Bucs Head Coach Todd Bowles Opens Up to Dan Sileo: Cutdown Day, Baker Mayfield, and Buccaneers Legacy
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers arrive at Week 18 battered, inconsistent, and somehow still alive in the NFC South race. After dropping seven of their last eight games, the Bucs have backed themselves into a corner. Yet the math remains simple: beat the Carolina Panthers, and hope the New Orleans Saints defeat the Atlanta Falcons. If both results fall their way, Tampa Bay claims the division crown and punches a postseason ticket. If not, Saturday night becomes the final chapter of their 2025 season.
This is the razor’s edge the Bucs now walk—one game, one chance, and no margin for error.
Despite their struggles, Tampa Bay holds two meaningful advantages entering this matchup. First, they return home, where the crowd has historically given them a lift in high‑pressure moments. Second, they lost the previous meeting with Carolina, which—oddly enough—gives them more to work with.
Coaches reviewing the film saw glaring issues: missed assignments, protection breakdowns, and defensive lapses that flipped the game. Teams that lose often learn more, and the Bucs believe they have the clearer roadmap for improvement. That combination of urgency, home‑field energy, and self‑correction could create the “perfect storm” they need to survive another week.
Key Player Comparison: Baker Mayfield vs. Panthers Defense
Baker Mayfield remains the emotional engine of this team. His toughness has never been questioned, but the offense has sputtered during the late‑season slide. ESPN and Pro Football Focus metrics show declining efficiency, particularly under pressure—an area Carolina exploited in their last meeting.
For Tampa Bay to win, Mayfield must rediscover his early‑season rhythm, push the ball vertically, and avoid the costly turnovers that have plagued recent losses.
Coaching Spotlight: Todd Bowles Under the Microscope
Head coach Todd Bowles enters this game with enormous pressure. National outlets—from ESPN to Fox Sports to CBS Sports—have openly discussed his uncertain future. A loss could intensify speculation about organizational changes, while a win (and a Saints upset of Atlanta) could buy Bowles another postseason opportunity.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 50th anniversary season officially ended at 4:12 p.m. on January 4, 2026, when the Atlanta Falcons edged the New Orleans Saints 19–17, creating a dramatic three‑way tie atop the NFC South. Despite Tampa Bay’s gritty win over Carolina the day before, the tiebreakers favored the Panthers, handing them the division crown and ending the Bucs’ streak of six straight postseason appearances and four consecutive NFC South titles. It was a bitter conclusion to a season that began with promise and ended with frustration, missed opportunities, and a division slipping away in the final minutes of Week 18.
A Collapse Defined by Missed Opportunities
The Buccaneers’ failure to repeat as division champions can be traced back to a season that started 6–1 but unraveled quickly. Tampa Bay won just two of its final nine games, including losses to multiple teams with losing records — the Falcons, Panthers, Saints, and Cardinals — all by three points or fewer. Any one of those games, had it gone the other way, would have made Saturday’s win over Carolina the clincher for a fifth straight NFC South title.
Instead, even as the Bucs slogged through a dark, rainy Saturday afternoon and beat the Panthers, they no longer controlled their destiny. Their season, in truth, ended long before the Falcons’ victory over the Saints made it official.
Todd Bowles’ Future and Major Offseason Decisions Loom
Now the focus shifts to head coach Todd Bowles and the future of his entire coaching staff. The Glazer family must determine how much of the collapse was due to coaching and how much stemmed from a roster ravaged by injuries on both sides of the ball — a theme echoed throughout the national and local media.
Then comes the biggest personnel decision: quarterback Baker Mayfield. Playing hurt for the final six weeks, Mayfield still produced enough to remain a fan favorite and respected locker‑room leader. He enters the final year of his contract in 2026, earning $30 million guaranteed, and according to reporting from Sports Illustrated, the team plans to begin extension discussions during the year. Still, Tampa Bay is expected to explore drafting a quarterback or signing a low‑cost veteran backup, with names such as Malik Willis and Tyler Huntley circulating as potential targets.
