Ira Kaufman’s 10 Takeaways From Bucs-Panthers
December 29th, 2024
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
That’s the way you handle your business.
To give themselves a chance at a fourth consecutive NFC South title, the Bucs had to do their own part by beating the Panthers. They stomped Carolina, handing former offensive coordinator Dave Canales a stinging 48-14 setback, matching the franchise record for most points scored in a home game.
It was a complete performance led by Baker Mayfield and an unstoppable offense that rolled up 33 first downs and 551 yards.
Well deserved hugs for Bucky Irving.
Rookies Bucky Irving and Jalen McMillan took turns tormenting the visitors while Mike Evans caught a pair of short TD passes and closed in on another 1,000-yard season.
Todd Bowles wasn’t happy with Adam Thielen’s 40-yard scoring reception that gave Carolina some hope in the final minute of the opening half, but Tampa Bay regrouped and blanked the Panthers 21-0 in the last two quarters.
Payne Durham joined the fun with his first NFL TD catch and J.J. Russell dashed 23 yards for a score with a punt that was blocked by Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.
Mayfield was spectacular, throwing five scoring passes and only five incompletions. He spread the wealth to nine different targets and Evans is now only 85 yards away from the 1,000-yard mark.
McMillan has emerged as a serious threat with six TD catches in the last four weeks.
At 9-7, the Bucs are now guaranteed another winning season under Bowles, who has bigger accomplishments in mind.
The rain held off until an hour after the game but Carolina’s defense, missing standout cornerback Jaycee Horn, was left high and dry as Tampa Bay converted 10-of-14 on third down and didn’t turn the ball over.
Not even a wayward duck wandering the field could slow Tampa Bay’s momentum.
Irving, now established as the No. 1 ball carrier, accounted for 190 yards from scrimmage, leaving a slew of would-be tacklers in his wake.
The Bucs gained 337 yards in the first half alone, scoring once again on their opening possession. Mayfield’s protection was stout and the offensive line carved out massive holes in a 202-yard ground game.
Bryce Young was sacked five times and Carolina’s run game went nowhere, averaging 3.0 yards. The only bright spot for the Panthers was Thielen, a crafty veteran who caught five passes for 110 yards and two scores.
Here’s how the Bucs rewarded their fans with a dominating victory, giving them a 5-1 mark since the bye week and rebounding forcefully from the bitter loss at Dallas:
Rookie center Graham Barton.
* What a draft class for Jason Licht and his scouting staff. Irving, McMillan, Graham Barton and Tykee Smith have made significant contributions as rookies. The light has turned on for McMillan, who had only one TD catch in his first eight games. He has five receptions in each of his last three games and Liam Coen is doing a stellar scheme job, freeing McMillan up in space.
* Tampa Bay’s rush defense is peaking at the right time. While the Buc run game is flourishing, opponents have been held under 100 yards on the ground for seven consecutive games. It helped Sunday when 1,195-yard rusher Chuba Hubbard was declared inactive with a calf strain.
* Somebody needs to remind Trey Palmer that you don’t field a punt inside your 10-yard line. His questionable judgment could cost the Bucs a game.
* Mayfield was at the top of his game from the start, making smart reads and getting everyone involved. With 39 TD passes on the season, Mayfield needs five against the Saints in Week 18 to top Tom Brady’s single-season franchise mark set in 2021.
* You want big plays? Five of Tampa Bay’s 74 snaps gained at least 26 yards.
Liam Coen is in line for a huge award, explains Ira Kaufman.
* The Bucs have scored at least 30 points in half of their 16 games this season. That’s why Liam Coen will likely be the first name on my ballot next week when selecting the NFL’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
* Evans surely wants to keep that 1,000-yard streak alive, but Mayfield REALLY wants to keep it going. Look for No. 13 to be targeted heavily in the early stages of Sunday’s matchup. “I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next week,” Mayfield said.
* Speaking of 1,000 yards, Irving now has 1,033 yards on the ground. More importantly, he’s averaging a stunning 5.5 yards per carry. He seems to bust a big run every week and the Saints defense better hustle to the ball or Irving will wreck the game plan.
* It takes a lot for Bowles to pull Mayfield from a game, but the time was right midway through the fourth quarter and the Bucs ahead by 34 points. Kyle Trask didn’t get to attempt a pass, but Mayfield avoided any chance of a late-game injury. Smart move.
* Bowles has a chance to go 10-7 in his third season on the Tampa Bay sidelines. Given the array of injuries the Bucs have suffered and the 4-6 start, that would be no small achievement.
December 29th, 2024 at 7:20 pm
Ira, your last paragraph was spot on…….
Agree 100%
December 29th, 2024 at 7:25 pm
The negatives he’s done to lose us games over the last 3 seasons and the serious lack of higher tier coaching of the players far out weigh him keeping the ship righted thru the slew of injuries. He is a mediocre head coach with a useless defensive philosophy that has players flip flopping their responsibilities with other positions that they never trained for while playing else where. His “exotic” blitzes barely fool anyone and his defense can’t be counted on to protect a small lead. His players have forgotten how to cover receivers of all talent level and they run wide open everywhere on the field. When the offense has the games it has had this season is a shame to have a head coach who coaches not to lose
December 29th, 2024 at 7:33 pm
I don’t know, Ira. I just can’t buy in to the injuries as a genuine reason for the defense’s poor performances. His defense has done pretty decent in some games and with those same injuries, stunk it up as well. Scheme and injuries? You will have a hard time convincing reasonable fans that injuries are at the heart of the problem. Many will point to the scheme. That is the reason fans are pushing for a change. Coach has posted a .500 winning percentage for a reason. To convince them his ceiling is anything greater than that. That’s a tough sell.
