Bucs special teams coach Thomas McGaughey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

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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: What the heck is the deal with our punting team? Pop Warner teams don’t have this many getting blocked and almost blocked every time they line up!

ANSWER: Yes, it’s getting ridiculous. Two blocked punts and one blocked field goal in the first four games of the 2025 season is absolutely ridiculous. First, I’m a firm believer that Riley Dixon takes too much time to get his punts off. I actually called his first punt getting blocked by the Eagles in the press box on Sunday – and I have witnesses. That was Dixon’s second blocked punt of the year and he’s had a couple of other close calls as well.

I’m told that the Bucs won’t be making any changes at punter right now. They’re sticking with the 32-year old Dixon, who now has had nine punts blocked in his 10-year NFL career. The blocked field goal against the Jets was kind of a fluky play, as Will McDonald IV leaped over the line in an incredibly athletic feat. I’m more concerned about the blocked punts, and special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey should be, too. The Bucs are getting out-schemed and that means that McGaughey is getting out-coached.

Bucs P Riley Dixon – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

NFL analyst Shawn Syed does an incredible job of dissecting what went wrong on the Bucs’ blocked punt on Sunday and also looks at the blocked punt from Houston. Syed does a much better job of illustrating what’s gone wrong than I ever could, so watch the video below. Also, long snapper Evan Deckers has not exactly been stout at the point of attack after the ball is hiked, either. Unfortunately, I expect the Bucs to have at least one more punt blocked this year unless they find a new punter and/or long snapper.

QUESTION: Refs didn’t lose this game for the Bucs but come on. The Bucky Irving “fumble,” Quinyon Mitchell clearly pulling on Bucs receivers’ jerseys, and Sterling Shepard getting mugged on the Baker Mayfield pick. This after last week’s game. Can the team demand explanations for anything?

ANSWER: Oh yes, the Bucs will certainly pull video clips from the dozen or so missed calls from the Eagles game – everything you said in your question from blatant holding calls to Bucky Irving’s “fumble” – and send them to the league office. All NFL teams do this on a weekly basis, but to no avail. The games are over and of course nothing will be done to change any bad calls or outcomes of games.

I will say that this officiating crew was a stark contrast to the last crew the Bucs had last week against the Jets. There were 13 total penalties called in Sunday’s game – eight for 83 yards on Philadelphia and five for 40 yards on Tampa Bay. Last week, the Bucs were flagged 14 times for 124 yards while the Jets were flagged seven times for 81 yards. That’s 21 total penalties for 205 yards, which was an absolute joke.

The refs for the Bucs vs. Jets game called just about every ticky-tack penalty they could. It was literally flag football at Raymond James Stadium and totally disrupted the flow of the game and made for an awful game to watch, especially in the first half. In Sunday’s Bucs vs. Eagles game, that crew obviously let the players play, especially in the secondary. Quinyon Mitchell could’ve gotten called for holding on multiple plays, and Cooper DeJean arrived with contact before the ball got to the receiver on multiple occasions.

Perhaps more importantly, the Bucs have gotten screwed twice now with instant replay. Last week it was an obvious blown touchdown call on Jets receiver Allen Lazard, who was granted a TD in the end zone on fourth down when replays clearly the showed that the ball hit the ground. On Sunday, the refs took a look at instant replay on Irving’s fumble in the second half and didn’t see his shin down when the ball came out. Also, whatever happened to the rule “the ground can’t cause a fumble” because it wasn’t like the ball was punched out by the Eagles.

QUESTION: Do the Bucs need to make a trade at deadline for pass rusher?

ANSWER: Not right now. At the trade deadline? We’ll see. You would like to see more than one sack apiece for Yaya Diaby and Haason Reddick, the team’s starting edge rushers, but it’s not like they aren’t getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Diaby had 11 QB pressures per NextGen Stats last week against the Jets plus a sack. That might have been his best game as a pro.

According to Pro Football Focus, Reddick has a 14.8% pass rush win rate through three games, which is quite good. Diaby’s is even better at 18.8%. Diaby is credited with 15 pressures while Reddick has 12 through the first three weeks (PFF had not issued final grades for Week 4 when this article was published.)

Bucs OLB Haason Reddick and Eagles QB Jalen Hurts – Photo by: USA Today

Where the Bucs’ pass rush may need some bolstering is at defensive tackle. Vita Vea leads the team with two sacks – the pair he got on Sunday versus Jalen Hurts – but the loss of Calijah Kancey hurts. Hopefully the continued development of Elijah Roberts makes a difference up front. The Bucs are bracing for some bad news about Greg Gaines’ pectoral injury from Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. The team already has Kancey on injured reserve and just lost newly acquired defensive tackle Jayson Jones to a season-ending biceps injury in practice on Thursday.

The NFL trade deadline isn’t for another month on November 4. Who knows what Tampa Bay’s injury situation will be over the next four months? When it comes to trades, general manager Jason Licht will have to consider three things as the trade deadline approaches: 1. what the Bucs’ record is and whether they are a legit Super Bowl contender or not 2. which players are available on the trade block 3. what is the compensation?

QUESTION: When do the Bucs plan on playing a full 60 minutes?

ANSWER: That’s a great question. Tampa Bay does need to start faster and not put itself in position to have to play catch up and attempt to have these furious fourth quarter finishes. The Bucs have been outscored 34-13 in the first quarter this season. That’s the most lopsided quarter of any quarter Tampa Bay has had this season.

The Bucs have fared better in the second quarter, 37-16, and have only trailed at halftime in just one game – Sunday’s loss to the Eagles by a score of 24-6. In Week 1 at Atlanta the score was tied 10-10, and the Bucs had a slim lead at Houston at halftime, 14-10. Of course getting off to faster starters doesn’t always mean this team is on cruise control towards a win. Last week, the Bucs led the Jets 20-6 at halftime and were outscored 21-6 in the second half of the team’s 29-27 win in Week 3.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving and Eagles CB Cooper DeJean – Photo by: USA Today

Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said it best after Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia when it comes to starter faster.

“Our guys are going to fight, and Lavonte [David] hit on it post-game with everybody, and I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Mayfield said. “This group is too damn good to start slow, and until we take accountability to that, it should piss us off. Even though it’s Week 4, this should piss us off. We’ve talked about starting fast, playing better ball, and we did not do that today.

“It goes back to, we were just kind of lifeless to begin with in the first half. We got punched in the mouth going into halftime – looked at the scoreboard, you’re like, ‘Alright. What are we going to do now?’ But we’re too damn good to wait to get hit in the mouth. We’ve got to come out swinging. We’ve got to play better.”

When the Bucs learn how to get off to faster starts and start put four quarters together, they will be a hard team to beat. Until then, I can see more close games in Tampa Bay’s future. And close games can end up going either way.