Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: How long do you think the Glazers go down this path? We are playing away games in our own stadium. Your own fans don’t even want to show up to games. Why would you want to pay an outrageous amount of money to watch your team be coached by someone with the same excuse every week?

ANSWER: First of all, it was an absolutely embarrassing look for the Glazers and the entire Bucs organization to literally be invaded by Steelers fans during the Bucs’ 26-19 overtime loss on Sunday. I expected the crowd to maybe be 60-40 Steelers fans but it was maybe 75-25 instead and the terrible towels made it feel like we all were in Pittsburgh. Sunday magnified the Glazers’ mistake in keeping head coach Todd Bowles, who hired an offensive coordinator in Zac Robinson that is all worse than we thought he would be as a play-caller.

I know the Glazers, chief operating officer Brian Ford, the front office, the coaches and the players can’t stand the amount of enemy fans that invade the lower bowl on a regular basis. But this is as bad as I have seen it in over a decade. This has to be just as much a function of poor season ticket sales and renewals – and I know a lot of Bucs fans who didn’t renew their tickets this year. Season ticket holders are choosing not to go to games and sit through three hours of frustration and coaching ineptness.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If the Glazers want more Bucs fans in the stands the only way to remedy that is to give them a product worth cheering for, and give the season ticket holders a reason to show up and not sell their tickets to enemy fans. Sunday was a beautiful, chamber of commerce-type day at Raymond James Stadium. Sunny skies, no clouds or threat of rain, temperatures in the 70s with a cool breeze.

It was a perfect day for football.

Yet Sunday was another game that we all saw coming with the Bucs losing another close one. Bowles is now 1-5 on the season and 3-12 since the bye week last year. His overall record in Tampa Bay has fallen to 36-38 and barring a miracle turnaround that I seriously doubt happens this year, Bowles will be fired at the end of the season. At least the Glazers have a precedent of firing every head coach who has had back-to-back losing seasons, including Greg Schiano, Lovie Smith and Dirk Koetter.

QUESTION: When can we expect the first round of firings? This team is miserable.

ANSWER: Firing Todd Bowles will be the final admission of the Glazers’ mistake, which was keeping him after last year’s epic 2-7 slide and 8-9 finish. But I don’t expect that to happen until the end of the season. That’s the precedent the Glazers have set with allowing Raheem Morris to free-fall to 10 straight losses after a 4-2 start in 2011 and for Greg Schiano to start 0-8 in his final season in 2013 only to finish 4-12 before he got his pink slip.

I believe the Glazers will delay their mistake admission and give Bowles every opportunity to turn this team around this season. So even while most fans want Bowles fired immediately, the fact is that if Tampa Bay somehow wins its next two games against division rivals Carolina and Atlanta, the Bucs will be 3-5 and 2-0 in the division with nine more games to play, including four more in the NFC South. As crazy as it sounds, a 3-5 Tampa Bay team still has life in the “Crap Hill” division that is the NFC South.

Bucs OC Zac Robinson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

After last year’s 8-9 record, the Glazers gave Bowles the benefit of the doubt due to all of the injuries, especially on offense, and miscalculated the fact that the team remained competitive despite losing close games. Outside of Baker Mayfield, the Bucs are actually quite healthy this year, yet they are still losing close games due to poor coaching and bad game management decisions. And even though playing without Mayfield is notable, so is the fact that the Bucs were 0-3 in games he played in this year.

Is there a chance that Bowles fires offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who has proven to be a horrible play-caller? Well, he should. Sunday was further evidence of that with the fact that the Bucs gained just 37 yards in 12 plays and went 0-for-3 on third downs, which caused Tampa Bay to only possess the ball for 3:14 in the entire fourth quarter. The Bucs had a 16-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Bowles likely won’t fire Robinson because it would be an indictment on himself, as he fired last year’s offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard and hired Robinson to replace him. Also, Bowles didn’t fire inept special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey during the season when he should have last year because Bowles is too loyal of a coach. The only way I could see Bowles fire Robinson in-season is purely out of panic in a self-preservation move, hoping that either senior offensive assistant Ken Zampese, pass game coordinator T.J. Yates or quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer could take over and do a better job and get this offense scoring more touchdowns.

Todd, it’s time to hit the panic button.

QUESTION: So when is Jason Licht gonna start selling players cause let’s be real we don’t use Chris Godwin Jr.much at all.

