not sure how anyone can blame the collapse on injuries with a straight face.
thats you're straw man, right? I havent seen anyone from the Bucs blame the entire season on injuries, let alone "the collapse." Multiple Bucs people hace correctly stated that injuries were a significant factor. Thats obvious just by comparing to prior years
Sure missing our offensive guards hurts. There's no debating that, but hard to speculate just how much that would have changed the outcomes.
It is not at all. Just watch the games. We have multiple plays blown up by replacement guards. Michael Jordan . . yeesh
And, IIRC, by Goedke coming back and having three penalties. Wirfs in and out. Our center playing LT.
The impact of injuries doesn't typically end when a guy gets back on the filed. Have you seen Godwin play the last two seasons? Thats what makes Evans play in the second Falcons game so awesome. it is NOT the NORM for a guy to come back and explode back on the scene
To use your words, in reverse
not sure how anyone can say 'injuries didnt matter' with a straight face.
of course they did
that doesnt absolve Bowles. but it impacts the analysis
there's no doubt it impacted the offense, in terms of the interior offensive lineman injuries; i just dont know how material it was to the ultimate landscape of the season.
We were 6-2 when one can easily argue that injuries were much worse - no Goedeke, no Bucky, no Evans, No Godwin, no McMillian, No Wirfs, etc. Didn't seem to impact them as biggs would rightfully so bring up a playoff game winning 49ers who had even worse in terms of injuries.
The 0-3 slide after that against good opponents is something we are all to familiar with. Be honest, does having every one of those players in those games change the outcome? A Rams team in prime time who owns us? Easily No right? How about a Bills team on the road? One could argue maybe albeit offense didnt seem to be the problem that game. Or the Patriots game where we essentially lost by 2 touchdowns before a garbage time TD.
So then at 7-5, a relatively healthy team, Ben Benderson goes down. Cody Mauch went down in week 2. Was Ben Brederson who's name i spelled 2 different ways and wrong in this run off paragraph that important to the team that Jason Licht decides to support the OG depth by drafting a guy in the 5th round this year - Billy Schrauth. Will he be ready to step in if injury or will he be as useful as Elijah Klein, 6th round pick from 2024. Seems like malpratice on Licht's part for us not to add a better offensive guard if Ben was up for Bucs MVP last year.
Licht can not be left off the hook because LG is more important than RG at the NFL level. The LG has to combo block with the center or LT Mayfield has to have confidence in his LG and LT. As the season showed you can get by with cast off at RG as it was musical chairs over there. But LG? That is when the wheels came off for this team in terms of pass protection but also using the LG to pull for running plays. Bucs couldn't do it or they risked Mayfield taking a greater beating.
Licht can not be left off the hook because LG is more important than RG at the NFL level.
Licht shouldn't be left off the hook for extending Bredeson.
Totally stupid on his part.
The guy isn't an NFL starter.
ION better???Bain is a self starting ass kicker
If you watch the UM tape you will see a man who changes games himself. He will do that in the NFL
I really can't believe he landed with us. Our defense is ions better than the one we ended the season with last year. It's weird...
An ion is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
Lolz...
No way is Bowles going to drop both ILBs into coverage while asking the OLBs and three down linemen to go after QBs. Bowles likes to blitz more than that on average.
This is the point Josh Q makes in his most recent article. Bowles must believe that the combination of a more downhill front 7, increased blitzing and Anzalone and Scott and Parrish helps resolve the key failing last year of short quick passing over the middle and in the flats.
Baker is supposed to be in Netflix’s Quarterback this season. Should be fun.
This is Bowles speaking but it's also what the Bucs seem to believe
"Well, the next step for us is trying to get to the Super Bowl,” Bowles said. “It’s a process. You gotta be healthy. You gotta get lucky. You gotta make plays. And you gotta do all those things. We lost a lot of three-point games, especially in the second half of the season. Those things gotta be corrected. But the guys we brought in, along with the draft picks, if it meshes all well we think we have as good a shot as anybody."
to get back to Mayfield, this is Josh Q
Baker Mayfield: $50-52 million per year
Mayfield is the most important to the team. But a market-value extension would require an extra $10 million in cash. That would break the Glazers’ spending habits. I’m not saying they won’t do it this offseason. Just that I see it as more likely to be priority No. 1 for the 2027 offseason.
And the Bucs have the franchise tag in their back pockets. This year’s tag was less than $44 million, and the quarterback market has stalled over the last 24 months. Tampa Bay has legitimate control over Mayfield past this year as a security blanket that gives them ample time to get a deal done. The realistic path is to let 2026 play out and use the franchise tag as a safety net to get the long-term extension in place before he plays a single snap in 2027.
beautiful post!
