The Buccaneers’ season is threatening to collapse.
This weekend, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered yet another close loss, as they were beaten by the San Francisco 49ers to fall to 4-6 on the season.
The Bucs’ season started off strong. There were impressive wins at Detroit Lions, against the Philadelphia Eagles and against the Washington Commanders.
However, since scoring 50+ points in October against the Saints, the Bucs now head into a bye week off the back of four-straight losses.
But what has caused this Buccaneers decline?
Flash back to October 4th! Leading the Atlanta Falcons by 30-27 – with 1:52 left on the clock – the Buccaneers intercept Kirk Cousins on the Falcons’ 35-yard line.
At that point, according to Opta, Tampa Bay had an almost 85% chance of winning.
Instead, the Bucs end up punting the ball back to Atlanta, who drove down the field, tied the game, and won in overtime.
It was a similar story against the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite a late comeback, conservative play-calling cost the Bucs again. Instead of going for two, the Bucs elected to kick the extra point. The Chiefs won the toss, and sealed the win on their first drive in overtime.
Aggressive play calling in these situations may have produced more positive outcomes. As a result, some are putting the onus on head coach Todd Bowles’ cautious approach for these losses.
Questions on defense
On the other side of the ball, the Bucs have long been known as a robust defensive unit.
The 2002 Super Bowl winning team was named the fifth best NFL defence of all time by Bleacher Report. A great man once said: “Offence wins games, defence wins championships.”
This year, Tampa Bay’s usually reputable defence has not shown up.
The Bucs have allowed 3,893 yards in 2024, which is good for the second worst in the NFL.
This equates to almost 400 yards per game – 389.3 yards to be exact.
Game changing plays are also down this season. Tampa Bay has just five interceptions through 10 games, a far cry from the 15 in 2020 and 17 in 2021, in those impressive Super Bowl and post Super Bowl seasons.
Where do the Bucs goes from here?
Though some may argue injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have derailed the Bucs’ season, in reality the issues lie elsewhere.
Despite these woes, if the Buccaneers took more risks, and fixed up a shoddy defensive unit, they may be able to get their season back on track.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield has been impressive, ranking top five in passing yards, with a league-leading 24 passing touchdowns, and the second highest number of completions in the league.
The Bucs now have a run of relatively easy games. A playoff push is still a possibility, but one thing is clear – Tampa Bay needs to start winning, fast!
