Pewter Report’s PR Roundtable
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A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough Bucs question. This week’s prompt: Which game on the Bucs’ 2026 schedule is the most interesting?

Scott Reynolds: Bucs’ Season Opener At Cincinnati Captivates Me

Well, I got my wish. In last week’s PR Roundtable, I lobbied for a Bucs vs. Panthers game in primetime, and I got it. Tampa Bay will host Carolina on Monday Night Football in Week 12, and that should be a good one as the Bucs try to recapture the NFC South title from the Panthers this year. But to me that is not the most interesting game on the schedule.

I wasn’t circling Tampa Bay at Cincinnati on the 2026 schedule – until it appeared in Week 1. Now I’m captivated by the matchup on the road where the Bucs have historically fared well in Week 1 under head coach Todd Bowles. In fact, Tampa Bay is undefeated in Weeks 1 and 2 under Bowles since he took over the team from Bruce Arians in 2022. And three of those four victories on opening day have come on the road. I’m expecting the Bucs to continue that winning streak this year in Cincy.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and Bengals QB Joe Burrow

As I outlined in last week’s SR’s FAB 5 column, the Bengals have a history of not playing well in Week 1 – even at home where they are 1-2 since Joe Burrow was drafted in 2020. The Bucs will have a relatively new offense with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson at the helm that the Bengals defense may not be prepared for. And Tampa Bay’s defense has been revamped this year and could have as many as five new starters in Week 1, which may make it difficult for Burrow and Co. to game plan for.

One of Cincinnati’s weaknesses is pass protection. Offensive tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Adarius Mims combined to surrender 14 sacks last year. I would suspect Rueben Bain Jr., Tampa Bay’s first-round pick, could have quite a debut performance playing opposite Yaya Diaby in Week 1. Tampa Bay’s improved pass rush will need to be hot out of the gate in Cincy to protect what could be a weakness at the cornerback position. Zyon McCollum was picked on last season and had a down year, while Benjamin Morrison or Jacob Parrish, a pair of second-year players, will compete to replace Jamel Dean at the opposite starting spot.

It will be fascinating to see how much pressure the Bucs can apply to Burrow in the season opener, and if he’ll have to time to exploit Tampa Bay’s corners with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins downfield. The Bucs schedule is quite challenging after the bye week, so Bowles and Co. better continue the trend of starting the year hot.

Matt Matera: Baker’s Scorn Of The Browns Highlights Bucs Home Opener

No player in the NFL holds a grudge like Baker Mayfield. That man hates his enemies and he’s doesn’t care who knows it. That’s why I was very tempted to take Mayfield and the Bucs’ first matchup against the Falcons and head coach Kevin Stefanski, who Mayfield had some choice words for this offseason, but I’ll stick with the team decided to move on from him, sending a much different trajectory of his career path.

Baker Mayfield did play against the Browns in 2022 when he was on the Panthers, but this is a much different version of him. Mayfield is well more established as a starter with the Bucs, and it feels like the true matchup we all want to see with him going against his old team. Mayfield holds grudges, and surely he will take this one personal. If he gets the chance to run up the score or showboat against them, he will.

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

There are other fun storylines as well going into this one. Browns head coach Todd Monken used to be the offensive coordinator for the Bucs and also coached Mayfield in Cleveland. He’s a first time head coach an this will be his second career game. We also get a fantastic matchup with the best of the best going at it between Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs and Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett. That’s an event worthy of a pay per view.

Plus, we’ll also find out if the Bucs decide to wear their 1976 throwback uniforms once again. They did it last year and it led to a win, so maybe they’ll do it again for the 2026 season. Either way, all roads lead back to Mayfield winning a grudge match. He’s as passionate as it gets and he’ll put the everything on the line just to get the better of a team he hates. Get ready for a great an entertaining feud in the game.

Adam Slivon: Will The Bucs Be Preparing For Playoffs When Playing The Rams?

The Bucs playing the Rams at the end of the season has flown under the radar compared to other matchups on the 2026 schedule, but it could have huge implications on whether Tampa Bay makes the playoffs and what seed they could be. Given that the NFC South has come down to the wire in recent years, this lines up as a must-win game in Week 17. Sandwiched between road games against the Falcons in Week 16 and the Saints in Week 18, it will not be easy for the Bucs to enter either road environment and win.

