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

QUESTION: I know you said Todd Bowles needs to win a playoff game to survive, but I’m not feeling that’s true. The Bucs have never won three straight division titles before. We’re gonna be saddled with another year of this.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: My experience covering the Glazers for 28 years is that they want to see progress from the head coaches they hire. Todd Bowles won the awful NFC South last year with an 8-9 record, and Tampa Bay currently has the lead in a division that is just as bad this year at 6-7 with the tiebreaker advantage.

If Todd Bowles wins the NFC South again does he keep his job? I think he has to win a home playoff game to remain the head coach of the Bucs in 2024 – unless the team wins out and finishes 10-7.

A 10-7 record would be a two-game improvement in the regular season over a year ago and would feature a six-game winning streak to end 2023 to make that happen. Of course that would mean beating the 6-6 Packers in Green Bay and a tough, 8-5 Jaguars team at home on Christmas Eve that is currently leading the AFC South. That is not to mention getting two more divisional wins to sweep the Saints and the Panthers. Then maybe the Glazers could stomach another home playoff loss – to either the Eagles or the Cowboys – if that were to occur.

But if the Bucs fall short of 10 wins yet win a home playoff game then Bowles is likely to stay on as head coach in 2024. I don’t see how the Glazers could fire him after truly showing progress, which would be a winning record in the regular season and a postseason victory. In the end, I think all Bucs fans would applaud this team if it somehow wound up with seven straight wins from the Week 13 win versus Carolina through the Wild Card round.

QUESTION: Even in victory the Bucs lose. This staff, QB have major problems. Yeah, Baker Mayfield is a lot better than expected for $4 million, but holy hell – the staff is out-coached every week. Things need to change.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: It certainly didn’t look great for the Bucs at halftime with a paltry 12-10 lead, as Tampa Bay had generated just 85 yards of total offense in Atlanta. Baker Mayfield was 8-of-12 for 49 yards, Mike Evans had one target and zero catches, and the Bucs had only run for 38 yards in the first half. In fact, Mayfield was just 12-of-27 for 101 yards before the Bucs’ final, game-winning drive.

Yet Mayfield did enough to win with a touchdown run and two touchdown passes. The best thing Mayfield did on Sunday was not turn the ball over. While Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder passed for 347 yards and a touchdown, in addition to rushing for a score, he did have two costly turnovers in the first half. That was the difference in the Bucs’ 29-25 victory. After a first-quarter interception deep in Atlanta territory that led to Mayfield’s touchdown run, Ridder fumbled when sacked by a blitzing Antoine Winfield Jr. and that led to a Tampa Bay safety.

That was enough on Sunday to beat a bad Falcons team – that is notorious for choking – by four points. But would that be enough to beat a better team with a winning record? Probably not. Let’s remember that normally reliable Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo missed two field goals, which was also the difference in the game for Atlanta.

QUESTION: Hated this win because it’s meaningless. This team is going nowhere fast and us making the playoffs does nothing for us.

Bucs TE Cade Otton – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Well, the goal of every team each year is to win the Super Bowl. Teams have to make the playoffs to have a chance of accomplishing that goal. If the Bucs were to get in as a division winner, they would play a home playoff game in the Wild Card round just as they did a year ago. Making the playoffs enters a team like Tampa Bay into a three-game postseason tournament. Win three playoff games and the ticket is punched for a Super Bowl berth.

I don’t think anyone has any illusions that this year’s Bucs team is a Super Bowl-worthy squad. But it would be interesting to see a nine-win or 10-win Tampa Bay make the playoffs and get a Wild Card victory. In order for that to happen the Bucs would really have to make some strides offensively (scoring more than 20 points per game, keep protecting the football) and defensively (more takeaways, improved pass rush) to get there.

If that doesn’t happen – either the Bucs lose enough in the last month to fall short of the postseason, or lose the first-round playoff game – then, yes. Sunday’s win in Atlanta would wind up doing very little for Tampa Bay. It would only serve as a temporary tease for Bucs fans and possibly delay talk about the inevitable, which could be a head coaching change if Tampa Bay doesn’t win the division this year.