December 29th, 2024 at 7:44 pm
He’s a very mediocre head coach and in today’s game he’s a very poor D coordinator….our team should be at 12+ wins with the current talent Defensive genius, i think not! Too many years with similar results. The Glazers must make a move
December 29th, 2024 at 7:58 pm
I am on the fence as far as Bowles is concerned. I blame Liccht and his poor defensive drafting as much as BowlesL Logan Hall shows up every now and then and JTMs is still the Invisible Man
December 29th, 2024 at 8:01 pm
The team seems very close. One more year for Bowles with a defense-heavy draft, I would say. And pay Coen a lot of money for another year.
December 29th, 2024 at 8:08 pm
I’m sorry, but this still doesn’t remove the stench of last weeks loss to the Cowgirls for me. That was a must win game and Bowles defensive game plan was atrocious and the timeout before halftime with 50 seconds left was moronic.
This win only matters if the Falcons lose tonight.
December 29th, 2024 at 8:11 pm
Players make plays, when you look at the losses, yes, the Chiefs game come to mind… But the Cowboys game, the Falcons games, we turned the ball over at in opportune times. Denver we underestimated, that’s on Bowles and Ravens were the better team that game
December 29th, 2024 at 8:14 pm
Coen has saved Bowles job.
After Coen gets a head coaching job next season the Bucs will go back to the same Bowles offense we have all seen in the previous 2 years
December 29th, 2024 at 8:28 pm
There is a lot to like about Bowles as DC but he is not an elite HC. If he is fired where is that elite head coach coming from?
Go Bucs!
December 29th, 2024 at 9:18 pm
Negative Nellies!! Bowles team is 9-7. We have won the NFC south with him as our head coach. My nephew is a Giants fan. He’ll trade even up.
December 29th, 2024 at 9:18 pm
27-26
The Mensa candidate only beats the drecks of the league.
Unfortunately for him, way better teams are ahead if they squeak in.
Falcons up 14-7. Redskins can win next week and block us out.
Ten wins means nothing if you can’t make the playoffs.
December 29th, 2024 at 9:48 pm
Ballhawk, you mean teams like the Lions and Eagles???? Oh wait,…..
December 29th, 2024 at 11:45 pm
* Somebody needs to remind Trey Palmer that you don’t field a punt inside your 10-yard line. His questionable judgment could cost the Bucs a game.
That was true…in 1988. Nowadays you field that ball because the backspin modern day punters put on a ball means it’ll bite and can be downed near the one.
December 30th, 2024 at 12:02 am
The Bucs entered the year with a very young roster and one that was lacking depth, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Bowles has done enough to keep the ship afloat, so you can give him some credit for that.
However, he’s also cost us 2-4 wins because of poor clock management, bad defensive schemes, and / or too-conservative decisions. Are their worse coaches in the league? Absolutely. Are there better coaches in the league that would have this team on 10-12 wins by this point? Also absolutely.
December 30th, 2024 at 12:10 am
Haters are usually the loudest voices in the room.. thank you Bowles for nothing but playoffs during your tenure, I’m loving this time as a Bucs fan. And the superbowl as a DC shows me you can coach it if provided the talent on Defense!!
December 30th, 2024 at 12:24 am
I love the podcast look forward to it every week. Could you please do a segment on Bowles paying it forward? When Arians took this job he signed for three years in his contract he put that one of his assistants would replace him unless he was fired. That’s how Bowles got this opportunity.
Would it not be a beatiful thing if we make playoffs for Bucs to give him a three year deal with a big raise and a stipulation that says in three years Cohen is head coach!
Let’s keep these two together! Yes TB should pay it forward like BA did for him but win a superbowl in next three years!
December 30th, 2024 at 12:48 am
Great game. Celebrate tonight and get ready for the Saints. If I was a player, I’d want to start game planning right away. Go Bucs!!
December 30th, 2024 at 5:07 am
Well said, Ira.
Excellent decision by Bowles to take Baker out of the game toward the end of the game. Mike too. We wouldn’t want them hurt going into the Saints game.
December 30th, 2024 at 6:25 am
He is the coach everyone loves to hate.
Unfortunately for him in many ways he deserves it.
Please record does speak for itself long-term.
Players tend to take on the personality of their coach.
I don’t like the idea of experimenting but if there was somehow some way we can get a definite upgrade at head coach I would be all in. Sometimes the devil that you know is better than the one that you don’t. Unfortunately the modern day NFL is designed to be mediocre and the bucks by the skin of their teeth have made the playoff s . Todd does seem to learn from his mistakes but then every once in a while he’ll go make another boneheaded obvious mistake and you’ll say what the hell. I’m really torn but if we couldn’t get a guaranteed upgrade I would be all in
December 30th, 2024 at 8:45 am
Every team has a lot of injuries. Bowles better win next week or his seat couldn’t be any hotter
December 30th, 2024 at 9:25 am
The walking wounded will win next week. Of course, all the Bowles haters will be flapping their jaws with more hot air nonsense.
December 30th, 2024 at 10:04 am
Really, the only reason I would fire Bowles is if it is the ONLY way to keep Coen (promoting Coen to HC). The players love Bowles and respect him. I fear a revolt and a very bad team attitude may result from a Bowles firing. Likewise, Coen is loved and respected by the team. Somehow, some way, the team needs to keep them both.
December 30th, 2024 at 10:42 am
Spot on Ira You are objective, which is the way it should be. Yes , Bowles does deserve credit and clearly is no small accomplishment getting the team where it is. However, we all know the defense is the achilles heel of this team. He lacks the talent to play the scheme he uses. Therefore, the team and the fans live by his scheme and die by it as well. However, when the offense can stay on the field, and jump ahead, his defense can succeed. It appears he and Coen figured that out yesterday.