Expectations Should Be Sky High
December 15th, 2024
The Bucs’ fearless leaders.
Perhaps everyone now knows why Joe was thoroughly disgusted after the Bucs beat the Panthers two weeks ago.
The Bucs have talent, a strong mix of youth and Super Bowl experience, quality coaches and a no-nonsense internal culture with a franchise quarterback. So there simply was no way the Bucs should have needed a near-miracle in overtime to beat sadsack Carolina in a must-win game.
But it happened, and it was unacceptable. That “W” wasn’t what it should have been.
Today’s hammering of the Chargers is the kind of play the Bucs are capable of every week. And Bucs fans shouldn’t lower their standards.
Tampa Bay has an offense with the power to overcome hiccups and there’s too much talent and depth on the defense to not make enough plays to complement that fantastic, balanced yet explosive offense.
Joe thinks the Bucs (8-6) can and should win out against Dallas, Carolina and New Orleans and finish 11-6. That would be a seven-game winning streak out of their bye week.
Once upon a time in 2020, the Bucs won every game after their bye week … .
The Bucs may not have much of an edge rush, but they’ve got a franchise quarterback, playmakers on both sides of the ball and they can score. That makes them capable of nearly anything.
Joe feels now how fans of every team should want to feel when the calendar hits Dec. 15. It’s an incredible feeling.
Bravo to Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht and Todd Bowles for what they’ve done to get this club and Bucs fans to this point.
Now keep hammering away!
December 15th, 2024 at 7:57 pm
You know it’s a great day when Kyle QB2 Trask plays more than 2 snaps
December 15th, 2024 at 7:57 pm
Joe…you and some others should acknowledge that you were wrong…..
You’re going to have to narrow that down a litte. –Joe
December 15th, 2024 at 7:58 pm
Im still pushing for Kyle Kennard, Cam Skattebo…dont know 3rd, itll be a DB, but Debo Williams with our 4th
December 15th, 2024 at 8:00 pm
They definitely proved today that on their best day, they can beat anyone in the league. This is a Super Bowl caliber team if they don’t shoot themselves in the foot.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:00 pm
Bowles was in his bag
December 15th, 2024 at 8:00 pm
Kyle Trask led us to our most impressive win!
December 15th, 2024 at 8:01 pm
Bowles gets a game ball. The defense was Charger READY!!
December 15th, 2024 at 8:02 pm
Bucky…White…mini A-train Skattebo….jeeze at that 3 headed monster
December 15th, 2024 at 8:03 pm
And McMillan is starting to heat up. We really need him with Godwin out. Let’s carry this big mo into Dallas.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:04 pm
This …. Is ….. the ….NFL. On any given day….
Great win for the Bucs traveling west and playing a solid team. Just shows that they can beat anyone. Good team. Good coaching staff. Good front office.
Just need to keep taking one game at a time.
Down go the Cowboys next week. That’s the goal.
Turn good into great.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:07 pm
“Perhaps everyone now knows why Joe was thoroughly disgusted after the Bucs beat the Panthers two weeks ago.”
Yea – you don’t know much about football.
Seriously dude just stop. You have been sh*ting on the team all year.
That’s totally inaccurate. And if it were true, then what are you coming here for all year? Joe picked the Bucs to win the division. Joe believed the team was capable of equaling or exceeding what it accomplished last year in the playoffs. Joe was in agony for what the Bucs did against Carolina (and wrote about it) because of the team was better than that and Joe expected better.–Joe
No: you didn’t know. And it is pathetic to claim you did.
Just enjoy the win and stop pretending like you know more than you do.
Because I still remember what you said about Jameis Winston.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:09 pm
lets keep it tempered bucs better get their defenders back for the playoffs. chargers missing best rb and tight end. herbert and mcconkey were playing injured. johnston left the game injured. bowles did not outcoach harbaugh.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:10 pm
Its a Big deal to win on the west coast period. To blow them out after we were losing the turnover battle says we wanted it more and then we made them quit. They have more healthy talent right now than we do period. But we curb stopped them. Bravo Coach Bowles offense and defense showed up now imagine we can get healthier and get on a run. Whoo boy watch out.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:10 pm
chargers are not a good team with the players they fielded today
December 15th, 2024 at 8:11 pm
Is it my imagination or did we just get through a game without a major injury?