ANSWER: I did a Pewter Pulse video on Saturday titled “Are These Bucs Dead Or Alive?” Check it out below, as it’s worth your eight minutes of time. With the Bucs now sitting at 1-5, I think general manager Jason Licht waits until this week’s game at Carolina before trading away any talent to clear cap room and save cash for next year, in addition to stockpiling some draft picks.

If Tampa Bay loses at Carolina this season is over at 1-6. The team would need to finish with a miraculous 8-2 record down the stretch just to finish 9-8. And even that wouldn’t even guarantee the Bucs the NFC South title if the Panthers, who are 3-2 and would be 4-2 with a win over Tampa Bay, finish with 10 wins or more. At that point, Licht and assistant general manager Mike Greenberg should start making some calls, putting some players – wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr., safety Antoine Winfield Jr., outside linebacker Yaya Diaby and running back Kenny Gainwell – on the trading block.

Bucs GM Jason Licht and assistant GMs Mike Greenberg and Rob McCartney – Photo by: Adam Slivon/PR

If the Bucs win over the Panthers, Tampa Bay will be 2-5 and Carolina will 3-3 with only a 1.5 game lead in the division over the Bucs. Then it sets up another big showdown the following week at home against 2-4 Atlanta. Getting back-to-back wins against the Panthers and Falcons likely gives Licht some pause about selling off players at the trade deadline if this team is 3-5 with a 2-0 record in the NFC South.

These next two games against division rivals will ultimately tell the tale of the 2026 season in Tampa Bay. Two wins and Licht refrains from being a dealmaker at the trade deadline, which is after Week 9. One more loss, especially in the division, and this season is all but over, players are traded away and the entire front office focus is setting up the next head coach with cap room, cash to spend and extra draft picks.

QUESTION: When are we freed from the Todd Bowles era of talent destruction?

ANSWER: I included this question, which is yet another Bucs fan calling for head coach Todd Bowles to be fired – and that is the overwhelming fan sentiment right now – for one big reason. This fan used the phrase “era of talent destruction,” and I think that’s spot on. The Bucs have a record of 8-11 in close games decided by eight points or more dating back to the 2025 season. Out of the last 23 games, 19 games have been one-score games. The problem is that Tampa Bay’s record in the last 11 one-score games is just 3-8 – a 2-5 mark from last year since the bye week and this year’s 1-5 record.

This is clear evidence that the problem is certainly more coaching and game management than a lack of talent. Teams that are deficient in talent usually get blown out, and that hasn’t happened once this year, and it only happened three times last year versus the Lions, Bills and Rams – and the Bucs were quite banged up last year due to injury.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The silver lining of all of these close losses is that the Bucs will be competing with other teams for head coaching candidates in the 2027 offseason. The more close losses Tampa Bay has this season the better quality hire that could happen to replace Bowles. Coaching candidates survey the landscape of available jobs and look for the best opportunity. The NFL is more “win now” than ever, as owners and fan bases are more impatient now than ever.

Coaching candidates look for the opportunities where they can come in and have a quick turnaround, and that could certainly happen fast in Tampa Bay with a better offensive play-caller. The Bucs have their franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield, and the defense has certainly been stocked with more this year and is no longer the team’s weakness. General manager Jason Licht, and Rob McCartney, Mike Biehl and the scouts do a very good job of drafting players. This could be a turn-key situation for a new coach to come in with a great offensive scheme to unlock Mayfield and get these team back to 10 wins and atop the division in 2027.

QUESTION: Does this staff know they are coaching for their lives? How at the end of the first half did the OC or HC allow them to only burn nine seconds and give Pittsburgh a FG chance? How did the defense change so much in one quarter? There was no urgency once they got the ball in OT. Clueless.

ANSWER: Yes, that was yet another example of poor clock management and in-game decision-making by head coach Todd Bowles, as well as poor play-calling from offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. Bowles’ questionable game management reared its ugly head again right before halftime when the Bucs came out throwing with 1:52 left and the Steelers only having one timeout.

Jalon Daniels hit Emeka Egbuka for no gain and he was pushed out of bounds on first-and-15 at the Tampa Bay 2o. Then Bucky Irving ran for six yards, which caused Pittsburgh to call its third timeout of the half. Then inexplicably, Robinson called a pass play on third-and-9, which fell incomplete and stopped the clock with 1:43 left.

