are coming to get paid and enjoy the sun and tax free. Glazers are making money while us fools are fooled. What a joke moving on until there is change. FIRE BOWLES NOW
September 13th, 2026 at 5:46 pm
Anzalone was terrible
September 13th, 2026 at 5:47 pm
Hey guys, had a dive trip weekend and then had to mow the lawn when I came back today. What did I miss?
But seriously, I wish I had been able to get into the game day thread because I wanted to see who would join me in a pledge to not overreact to a Week 1 game, win or lose.
It will take a while for things to work themselves out to understand exactly what we saw out there today. Is the offense just getting accustomed to a new OC and will be hitting their stride in a few games or will they be disjointed all year? Does the OL have protection issues or did the Bengals create a league leading pass rush in one offseason? Just a bad day to have a bad day at the office for the pass rush, or is it going to be crap all year?
Anyway, Week 1 is a liar. However, I don’t think it’s an overreaction to say how the team bounces back next week is pretty important.
September 13th, 2026 at 5:49 pm
Relax – the Bucs are tied for 1st place!
September 13th, 2026 at 5:52 pm
That was such a huge disappointment. All that pre season hype and everyone looked bad except Hurtz. Looks like not much has changed. Gonna be a long 3 months
September 13th, 2026 at 5:53 pm
Baker’s hurt?
September 13th, 2026 at 5:53 pm
This goes out to all the JOES, and this is coming from a long time reader: DO YOU SERIOUSLY EVER EDIT A POST BEFORE IT’S PUBLISHED? You come off as complete idiots too often. Much like Bowles does. (
September 13th, 2026 at 6:05 pm
That new d-line coach sure is looking like a promising hire!
September 13th, 2026 at 6:05 pm
#%€**!*”&¥##!
September 13th, 2026 at 6:09 pm
Baker is fun to watch…for both his good and bad plays. The Bucs handcuffed themselves to him for the next 4 years at a high price. The team might be able to squeak out 6 wins…but that’s about it I’m afraid. Keeping Bowles has proven to be the ultimate hangover.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:19 pm
Actually, the Bucs played hard today. Losing to a good team on the road by a touchdown is not a reason to hang your head. Once Baker is healthy, we’ll win these games.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:19 pm
Rod Munch is euphoric!! He told us this would happen but we didn’t believe him. Bad day all around. The Bengals ARE one of the teams considered to have a chance to go to the Super Bowl. At least the Bucs are still tied for 1st in their Division. Saints and Carolina looked better than last year. 8-wins won’t win the South this year.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:21 pm
TODD BOWLES LOST THE GAME FOR EVERYONE. BOOTH LINES OPERATED POORLY. WHEN THAT HAPPENS COACH GETS FIRED, NOT THE BUCS. FAT BOWLES WAS EATING KIT KATS ON THE SIDE LINES. A USELESS PILE OF FLESH. WHY IS HE NOT FIRED AND GONE ……….. NO THEY BROUGHT ON HIS SON TO COACH WITH HIM THIS SUMMER, PURE GARBAGE.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:24 pm
well, the reason it looked so terrible is b/c the DB was haging on EE for about 6 seconds straight before pulling him out of his route, hence the penalty on said pick…
Let’s put the blame on Baker where it belongs: 3 fumbles, 2 of which were definitely on him.
All that cash must’ve clogged up his ears cuz he never heard a defender closing in.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:32 pm
I wonder if Licht is being stubborn about Graham Barton, his first round draft pick. Things looked so much smoother those first few games with Ben Bredeson at Center.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:43 pm
Baker will have a lot of games like he had today .. our O line is terrible we are a team that has no time to find a deep recievers only dump passes….It looked like Baker had the 85 bears pass rush after him…his body won’t last the whole season with that O line.
September 13th, 2026 at 6:49 pm
The pick was not a bad throw as EE got seriously held and would have been in position it appeared. The 3 fumbles were 100% on baker.
I thought the play calling was ok. I didn’t have an issue there as it appeared fairly creative for a first game – but the offensive play clock management was piss poor.
Trotter, Zyon, and Morrison looked good – and that’s it. Who would have thought that?
It’s one game. We better step it up in the trenches or we are toast. Tired of saying that. The bright side, if we don’t step it up, Bowles is gone. Wish we hadn’t signed Baker just yet.
September 13th, 2026 at 7:22 pm
The regular season has begun and “The Thrill Is Gone.”
September 13th, 2026 at 9:22 pm
unbelievable Says:
September 13th, 2026 at 6:24 pm
he had a turrible pick erased on a defensive pass interference
well, the reason it looked so terrible is b/c the DB was haging on EE for about 6 seconds straight before pulling him out of his route, hence the penalty on said pick…
———
Yeah, I’d agree – that was legit PI.
September 13th, 2026 at 9:28 pm
The Bucs’ starters played like they hadn’t played more than 1 quarter of preseason games, and then had 3 weeks off. Bowles did a lousy job getting them ready for the season opener.
September 13th, 2026 at 10:03 pm
We all know what baker is just a guy all that talk what happened with all the hype all that tough talk from everyone and didn’t back it up its what stupid teams do pay a perennial loser and expect to win