December 15th, 2024 at 8:12 pm
Great win. No one is gonna want to play the Bucs in the playoffs, provided they make it. This may be the best offensive line the Bucs have ever had.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:12 pm
If they actually had an edge rusher and a consistent way of getting pressure besides blitzes, they would be a scary team. They’ve got the offense but the D has to start showing this type of play before they’ll be a deep playoff team.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:14 pm
Can you imagine how great this team would be if we had one great edge rusher. Yaya and JST are a disappointment.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:14 pm
@ Oxycondomns: cry me a river, look at who we’re missing!!! (all pro’s at every level)
December 15th, 2024 at 8:18 pm
Thank God for Baker! Truly a Franchise QB.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:19 pm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ok, one on each side of the ball.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:20 pm
Great overall team win. All 3 phases plays well. Not going to lie that pick had me so mad. What a terrible throw but baker bounced back and had a great game. Defense played like it’s supposed to even with all the injuries. Crazy thought this game would be a shoot out
December 15th, 2024 at 8:20 pm
It would be cutting it too close, and no one turns down a home game in the playoffs, but really… honestly… I’d much rather play the Eagles in the first round as opposed to the other likely outcomes – which would be playing the Packers or Vikings at home. The Bucs can win either of those games (and also they could get blown out, depends on the week), but the absolute meltdown the Eagles fans would have if they lost to the Bucs again in the playoffs … I’d just really really like to see that. But for that to happen, the Bucs would have to lose at least one game, and the Falcons win out, which also puts the Bucs in a situation where they could still miss the playoffs, so that’s too much of a gamble. But the idea of beating the Eagles yet again … at that point it would have to the Dungy curse for Philly.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:21 pm
Joe acts like a gritty win against a Carolina team who nearly took down KC and Philly was a loss.
There are no bad losses in this league
December 15th, 2024 at 8:21 pm
Rjscheapseats Says:
“Perhaps everyone now knows why Joe was thoroughly disgusted after the Bucs beat the Panthers two weeks ago.”
Yea – you don’t know much about football.
Seriously dude just stop. You have been sh*ting on the team all year.”
If you are going to call out Joe, be accurate, because that is simply not true.
Here’s Accurate:
At least one Joe suggested several times before the season that the chances were high that Mayfield would regress this year. I’m sure he is happy to have been wrong.
I do wish the Bucs could dominate all game…including the second quarter.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:22 pm
Rjscheapseats – dude you’ve got a bit of nerve bashing the Joes on here. Freedom of speech and all – but these are our boys.
Appreciate you Joes.
Awesome dominant game!!
December 15th, 2024 at 8:23 pm
There is a pattern that is very concerning. The team can look great and beat very good teams and the following week lay an egg against a lesser team. The players can play with fire and heart one week and look like **** the next. Forget the injuries, the talent and ability is there for consistent performance. The lack of consistent performance seems to me to be the fault of the coaching staff. The weekly preparation is inconsistent. There is a weak link to be found and it must be corrected for this team to achieve their true potential. Forget the ATL and CAR games, the Denver game is the one to be scrutinized. Don’t forget Bowles saying ” I had nothing to do with that.” Oh yes he did.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:24 pm
Bowles and Coen are a great combo that feed off each other. Great fit. Go Bucs
December 15th, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Sky high?????? The back end of the defense is not in good shape, the walking wounded. They played a decent game today, but that was more about a PASS RUSH, and Herbert being nicked up right now, which helped being able to hit him alot and rattle him into some bad throws, and the interception.
Baker had a B game, got a little careless but overall decent, along with a punishing run game again.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Hey Joe – I haven’t been coming here all year. Sorry to bruise your little ego.
I have come here on and off in the past – less so since the Fire Bowles into the sun became every third comment.
I enjoyed today – because the team played and like my team to win and I hate all the loser trolls here. The Bucs talent was pretty obvious to anyone. Why you think that makes you smart is beyond me.
You know who knows something – the guys whose draftkings accounts show they win way more than they lose. It’s kind of funny how few those guys are – and how they damn sure don’t host blogs on the internet.
Just once I would like to see some media type reveal how they did on a weekend.
