Buccaneers Could Be on Verge of ‘Lost Season’ Without $112 Million WR Duo

Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles.

What once seemed like a promising season is on the verge of falling apart for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After doing everything right in the offseason, the Buccaneers have watched a promising, 3-1 start to the season come undone thanks to untimely injuries and a putrid defense.

That’s why ESPN’s Bill Barnwell is suggesting the Buccaneers look to move assets and possibly get back draft capital in return ahead of the NFL trade deadline on November 5 — essentially giving up on the season.

Tampa Bay is 4-4 headed into a Monday Night Football game at the 2-time defending Kansas City Chiefs on November 4 — a game in which the Buccaneers have just a 21 percent projected win probability. They follow that with a home game against the San Francisco 49ers on November 10 following a short week.

“The bigger problem in recent weeks has been the defense, which has been getting picked apart and making too many mental mistakes,” Barnwell wrote on October 31. “The Bucs have had too many moments in which receivers have found wide-open spots in zone coverage, and when they’ve played man coverage, opposing quarterbacks have gone 23-of-35 for 300 yards, six touchdowns and a 96.3 QBR. That QBR allowed in man coverage ranks 32nd in the league. They could have relied on (Baker) Mayfield and the passing game to win shootouts — they face the league’s easiest schedule moving forward — but this might become a lost season without Evans and Godwin.”

Godwin and Evans have both been missing since a Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in which Godwin was lost for the rest of the regular season with a dislocated ankle. Evans re-injured his hamstring and is out until at least after the bye in Week 11. `

Bad Defense Can’t Make Up For Missing Offense

The Buccaneers showed they can still score points without Evans and Godwin in a 31-26 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8, although most of the criticism following the game didn’t focus on the porous defense but on the play of quarterback Baker Mayfield, who went 37-of-50 passing for 330 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

“It’s understanding we’re in scoring position and trying not to force every ball,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times on October 28. “You know, sometimes it’s not there. Sometimes you can make a great throw. But not force every ball, just get it to the guy that’s open. Sometimes three points are better than a turnover.”

Bowles, who is in his third season as Tampa Bay’s head coach, built his reputation as an elite defensive assistant and defensive coordinator in the NFL, including on the Buccaneers when they won the Super Bowl following the 2020 season.

As a head coach, it’s been a different story.

Defenses Continually Get Worse Under Bowles

In 7 seasons as an NFL head coach, there’s been one constant under Bowles — the defense always gets worse when he’s in charge.

From 2015 to 2018, the New York Jets continued to plummet in team defense under Bowles; 4th in the NFL in 2015, 11th in 2016, 25th in 2017 and 25th in 2018.

In three seasons with the Buccaneers under Bowles, it’s been more of the same; 10th in team defense in 2022, 23rd in 2023 and are 30th through 8 games in 2024.