What the team looks like by the end of the year against an NFC juggernaut at home will say a lot about how much fight they have in them.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and Rams QB Matthew Stafford – Photo by: IMAGN Images

Looking at last year, Tampa Bay lost several winnable games down the stretch that showcased just how much the team was in a downward spiral and not a playoff-caliber squad. That is why Week 17 strikes me as the most interesting matchup on the schedule. Things could go in a variety of ways, but the game will mean something. At that point, the Bucs will either have clinched a playoff berth, need a win to get in, or be playing for pride to close out the season. No matter how it is sliced, it is an end-of-season measuring stick against a Rams team that finished 12-5 in 2025 with the league’s best offense and a top 10 defense.

Baker Mayfield will surely be hoping to exact some revenge against the team that gave him a chance for a brief stint in 2022. The Bucs got blown out 34-7 playing the Rams last season in a game Mayfield left injured. It went about as bad as it could have, but coming out with a win would be a statement heading into the playoffs that they can compete and beat a talented team. Can Zac Robinson dial up an offensive gameplan Sean McVay is not expecting? Will Tampa Bay’s defense be able to slow down Matthew Stafford’s success through the air? Week 17 will bring answers to these questions and say a lot about what the ceiling ultimately is for the Bucs in 2026.

Josh Queipo: Dallas On Thursday Night Has Piqued My Interest

Dak Prescott has finished in the top 12 in EPA/dropback in all but one year since 2021. The Cowboys’ running game was fantastic last year and they are returning their line and resurgent running back, Javonte Williams. For all the fanfare surrounding Ben Johnson, Kyle Shanahan, Liam Coen and Sean McVay, it is Brian Schottenheimer who really seems to have the pulse on a modern-day offense that is hard to gameplan for. And it’s an offense that may give Todd Bowles fits – even with his upgraded defense.

Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today

And Dallas’ defense may surprise people this year. Dee Winters was a solid pickup. Rashan Gary can be a Robin to a Batman, and Quinnen Williams is a legit Batman. Expect a year two jump from Donovan Ezeiruaku paired with a talented rookie in Malachi Lawrence and you have the makings of a “don’t sleep on them” defense.

And did I mention all of this will play out on the road on Thursday Night Football? This has all the makings of a peculiar “this could go any which way” matchup that I will have my eyes glued to.

Bailey Adams: I’m Intrigued By The December Bucs-Chargers Matchup

It’d be easy to pick one of the marquee NFC matchups the Bucs have this season, whether that’s the Packers in Week 4, the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football in Week 5, the Bears on Sunday Night Football in Week 9, the Lions in Week 11 or the Rams in Week 17. The game against the Ravens in Week 14 carries its own intrigue, and of course I’m interested in the opener against Joe Burrow and the Bengals in Cincinnati.

But my pick here is the Bucs’ home game against the Chargers at the start of December. Every time I look at Tampa Bay’s 2026 schedule, I’m drawn to the matchups against the teams that are on the slate less often. We’ve seen the Bucs play those aforementioned NFC teams plenty in recent years. They’ve also matched up with the Ravens a couple of times in primetime as of late. That’s part of the reason I’m looking forward to the game against the Bengals, as the two sides haven’t met in a regular season game since 2022.

The Chargers are kind of in between those categories. They’re really not a frequent opponent of the Bucs’. Yet Tampa Bay played at Los Angeles in 2024 and they’ll play again in 2028, so with this occurring every two years over a six-year stretch, that doesn’t exactly make this matchup a rarity. But the Chargers haven’t come to Tampa since 2020, which was Tom Brady’s first year as a Buc and Justin Herbert’s rookie season. And the last time they came to Raymond James Stadium without a limited capacity? That was in 2012.

Chargers QB Justin Herbert – Photo by: USA Today

It always seems to be fun when these two teams match up. In that 2020 game, Herbert lit it up, throwing for 290 yards and three touchdowns. The Chargers had a 24-7 lead over Brady and the Bucs at one point, but Brady led a comeback 38-35 win that saw him throw five touchdowns to five different receivers. When Tampa Bay went out to Los Angeles in 2024, it played one of its best games of the season, with Baker Mayfield throwing for 288 yards and four touchdowns in a 40-17 win.

Both of these teams have playoff and division title aspirations in 2026, and they’ll both feel like there’s plenty on the table for them. When they meet in December, it’ll be the start of the home stretch for both teams. So, while it’s an NFC-AFC matchup that won’t necessarily do anything in the tiebreaker scenarios, it’s sure to be a meaningful game between two fun quarterbacks in Herbert and Baker Mayfield and two talented offenses. That could mean a lot of points. Can the Bucs win a fifth straight game over the Chargers? I’m excited to find out on Dec. 6.