The rest of us (even if we played and I did in high school) are just trying to enjoy the game. If you played you know football is complicated as hell – and that crap happens.
What I can’t stand – and have little patience for – is know it alls who pretend. Dude after all that you wrote about Winston are you REALLY going to claim you know more than the people who sit around me at the Bucs games?
Lighten up. It’s just football.
You’re saying Joe should lighten up? Joe is not bruised, but it’s appreciated if you don’t misrepresent Joe’s takes/analysis. …Joe’s wagers (not in-game action, sorry) can be found on the home page in the “Betting The Bucs” feature. –Joe
December 15th, 2024 at 8:26 pm
2 – TWO? 50+ yard explosive plays? That’s insane. One might argue that kind of production isn’t sustainable, but dang. I had this game dead even going in, and to dominate like the Bucs did is a good feeling.
Let’s pray the Bucs are consistent the next 3+ weeks. I’m impressed.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:30 pm
Wow, the psychopaths have turned their claws on Joe for pointing out how terrible the Bucs played vs the Panthers – which is a completely true statement.
I guess we can see who the audience was for those awful official Buccaneers magazines that I used to see at Winn Dixie as a kid. I remember the first time I saw one and got all excited that finally, an entire magazine at the Bucs, then I started reading it and even as a 10-year old I knew it was a bunch of fluff garbage and completely worthless. I always wondered who bought that trash, and now I know.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:30 pm
Can’t we all just get along?
December 15th, 2024 at 8:32 pm
The defense is back to it’s old self with effective blitzes, putting the opposing QB on the ground. Holding the Chargers to 17 points is my big highlight. Some people will say Herbert had a bad ankle, but he had a solid 1st half, he didn’t appear to limp much, and he RAN off the field at the end of the game. The Chargers were healthy enough to compete, we just beat a very good team!
December 15th, 2024 at 8:33 pm
I am frankly amazed that Coach Bowles made adjustments at halftime and actually outcoached Harbaugh. It is a great win and the Bucs stay in first place regardless of what the ATL does tomorrow night. Too bad the Aints could not covert that 2 point conversion versus the Commanders. Also, the Cowboys may not be quite as bad as people think as they boat raced the Panthers today. One game at a time, Bucs need to show up and take care of business in Dallas on MNF, Bowles has to make sure the team does not start reading the press clippings and have a let down. Go Bucs, awesome win. Baker, Evans and Bucky! Amazing stuff!
December 15th, 2024 at 8:34 pm
Things like “you don’t know football” AND “lighten up, it’s just football” in successive posts tells me everything I need to know about a commenter.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:35 pm
A talented and well coached team should not have to have their backs against the wall to play to their potential. It is the coaches responsibility to extract the best from the players. It is the responsibility of the coaches to find the ways to motivate each individual.
Kudos to Dean for showing up finally.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:38 pm
august 1976 buc
a b game? lmao he had 4td, 288 yds, 135.3 passer rating, and 81.5% completion rate. lol what does he have to do for an a game? gtfoh.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:41 pm
Rod Munch, wow your mention of the old Bucs magazine back in the late ’70s and ’80s brings back memories. I think it was the brain child of Rick Odioso who was the Bucs Director of Public Relations back in the day. He also arranged for players to come and make appearances for groups from time to time such as church groups, boy scouts and little league banquets etc…. Yeah, that magazine was fluff, I used to rely on the sage articles from Tom McEwan at the Trib rather than the magazine you referenced. Brings back memories of $6 south end zone seats that my Dad and I had back in the late ’70s and that amazing worst to first run in 1979.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:45 pm
Baker is playing at a level equal to or better than HOF candidate Drew Brees. Some of the commenters here have a clear case of Baker derangement syndrome.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:47 pm
August 1976 Buc Says:
Baker had a B game, got a little careless but overall decent, along with a punishing run game again.
———-
Baker had like one bad pass all game — although I’m sure the Baker Boi(s) will tell us that he actually was perfect on the pass and it was someone else’s fault or it didn’t happen.
