So the Bucs are a firm underdog for their game at Chicago on Sunday night. Understandable. The Bears are legit Super Bowl contenders with a 6-2 record. Tampa Bay is a sad 3-5.

After that, the Bucs will enjoy a bye week before heading to Detroit to face another strong team. The Lions (5-2) have been less impressive than Chicago but they’re coming off taking out undefeated Minnesota, and Detroit is undefeated in the cauldron that is Ford Field.

So Joe has to wonder if head coach Todd Bowles could survive a 3-7 start. It’s a question Joe has gotten multiple times.

Cynical Joe would say, “Of course Bowles can survive a 3-7 start; he survived a 2-7 finish.” But the question deserves more than a one-liner.

A record like that would mean your team, collectively, wasn’t ready to compete effectively. As Bowles said eloquently during his famous rant last December: “You can’t sugarcoat that sh*t.”

After Detroit, the Bucs will close the season with four division games (two versus New Orleans) and matchups against the Ravens, Chargers and Rams.

Tampa Bay is certainly capable of going 6-1 against that group, especially with Lamar Jackson likely out for the Bucs-Ravens clash on Dec. 13. However, that kind of finish would require the Bucs to play to play damn near perfect football.

For Joe, it’s always a 17-game season, but reality does have to set in along the way. At this point, the Bucs must find  one “W” out of their next two games, a feat that would give them their first 2026 victory over a good team.

Joe doubts Bowles could survive a 3-7 start. But Team Glazer has proven itself unpredictable.