Bucs QB Jalon Daniels and OC Zac Robinson – Photo by: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A running play that failed to pick up the first down would have burned another 40 seconds of clock, giving quarterback Aaron Rodgers less than a minute and no timeouts to work with. Instead, the Steelers took over at their own 23-yard line with 1:28 and wound up kicking a 53-yard field goal with three seconds left to draw closer at the half, 13-3. Those three points gave Pittsburgh’s offense a little momentum and wound up playing a huge part in a game that ultimately went to overtime.

Then in overtime with 3:07 left with the two-minute warning and two timeouts, the Bucs showed zero sense of urgency. Robinson did not have the Bucs in hurry-up mode, despite having to travel 74 yards for a game-tying touchdown. He called a stupid run that gained one yard and then the Bucs huddled up after that. Daniels scrambled for nine yards to pick up a first down on third-and-8 and the offense traveled just 11 yards in 1:07 before the tw0-minute warning.

Tampa Bay got to its own 48-yard line with 1:06 left and just one timeout before Pittsburgh’s sack on fourth down ended overtime. Robinson burned two minutes of clock time only to travel 22 yards, which is just awful, awful playcalling and clock management. Clueless is another good word to use to describe Robinson in late-game situations at the end of the first half and in overtime.

QUESTION: Hindsight is always 20/20 but did the Bucs make a mistake firing Josh Grizzard? He had Baker Mayfield playing as a legit MVP candidate before all of the injuries hit the team and he didn’t start 1-5.

ANSWER: In hindsight, yes. Firing Josh Grizzard, a first-year play-caller, was probably a mistake compared to what’s gone on this season with the offense. But Todd Bowles needed a scapegoat for the team’s 8-9 record and canned Grizzard in a move of self-preservation.

Grizzard was dealt a really bad hand with a banged up offensive line from the start, in addition to not having wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and running back Bucky Irving for stretches of time and with quarterback Baker Mayfield banged up for much of the season. Yet his offense still averaged 22.4 points per game, and scored 29 points or more four times in 2025.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and OC Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Despite having two years’ worth of play-calling experience, and that coming within the NFC South division, Zac Robinson has been even worse than Grizzard. The Bucs are averaging just 18.6 points per game – nearly a field goal less – and have only scored more than 20 points in a game once this year. It’s just embarrassing as there is some talent on offense to work with.

The fact that fans are now missing Grizzard speaks volumes about Bowles’ decision-making as a head coach. While he gets credit for hiring Dave Canales and Liam Coen as offensive coordinators in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024, Bowles’ misses on Grizzard and Robinson have been quite costly for this franchise. Even if Bowles’ defense continues to rebound and actually becomes a team strength there is absolutely zero justification for keeping Bowles after this season and allowing him the chance to pick yet another offensive coordinator given his last two misfires.

QUESTION: Do you think we win the Steelers game if Baker Mayfield plays it?

ANSWER: I think there is a greater chance that the Bucs might have won not just the Steelers game, but also the Packers game if Baker Mayfield had played in both. After a 0-3 start with Mayfield before he got hurt, Tampa Bay has gone 1-2 over the last three games with rookie Jalon Daniels at quarterback. Poor play-calling and talent usage from offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has certainly contributed to that record, as the offense has only scored 14, 24 and 19 points in those games.

The problem is that Mayfield was quite turnover-prone in those three losses with three fumbles and two interceptions. So even if he played better than Daniels over the last three weeks, was he still going to commit turnovers that would have cost the Bucs a chance at winning? We’ll never truly know.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

And it will be interesting to see what happens this week. Will Mayfield be ready to come back from his thumb injury to play effectively at Carolina? His thumb looked noticeably better on Sunday without a splint. Or will it be yet another week with Daniels at quarterback? We’ll find out on Wednesday if Mayfield is ready to practice.

And if Mayfield does return, does he play with too much urgency trying to make up for lost time and wind up trying to be a hero by forcing passes into tight coverage that he shouldn’t be while desperately trying to make a play? The Bucs don’t need that version of Mayfield.

Tampa Bay needs a calm, confident, veteran presence that can rely on his experience to execute in critical moments like Aaron Rodgers did in the fourth quarter and overtime in Pittsburgh’s win on Sunday. Will we see that version of Baker Mayfield, or the continued frenetic version that we’ve seen since the bye week during the 2025 season that hasn’t played well enough to win on a consistent basis?