The Buccaneers Are a Sinking Ship.

 

Winning is the best deodorant in sports. It covers everything. Win ugly, and nobody cares how it smelled. But the Buccaneers aren’t even doing that anymore. Lately, they’re losing ugly and there’s no masking that.

In prior years, the Bucs would finish the season on a hot streak. However, this season, the Bucs are mired in a four-game losing streak and have dropped seven of its last eight. That’s not a slump. That’s a collapse. Saturday’s game against the Carolina Panthers is a must-win — winner takes the division, unless the Falcons have something to say about it. But even the stakes don’t feel dramatic anymore.

The team is a mess. The offense has actually been alright. It has been productive, but it’s also been careless. Turnovers at the worst time have been the offense’s worst self-inflicted wounds. Perhaps if the Bucs rested Baker Mayfield a few games instead of having him out there getting battered could have prevented some of the turnovers. As for the other side of the line, the defense has been atrocious. They are not dominating teams and without causing turnovers, the defense just is part of the show. All season long, the Bucs have given up big plays and have been guilty of missed assignments and missed tackles. Quite frankly, no one is intimidated when they face the Bucs. For a team built around defense and coached by a defensive-minded head coach, that’s unforgivable. Even the special teams have been team players in also playing poorly. Injuries were an excuse in the past but everyone is back and the team still looks the same.

The interesting factor here is that, for once, many fans won’t even be angry if the Bucs lose and miss the playoffs. Even if Tampa sneaks into the postseason, no one expects them to do anything. Just an early exit and a waste of talent. The fans don’t care and are tired of this team’s direction under head coach Todd Bowles.

Under Todd Bowles, the ceiling is painfully clear.  This ship is sinking, and staying afloat just long enough to delay the inevitable isn’t success; it’s denial. At some point, the Bucs either fix the foundation or stop pretending duct tape is a solution. The Buccaneers don’t need another cosmetic win. They need a new direction, and the longer they wait, the deeper the water gets in this sinking ship.

Bucs Still Look Familiar.

Another year, another déjà vu season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Midway through the season, the Bucs are now 6-4. We are back to watching the Bucs go through the routine pattern under head coach Todd Bowles.  With seven games to go, will the Bucs finish the season the same way they have the last few seasons under Bowles?

At this point, watching the Bucs under Todd Bowles the last few seasons feels like tuning into an ’80s TV classic — something like Knight Rider or The A-Team. Sure, they are exciting to watch, but after a few seasons, it got repetitive and stale. That’s what Bucs fans are dealing with now. Under Bowles, the Bucs kick off the season in impressive fashion and then go on a losing streak a late-season hot streak to win the division and get to the playoffs.

This year, the Bucs are doing the same thing. The Bucs started the season on a winning note. Sure, it involved last minute heroics by beating teams they should beat. The Bucs were once 6-2 and now they are 6-4 and should they lose to the Rams tonight, they will be 6-5, and on a three-game losing streak.

The team’s inconsistent performances only deepen the frustration. One week, the offense shows up firing while the defense seems lost. The next week, the defense is showing up while the offense struggles to get going.  Obviously, injuries to some key players doesn't help, but one can only hope everyone shows up for the Bucs on game day.

Will this season be another typical Bowles season that started with promise, slipped into the same old rut, with fans now expecting a late surge to win their division and get to the playoffs? Overall, what the Bucs are doing is not a recipe for real success. Until something changes at the top, Tampa Bay fans may be stuck watching the same old show that they have been watching. All we are left with is a cycle that the Bucs can’t seem to break, which is unfortunate since it will be a waste of talent that the Bucs are blessed with.