But Baker was great today, and you’re nuts if you think that was a B game. Yeah, the rest of the team also showed up, but that’s how you get a 40-17 score, and not like a 40-38 score.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:49 pm
Eh the Panthers game was a game against a division foe, where many of the players know each other’s tendencies pretty well, who had the previous year’s OC, a guy who faced this D everyday for a year, as the head coach and their DC was the DC in LA when Coen was the OC. Carolina was able to prepare for that game by essentially knowing both playbooks.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:54 pm
@ rod munch
you must not have been in the chat when baker threw that interception. not a single person said anything other than that it was a terrible pass by baker. 100% on him.
December 15th, 2024 at 8:54 pm
FortMyersDave Says:
December 15th, 2024 at 8:41 pm
Rod Munch, wow your mention of the old Bucs magazine back in the late ’70s and ’80s brings back memories. I think it was the brain child of Rick Odioso who was the Bucs Director of Public Relations back in the day. He also arranged for players to come and make appearances for groups from time to time such as church groups, boy scouts and little league banquets etc…. Yeah, that magazine was fluff, I used to rely on the sage articles from Tom McEwan at the Trib rather than the magazine you referenced.
————
My memory goes back just to the mid-80s, but man did I hate those magazines. Also, like you, I always loved the Trib, always thought they had a much better sports section than the Times, and would also get Pro Football Weekly when I could (although that’s getting into the late 80s, very early 90s). Also I’d get The Sporting News weekly before they destroyed themselves and just started doing a SI like magazine at which point I never read them again.
But those awful official Buccaneers magazines – I think my grandmother or aunt would buy me one from time to time because I like the Bucs, and I’d have to fake liking it. That feeling of hate towards it has stuck with me for close to 40 years now.
December 15th, 2024 at 9:01 pm
I have a thought on Mayfield in the 2nd quarter….
Just play Trask in the 2nd quarter every game then we’ll be fine 😂😂😂
December 15th, 2024 at 9:14 pm
Bucsfan1988 Says:
December 15th, 2024 at 9:01 pm
I have a thought on Mayfield in the 2nd quarter….
Just play Trask in the 2nd quarter every game then we’ll be fine 😂😂😂
baker only had one bad pass for that interception in the second qtr. they scored 2 fg and he also had a 21 yd scramble in the second qtr.
December 15th, 2024 at 9:26 pm
This may be Bowles biggest win. How many times has he been out coached by other big name coaches. I normally hate on Bowles but I will give him credit for this game. He made adjustments at halftime because we shut them out the second half.
December 15th, 2024 at 9:40 pm
lol lol Rod “But Baker was great today, and you’re nuts if you think that was a B game. Yeah, the rest of the team also showed up, but that’s how you get a 40-17 score, and not like a 40-38 score”.
lol lol Yes a B game why do I say? I am looking for him to not have those knucklehead Jameis type passes that get you beat, like the Atlanta game. He had one near the goal line again today. He has thrown away points in multiple games when in the Red Zone. He threw 2 against Atlanta, which cost the second game Atl game. For whatever reason, he will force a throw, that just should not be thrown, and sometimes he will do it for multiple throws. I like Baker, and think he is a legit, and gritty QB. I also there is no way he is happy throwing thoses type passes, with the way he works at it.
December 15th, 2024 at 9:48 pm
Are we that much better with AWJr out? Not sure if I’m the only one who noticed, but Merriweather was constantly in position and made a number of quick angled tackles. No YAC today, except for the Johnson TD and that was McCollum and Tykee
December 15th, 2024 at 9:52 pm
I hope our boys don’t create a trap game for themselves during a critical stretch. the cowboys have beat some quality teams this year. and we nearly lost to the panthers… there is no expectation. only preparation.
December 15th, 2024 at 10:14 pm
When we wake up in the morning we should be the 3 seed in the NFC! Proud of this team!
December 15th, 2024 at 10:15 pm
August 1976 – You can make all the knuckleheaded plays you want in a 40-17 win. Also It wasn’t a bad read by Baker, it was a bad throw, and to think any QB is going to not make a bad throw all game is ridiculous.
December 15th, 2024 at 10:24 pm
Blah blah blah Rod Knucklehead pass, means throwing one you know not to do. Not simply an inaccurate pass, but one you know not to do, and kick yourself for throwing.
Just like you Rod, I have opinions others do not like lol lol
December 15th, 2024 at 10:51 pm
They can keep this rolling. Amazing how the offense takes off once bucky runs the ball. More bucky more baker, evans is back to form and the young Wipeout is starting to pop