More Questions Than Answers as the Offseason Begins
As Tampa Bay enters the offseason, the organization faces more uncertainty than at any point in the last half‑decade. From coaching decisions to quarterback planning to rebuilding depth across the roster, the Buccaneers must confront hard truths about how a season that began with championship aspirations ended in disappointment.
The 50th anniversary season is over — and the next era begins now.
In a tough, double overtime game with over 70 free throws combined by both teams, the USF Bulls took a 109-106 loss on their home court to the UAB Blazers.
In the Bulls’ first game of American Conference play, they got some monster contributions from the usual suspects.
Wes Enis put up 36 points with 10 3 pointers, hitting big bucket after big bucket.
Izaiyah Nelson played his usual stifling brand of defense, but also contributed 23 points and 11 boards.
Unfortunately the biggest blow of the game came when guard CJ Brown fouled out after struggling most of the afternoon with his shot, only posting 8 points on 3-12 shooting from the field.
But the Bulls missed his playmaking dearly in the 2nd overtime, as the offense struggled without his 5 assists on the floor.
UAB managed to get a huge outing off the bench from Chance Westry, who had 24 points and 6 assists on 8-12 shooting from the field.
While it’s a bummer of a start for the Bulls in conference play, they played a very hard-fought game and have no reason to hang their heads based on effort.
They out rebounded UAB 61-49 and had 22 assists as a team.
The biggest thorn in the side of USF was unfortunately their inability to take care of the ball.
The Bulls nearly doubled the turnover total of the Blazers, committing 14 to UAB’s 8.
USF heads to Denton, Texas this Wednesday to take on the North Texas Mean Green, who have taken consecutive losses to begin their conference play against Tulsa and Memphis.
The Bulls have every chance to turn this season into a good one despite the disappointing start, and they certainly showed they have the talent to do so; if Brown stays on the floor, who knows how Sunday’s game turns out?
We’ll see how they bounce back from this loss, as they will undoubtedly want to take advantage of the winnable conference games before playing hefty opponents such as Tulane, Memphis, and Tulsa.
I think first and foremost, a big thank you is due to Sean McDonough. The call he had on this game was fantastic, and he proved why he was named the 2025 NSMA National Sportscaster of the Year. He gave us the call of the year, and now has some people wondering why he is ESPN’s B-team play-by-play guy. Now to the game itself…
Going into this game, both Georgia fans and the general public seemed to forget just how close Ole Miss was to beating Georgia in Athens on October 18th. The Rebels led by 9 in the 4th quarter and are a 4th&1 stop away from winning that game. Yet that didn’t stop seemingly every single member of the national media from picking Georgia. Plus, all of the general public put their money on Georgia. DraftKings reported that 95% of the money was on Georgia’s moneyline and 89% was on Georgia -6.
But Ole Miss did to Georgia exactly what they couldn’t in Athens. Put them away. When Georgia punched late, Trinidad Chambliss and the offense had a counterpunch. The Ole Miss defense gave up field goals instead of touchdowns for the most part in the second half. After I had time to digest the game, I thought about how that game in Athens earlier this year probably won Ole Miss this game.
There is a certain aspect in sports that is unquantifiable: game pressure. Each player deals with it differently, and you really don’t know how someone will react until they are in the moment. Trinidad Chambliss folded under the pressure of the moment in Athens earlier this year. ESPN actually asked him about it, and he made acknowledgments about his 4th quarter struggles in the first game. However, this time coming into the second half down 9, he didn’t just handle the game pressure; it felt like he attacked it.
I mean, some of the throws Chambliss made in that second half probably gave Kirby flashbacks to his time at Alabama facing Johnny Manziel. Scramble drills that resulted in some wild plays to keep drives alive or hit them for explosives. Those plays that Chambliss was able to make with his legs were impactful outside of the yards they gained. They gassed the Georgia defense. They had their hands on their hips, they were slower in their rushes, and were less effective in their run fits. That allowed Kewan Lacy to get going in the second half as well.