This is Bowles speaking but it's also what the Bucs seem to believe
"Well, the next step for us is trying to get to the Super Bowl,” Bowles said. “It’s a process. You gotta be healthy. You gotta get lucky. You gotta make plays. And you gotta do all those things. We lost a lot of three-point games, especially in the second half of the season. Those things gotta be corrected. But the guys we brought in, along with the draft picks, if it meshes all well we think we have as good a shot as anybody."
given what they are paid, the Bucs should have no problem affording Superbowl tickets
Baker is supposed to be in Netflix’s Quarterback this season. Should be fun.
filmed during the 2025 season
dude gets MVP talk after 6 games, commercials abound
Would be nice if he is more "dialed in" for the 2026 campaign now that he has all this galavanting behind him
This is Bowles speaking but it's also what the Bucs seem to believe
"Well, the next step for us is trying to get to the Super Bowl,” Bowles said. “It’s a process. You gotta be healthy. You gotta get lucky. You gotta make plays. And you gotta do all those things. We lost a lot of three-point games, especially in the second half of the season. Those things gotta be corrected. But the guys we brought in, along with the draft picks, if it meshes all well we think we have as good a shot as anybody."
Master class in "Coach speak". Nice job Todd. But talk is cheap Bud.
I think having all four starting offensive linemen back, both starting WR’s and a big X target, and a couple of starting RB’s to share the load all season, oh and his shoulder, arm, knees, being better protected, and healed…may help him more than anything Arch-the-fake-Manning will do for this team to get dialed-in.Baker is supposed to be in Netflix’s Quarterback this season. Should be fun.
filmed during the 2025 season
dude gets MVP talk after 6 games, commercials abound
Would be nice if he is more "dialed in" for the 2026 campaign now that he has all this galavanting behind him
And a defense that can stop an opponent on 3rd & 28 could go a long way to helping, too.
We’ll see.
Meanwhile, back in Texas…wonder how many commercials Arch is using to dial-in?
This is Bowles speaking but it's also what the Bucs seem to believe
"Well, the next step for us is trying to get to the Super Bowl,” Bowles said. “It’s a process. You gotta be healthy. You gotta get lucky. You gotta make plays. And you gotta do all those things. We lost a lot of three-point games, especially in the second half of the season. Those things gotta be corrected. But the guys we brought in, along with the draft picks, if it meshes all well we think we have as good a shot as anybody."
Master class in "Coach speak". Nice job Todd. But talk is cheap Bud.
it will all get sorted out on the field. Beauty of sports
Baker is supposed to be in Netflix’s Quarterback this season. Should be fun.
filmed during the 2025 season
dude gets MVP talk after 6 games, commercials abound
Would be nice if he is more "dialed in" for the 2026 campaign now that he has all this galavanting behind him
you're related to Trask?
it's all so personal :-)
This is Bowles speaking but it's also what the Bucs seem to believe
"Well, the next step for us is trying to get to the Super Bowl,” Bowles said. “It’s a process. You gotta be healthy. You gotta get lucky. You gotta make plays. And you gotta do all those things. We lost a lot of three-point games, especially in the second half of the season. Those things gotta be corrected. But the guys we brought in, along with the draft picks, if it meshes all well we think we have as good a shot as anybody."
Master class in "Coach speak". Nice job Todd. But talk is cheap Bud.
Yup, it's just more coach speak. But the coach speak still fools the leghumpers.
Baker is supposed to be in Netflix’s Quarterback this season. Should be fun.
filmed during the 2025 season
dude gets MVP talk after 6 games, commercials abound
Would be nice if he is more "dialed in" for the 2026 campaign now that he has all this galavanting behind him
you're related to Trask?
it's all so personal :-)
Honestly, it's the Philadelphia in me. I hold the stars of my favorite teams - Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, etc. to high standards
no different than Baker Mayfield with the Bucs. It's only because im a fan of his that i will critique him when reasonable to do so
for example, Hurts is critiqued weekly by Eagle Fans. Their head coach, 2 super bowl appearances, all playoff experiences, and winningest record in Eagles history would be fired if the Eagles went 8-9 and a playoff miss, particularly if it was in collapse fashion after a 6-2 start.
Tampa on the other hand? "ehhh...it's okay....stop talking bad about Baker and Bowles!"
meanwhile - more Eagles Fans at Raymond James then Bucs Fans when they play....so i dont necessarily think it's a bad trait.