I don't even know where to start.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just lost to the Cleveland Browns at home. At Raymond James Stadium. In front of their own fans. To a team that was outscored 31-0 in their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars one week ago. A team widely considered one of the worst rosters in the entire NFL heading into 2026.
0 and 2. That is where we are. And after what we watched this afternoon, it is very difficult to make the argument that the Buccaneers belong in a different conversation than the Browns right now.
BAKER MAYFIELD: THE REVENGE GAME THAT WASN'T
Let's start with the elephant in the room, because it was impossible to ignore for sixty minutes Sunday afternoon.
Baker Mayfield had every reason in the world to be motivated today. His former team. His former city. The organization that traded him away in favor of Deshaun Watson, a decision that has been an unmitigated disaster for Cleveland and a defining moment in Baker's career resurrection story. This was supposed to be the game where Baker Mayfield reminded the NFL world exactly who he is and what he is capable of.
Instead he was arguably the worst player on the field for either team.
The numbers are bad. The decision-making was worse. Baker held the ball too long, threw into coverage he had no business testing, missed open receivers on multiple occasions, and looked nothing like the quarterback who set career highs in passing yards and touchdowns in 2024. The pocket awareness that separates good quarterbacks from great ones was nowhere to be found. And the emotional edge that was supposed to fuel him against his former team appeared to work entirely against him, as he forced throws and took risks that a composed, confident quarterback simply does not take in a home game against a rebuilding Browns roster.
Baker Mayfield wanted this game badly. And wanting it too badly may have been precisely what cost him. The irony is brutal. The performance was unacceptable for a quarterback being paid to be a top-ten signal caller in this league.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE: OVERRATED, OVEREXPOSED, AND OUT OF ANSWERS
We have now played two games in the 2026 regular season. In both of them, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive line has been a significant liability in pass protection. After the Bengals posted a 53% pass rush win rate in Week 1, the Browns continued that trend Sunday afternoon with consistent pressure that disrupted Baker's rhythm, collapsed the pocket at critical moments, and left the franchise quarterback running for his life throughout the afternoon.
Let's be completely honest about something that a significant portion of the fan base has been reluctant to say out loud. This offensive line is one of the most overrated units in professional football. The reputation was built on Tristan Wirfs being an All-Pro and the other four starters being solid complementary pieces around him. But what we are watching through two weeks of the 2026 season is a group that is losing individual matchups at an unacceptable rate, communicating poorly in protection schemes, and failing to provide Baker Mayfield with anywhere near enough time to operate.
Luke Goedeke has been a problem all year, dating back to training camp and joint practices where he consistently struggled against quality pass rushers. The interior linemen are losing one-on-one battles against players they simply should not be losing to. And even Tristan Wirfs, who is supposed to be the foundation on which this entire unit is built, has not looked like the dominant force that earned him All-Pro recognition at the peak of his career.
When the Cleveland Browns, with Jared Verse and Mason Graham as their primary threats, are generating consistent pressure on your starting quarterback at home, something is fundamentally wrong with your pass protection. Two weeks. Two games. The same problem. That is no longer an aberration. That is a pattern.
THE PASS RUSH: WHERE DID IT GO?
It is Week 2 of the 2026 NFL regular season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' pass rush has now played two full games against two different quarterbacks from two different offensive systems. And through those two games, against Joe Burrow and Deshaun Watson, the results have been essentially identical.
Nothing. Virtually no consistent pressure. No disruption. No fear.
It doesn't matter what personnel grouping Todd Bowles puts on the field. It doesn't matter if it's four down linemen, five, a hybrid front, or any combination thereof. The result has been the same. Deshaun Watson, who is not Joe Burrow, who is not a top-ten quarterback, who has spent more time injured and ineffective than healthy and productive over the past three seasons, stood in the pocket at Raymond James Stadium today and operated with a level of comfort that should embarrass every defensive lineman on this roster.
Rueben Bain Jr. has now played two NFL regular season games and the impact has been negligible. Yaya Diaby has generated virtually nothing in terms of pass rush production. The interior of the defensive line with Vita Vea, A'Shawn Robinson, and Calijah Kancey has not been able to cave pockets consistently enough to create the kind of inside pressure that makes the edge rusher's job easier. And the much-hyped outside linebacker group that spent all summer generating training camp buzz has translated precisely none of that into real game pressure against real NFL offensive lines.
We said it in our preseason opinion pieces. We said it in the 48-hour review after the Bengals game. The pass rush is the single most important variable in Todd Bowles' defensive system. Without it, the cornerbacks get exposed, the middle of the field opens up, and opposing quarterbacks find all the time in the world to pick this defense apart. Two weeks of evidence now support the conclusion that this pass rush group, as currently constructed and deployed, is not getting the job done. Not even close.
THE COACHING: COLLECTIVELY EMBARRASSING
This section could go on for a very long time, so let's keep it focused.
Todd Bowles' defensive game plan against Deshaun Watson and Todd Monken's offense was inadequate. A team that went down 31-0 in its season opener came into Raymond James Stadium and moved the ball with troubling ease at critical moments throughout the afternoon. Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. accumulated yardage against this defense the way opposing tight ends always accumulate yardage against this defense. The adjustments in the second half were not sufficient, the personnel usage raised questions, and the overall defensive performance was unacceptable given the talent supposedly assembled on that side of the ball.
When your quarterback plays poorly, your offensive line cannot pass protect, your defensive line generates no pressure, your defensive scheme cannot stop a tight end, and your coaching decisions are collectively questionable on both sides of the ball, you lose to the Cleveland Browns at home. That is what happened today at Raymond James Stadium.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH
Zero and two. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-2 for the first time in the Todd Bowles era. The schedule does not get significantly easier in the immediate weeks ahead. The offensive line issues are not going to fix themselves between Sunday and next weekend. The pass rush that has been invisible through two weeks is not going to suddenly develop into an elite unit overnight. And Baker Mayfield, who just turned in the worst performance of his time in Tampa Bay in what should have been his most motivated game, is going to need to look himself in the mirror hard this week.
0 and 2. At home. Against the Cleveland Browns.
Welcome to Week 3. The Vikings are coming to Raymond James Stadium next Sunday, and this team desperately needs a win before this situation becomes something much harder to climb out of.
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Bowles system is a combination of overload pressure and 1 v 1 pass rush matchups. Right now the Bucs can not execute either so the defensive backs are keeping this team competitive in these games.
Run stopping is going to be a good part of the defense but until Bowles is calling more robbers mid field to keep offenses second guessing they are going to keep going the TEs in the middle of the field.Â
The OL is overrated but Robinson's scheme isn't helping IMO.
Robinson's play calling has not been bad, but it is has not bee good either. It has been very ordinary but the players are just not executing so it just makes Robinson's very conservative play calling look worse than it really is at the moment.
Walker actually recorded a sack so it goes to show that this team should be playing their pass rush specialists more but choose not to because they want to sell out to stop the run.Â
