Special Defense Wasted
September 28th, 2026
“This Bucs offense looks like mine did.”
So the Bucs allowed only 9 first downs to the Vikings yesterday.
Since the start of the 2009 season, that was only the second time a Bucs defense held a team to under 10 first downs in a game.
The only other time was in 2022, when the Bucs locked down the Ramsnd also held them to 9 first downs; Los Angeles punted 9 times. Yesterday, the Vikings lined up for 8 punts.
The Bucs beat the Rams on that day. Yesterday, they lost.
Minnesota scored a touchdown on a punt return, which largely was the difference on a day for defense for both teams.
Vita Vea batted down a couple of throws, one that led to A’Shawn Robinson’s interception. And the Bucs mustered a pass rush and had a play for Vikings QB Kyler Murray’s legs. He barely was able to run, totaling just 17 yards.
That 51.7 percent completion rate for Murray? It was the lowest single-game rate of his 89-game career.
And it all got wasted thanks to poor special teams play and a Bucs offense that looked like it did in 2014. How fitting it was to see 2014 Bucs starting quarterback Josh McCown on the field yesterday as Vikings QB coach.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:24 am
Bucs make playoffs if they sweep the division. Otherwise Nope.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:25 am
They actually showed a pulse. Then again Kyler Murray is awful. If Minnesota only had a QB.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:26 am
No comment
September 28th, 2026 at 9:26 am
Good news for the Bucs defense. The packers offensive line is playing about as bad as the Bucs offensive line right now. So whoever scores on defense might win the game.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:28 am
Go for O.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:31 am
The Bucs under Todd Bowles find new and creative ways to lose. Itâs quite impressive.
3-11 in our last 14 games. Thatâs not an accident. It takes certain skills to have that level of failure.
Incompetence and stupidity on tap at OBP. HC\DC, GM, OC, QB1, and the Glazer kids.
But my bets are paying off big time. Thanks to the Yucs.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:31 am
The defense has done THEIR PART. Theyâve been good enough to WIN đŻ. Just exactly as Iâve been saying now, FOR MONTHS. Itâs the OFFENSE, you better be worried about. You people have THE WORST âinstinctsâ about football, that Iâve EVER SEEN BEFORE. Just blind as BATS.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:32 am
Were they really THAT good?
September 28th, 2026 at 9:34 am
Oh Joey…”it all got wasted because of poor special teams play”.
Umm, actually what Joe wrote was “it all got wasted thanks to poor special teams play and a Bucs offense that looked like it did in 2014.” –Joe
Seriously!?
So you give up a punt return in the first quarter and the defense plays great..and it’s game over???
Your too 5 QB can’t overcome a 10 point lead despite the defense continuing to hand him the ball all game???
Must’ve been one of the Joeys who advocated for handing Baker the bag before the season.
Brilliant
September 28th, 2026 at 9:36 am
“Warren Brooks Lynch Says:
September 22nd, 2026 at 3:05 pm
Being an idiot, is accepting acts of football sacrilege because you like a guy thatâs basically the 2nd coming of Josh McCown in a Bucs uniform”
HAHAHA Joe no way this is a coincidence, but it’s looking real 2014ish with this offense ain’t it? And he had rookie Mike Evans AND Vincent Jackson(rip)
Anywho, our defense allowed something like 78 yards, and 6 points on 22 plays in the 2nd half allowing ONLY 2 first downs.
Said in the live-game thread, I don’t want to hear nothing about our defense yesterday they kept getting the ball back to our offense who’d turn around and did jacks**t with the opportunites. Plenty of chances, none of them taken and cashed in for points.
We are now averaging, as an offense 18 ppg and NO NFL team is winning generating that little points. Would be great if this were baseball or hockey though.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:37 am
Kyler Murry totally sucks, they’d love to have Baker rather than him……losing JJ gave the Bucs a chance….otherwise, it wouldn’t have been as close…..Carson Wentz is a better option for the Vikings, they’ll figure it out.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:37 am
“BucsFan81 Says:
September 28th, 2026 at 9:26 am
Good news for the Bucs defense. The packers offensive line is playing about as bad as the Bucs offensive line right now. So whoever scores on defense might win the game.”
Until proven otherwise, first team to 20 wins as long as this team is involved.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:38 am
Baker’s the $55 million dollar man! They can rebuild him. They have the technology… Better, stronger, faster.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:39 am
Honestly, was probably the worst Bucs game Iâve seen in a while.
Has been mentioned the Vikings won without Justin Jefferson.
Baker Mayfield makes the same salary as Josh Allen. Perspective for all.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:45 am
Baker is the worst QB in the league right now….Zac is the worst OC in the league right now….this team is a mess!!!!
Walker and AQM need to start…i’d also replace Winfield with Scott and have Parrish return to the slot….
GO BUCS!!!!!
September 28th, 2026 at 9:46 am
It was Murray. Not the Defense.
Love will carve them up.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:48 am
If the OL gave Baker any protection, they wouldn’t need to rebuild him.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:49 am
Iâm with ModHairKenâŚMurray sucks. And they could have passed more on us, even with that. Zyon was acting like he did something on a few plays were he was beat and they were just bad passes. It was hilarious.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:50 am
the defense sort of raised up their level when they saw that the opposing defense was a no joke frothy group of “purple people eaters 2.0″…
otherwise they would have looked ridiculous out there repping their home field…
i enjoyed their play at times…it was like an old school rock ’em sock ’em football game at some points…
it was a pretty crazy game actually…
nothing hum drum about it
September 28th, 2026 at 9:52 am
I hope they sit Baker for a bit to allow him to move more into a support/coaching role. Perhaps a different viewpoint will allow him and Zac to come up with a better plan.