Since I haven’t yet given them credit. The Ole Miss defense got better throughout the year. A big storyline in the second half of the season was about how Georgia’s defense had improved. There wasn’t a lot of noise about how Ole Miss had gotten better. I guess if your Head Coach leaves, that automatically means you’re not allowed to improve as a team. They did, though. The biggest improvement was in their run defense. In game one in Athens, the Rebels gave up 221 yards on 49 carries, good for an average of 4.5. Game two, however, 124 yards on 37 carries, good for 3.4 yards a carry. In Athens, the Rebels didn’t force a punt; on Thursday, they forced 4. Their Pass defense was also better. I think that is a result of their improved run defense putting Georgia in disadvantaged situations on 2nd and 3rd down.
Now that we have given the Rebels their due credit, it’s time for a rant or two…
Questions regarding Georgia’s philosophy
I’ll be honest. I truly do not understand the philosophy regarding aggressiveness from Kirby Smart. Let me make one thing clear: I’m not questioning the outright play calling. I will never be in his realm in terms of what Kirby Smart knows about football. But I do feel like I have a good sense of momentum and clock management. There were two instances that I just don’t get…
The first comes after Georgia took a 9-point lead. The Bulldogs had three drives in which they were up 9 points. They went as follows: 3 plays, 3 yards, punt; 3 plays, 4 yards, punt; 6 plays, 12 yards, missed field goal. There was a lack of aggressiveness in those drives that was apparent. The only thing that makes those drives confusing is the fact that Kirby Smart would get aggressive after Georgia’s lead dwindled and dissipated. It gave the feeling of having a good grip on a rope, and once it starts slipping, you just start grabbing at it, hoping to hold on.
The second comes on Georgia’s last true offensive possession. With 1:13, Georgia has the ball at the Ole Miss 8. They run for 5 yards, run for 3 yards. Those caused Ole Miss to burn their two timeouts. They then decide to throw for it on 3rd down and don’t get it. Why? It seems that you had committed yourself to a conservative approach through the first 2 plays, then you get aggressive? The only reason it matters is that Georgia had all kinds of problems stopping Ole Miss between the 20’s, the entire second half. Their kicker had shown you he had plenty of leg to make a long field goal as well. You would think Georgia would have been content running down the clock and going into overtime, a format that would have favored the Dawgs, with what would have been momentum on their side going into the overtime period
Philosophy wasn’t Georgia’s only problem Ole Miss was too
There was a troubling underlying stat for Georgia that they kind of covered up for most of the year. The offensive efficiency has been a problem all year for the Dawgs. Offensive efficiency at its core is your ability to sustain drives. That’s fine when you’re one of the top teams in the country at turning red zone opportunities into touchdowns. But when those touchdowns stop, the cracks start to show. Twice in the second half, Georgia had red zone opportunities turn into field goals. They just could not finish the drives that they were successful on in the second half, and it cost them dearly.
Lastly, as a personal gripe, they had a complete and utter inability to maintain containment on Trinidad Chambliss. Which some of that is absolutely a credit to Chambliss. But specifically, the play that Chambliss made to Kewan Lacy on 3rd down, I watched Daylen Everette flatten his rush off, which allowed Chambliss to flip himself back to the left. Daylen is a corner, and pass rushing is not his job, but man, was that a crucial mistake.
To Georgia Fans
I will preface this by acknowledging that I am most likely talking to a loud minority, but. No, it wasn’t the officials’ fault that Georgia lost. I get it, targeting is frustrating, inconsistent, and needs to be addressed. It also isn’t a loss that should make you want to fire Mike Bobo or (and yes, I did see some people say this) have Kirby Smart step down. Ole Miss won this game because they executed when it mattered most better than Georgia did. Plain and simple. For as long as Kirby Smart is the Head Coach, Georgia will continue to be in this position, and it is physically impossible to win them all. Not to mention this is a relatively young team, and they will most likely be in a similar position next year. But for the love of god, as a fanbase, we have got to learn to lose better.
Politics8 years ago