QUESTION: Baker Mayfield said the Falcons defense took Mike Evans out of the game, but it appeared he was open on plenty of routes, same with other receivers but Mayfield was constantly late and missed the windows. Am I crazy, or are these missed opportunities just part of his game? No doubt he has grit, though.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Baker Mayfield did not have a good game on Sunday. He had 49 yards passing in the first half and finished completing 14-of-29 passes (48.2%) for 144 yards with two touchdowns and a touchdown run. While it wasn’t a remarkable day for Mayfield in terms of passing the ball, he did show plenty of grit. His 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cade Otton was on the money when it counted for the game-winning score.

The best thing Mayfield did on Sunday was avoiding turnovers. The Falcons did take away wide receiver Mike Evans often with double coverage, usually rolling Jessie Bates III in Evans’ direction over the top. Bates has five interceptions on the season, but none against the Bucs. Mayfield knows him from his days in Cleveland when Bates roamed the secondary as a ballhawk for Cincinnati. For the most part, he was wise to avoid throwing in Bates’ direction.

Still, it’s up to offensive coordinator Dave Canales to come up with some answers for the Falcons’ relentless use of Cover 2 and deploy some 2-beaters. Evans is too talented to finish any game with just one catch for eight yards. Evans was targeted six times, though, which was the second-most in the game behind Chris Godwin’s 11 targets. Godwin led the Bucs with five catches for 53 yards, including a critical 32-yard catch-and-run on Tampa Bay’s final touchdown drive.

STATEMENT: Not a question, but Zyon McCollum and Cade Otton were clutch for the Bucs today.

Bucs CB Zyon McCollum and Falcons WR Drake London – Photo by: USA Today

REPLY: Yes, they were. Zyon McCollum might have played his best, most complete game to date. He did play a role in covering Falcons wide receiver Drake London, who had 10 catches for 172 yards on Sunday. So some of London’s big day came at McCollum’s expense. But the second-year cornerback has really improved as a tackler and finished with a team-high – and a career-high – nine tackles.

McCollum also broke up two deep pass attempts and forced a fumble. He’s probably outplayed Jamel Dean this year and deserves to continue to start opposite Carlton Davis III, who has really come on over the last few weeks – even when Dean is healthy enough to return to the starting lineup.

As for tight end Cade Otton, he’s a limited athlete who may never have a 100-yard receiving day in his NFL career, but he has a certain level of savvy in his game. Otton has caught some clutch touchdowns at the end of games before, including a game-winner against the Rams in 2022, a key fourth-quarter TD versus the Saints last year, and what could have been the game-winner at Houston this season.

He’s probably more Dave Moore than Rob Gronkowski at this stage of his career, but with him becoming more of a factor in the red zone, Otton could eventually develop into a Cam Brate-type tight end in Tampa Bay. Otton finished the day with two catches for 16 yards, which speaks to his lack of dynamic play-making ability, but his 11-yard catch mattered the most in the end.

QUESTION: Robert Hainsey talked in pregame about the O-line starting to gel a little bit more. I think he was right. If that group gets it going, who’s to say Tampa Bay can’t make a postseason run?

Bucs RB Chase Edmonds – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: The Bucs had 22 carries for 74 yards in the first three quarters of the 29-25 win in Atlanta, but finished with a bang, rushing for 71 yards on 12 carries in the fourth quarter. That’s a 5.9-yard average in the fourth quarter after averaging 3.4 yards per carry in the first three quarters. Rachaad White accounted for 49 yards on 10 carries (4.9 avg.) in the fourth quarter en route to 102 yards rushing on the day. That’s his second 100-yard game in the last three weeks.

A big assist goes to backup Chase Edmonds, who had his most productive day of the season, rushing for 40 yards on eight carries (5.0 avg.). Two of Edmonds’ carries came at the start of the fourth quarter and went for seven and 15 yards as the Bucs offensive line began to assert itself.

The offensive line came on big time in the fourth quarter and won the line of scrimmage by eventually wearing down Atlanta’s defensive line, which was missing defensive tackles David Onyemata and Grady Jarrett. Offensive coordinator Dave Canales’ gamble of sticking with the run throughout the game paid off, as Tampa Bay actually out-rushed Atlanta, 148-96. If the Bucs are to make a run to the postseason – or through the playoffs – White and Tampa Bay’s ground game will need to continue to click at its current pace.