At this point, writing is on the wall with Baker and his ability the past 17 games. He needs a hard reset, and should have never been signed to a contract
September 28th, 2026 at 9:54 am
A great offense, with a horrible QB.
Playing a Great QB, in a horrible offense.
Mayfield should have stuck to his plan.
If he had abandoned this garbage barge,
He could be fighting for a Ring in Minnesota.
Stay down, Baker. Stay down.
Save it for a new Coach and coordinator next year.
No reason to keep letting Zack and the âCanât Block Boysâ get you injured.
It canât improve. There are no fixes.
Next year might be be better
September 28th, 2026 at 9:55 am
Yeah Adam, props to the defense. However, letâs not forget Jefferson was out most of the game. That changed everything once he went out.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:56 am
Wentz wouldâve destroyed us, Kyler is the 2nd worse starter in the league behind Mayfart
September 28th, 2026 at 9:56 am
Big dealâŚagainst crappy Kyler Murray and basically no Jetta. Yeah, real specialâŚdamn 85 Bears they are.
September 28th, 2026 at 9:57 am
Walker, Robinson, Simmons, Nelson were every one better than the guys they are backing up.
Secondary played great again.
But the defense looked better, because Kyler Murray is horrible.
September 28th, 2026 at 10:01 am
Joe this is what weâve been hearing for a while, the defense played well enough to have won or vice versa with the offense. All in all shouldâve, wouldâve, couldâve want get you to or win playoff games or the Superbowl
September 28th, 2026 at 10:03 am
Are we tired of The ReTodd led teams of undisciplined sloppy football or will we be subjected/forced to watch yet another season of Mediocre Bowles Football?
I was not as impressed with the defense as some. Yeah they held the Viks to a low score but that was without JJ. Plus they still could barely muster any sort of pass rush. And the offense is just boring. All they do is throw to RBs. Boring football sums up Todd Bowles perfectly.
September 28th, 2026 at 10:07 am
Winless bye week is in the frontier.
BY the end of November Joe will declare Den of Depression part 2 itâs ALIVE!!!
Itâs the beginning of another prosperous decade at JBF headquarters.
September 28th, 2026 at 10:07 am
Bucs fans, can’t even give their defense their just due in a game they allowed 16 points in 4 quarters
Gman Says:
September 28th, 2026 at 9:56 am
Big dealâŚagainst crappy Kyler Murray and basically no Jetta. Yeah, real specialâŚdamn 85 Bears they are.
Capt.Tim Says:
September 28th, 2026 at 9:57 am
But the defense looked better, because Kyler Murray is horrible.
NCbucfan Says:
September 28th, 2026 at 9:55 am
Yeah Adam, props to the defense. However, letâs not forget Jefferson was out most of the game. That changed everything once he went out.
Rod Munch is Wyndham Clark Says:
September 28th, 2026 at 9:49 am
Iâm with ModHairKenâŚMurray sucks. And they could have passed more on us, even with that.
That’s what happens when you intellectual paint yourself into a corner and villify the HC for everything. Now, that defense that’s been “bad” for 3 years isn’t to blame in a game where our offense couldn’t score >2TDs. 35 points in 2 games at home lol let’s get to that
September 28th, 2026 at 10:09 am
I would like to commend the Bucs’ kicking tee for an outstanding performance yesterday.
September 28th, 2026 at 10:10 am
Kyler Murray stinks and they were down a top 10 player in the entire league. This was not special.
In the story, Joe notes how it was the worst completion percentage of Murrayâs 89-game career, and among his worst rushing days. And then thereâs the rare first-down total. Bucs can only play against who is in front of them. Itâs not like the Bucs were dominating time of possession and the defense didnât have to work. âJoe
September 28th, 2026 at 10:19 am
ModHairKen … ‘It was Murray. Not the Defense.’
Don’t take props away from our defense; they did an excellent job yesterday making Murray look worse than he is. In his 8-year career, playing for the woeful Cardinals, he’s got a 67.0% completion rate (better than Baker’s 63.5%). And oh ya, his INT Percentage is down at 2.1%, quite a bit lower than Baker’s 2.6%.
September 28th, 2026 at 10:27 am
I think the defense played excellent against the Vikings. The offense on the other hand was clearly struggling after halftime with no answers to the blitz.
The Bucs need to find the offense they lost last year !!
Go Bucs !!
September 28th, 2026 at 10:29 am
The D did their job!! What the heck is the O and OC trying to do!! Why not bring in a HEAVY FORMATION once in a while!!! I see the Chiefs doing that quite often!
September 28th, 2026 at 10:34 am
Well hopefully next week we win so even Bakerbois will know who is part of the offenses problem. They won’t admit it but they’ll know. Baker Winston Murray.
September 28th, 2026 at 10:37 am
Special defense? It’s Kyler Murray slow down lol geezus
In the story, Joe notes how it was the worst completion percentage of Murray’s 89-game career, and among his worst rushing days. And then there’s the rare first-down total. Bucs can only play against who is in front of them. It’s not like the Bucs were dominating time of possession and the defense didn’t have to work. –Joe
September 28th, 2026 at 10:39 am
No, that was basically a competent defense at best. Kyler Murray was as sloppy as Baker, once Jefferson left injured the Vikes were lost about how to move the ball. If Jefferson stays healthy the Vikes hang 30 on us even with Kyler.
September 28th, 2026 at 11:09 am
Itâs exhausting listening to Bowles do damage control every week. If he showed some sack and got pissed off. Maybe Iâd feel differently. But my goodness. Does the man have any testosterone in his body? You have no primal instincts, your team shows it.
September 28th, 2026 at 11:27 am
If only we had a decent QB and offense
This defense would be great