{"id":502917,"date":"2026-01-02T16:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T16:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/502917\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T16:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T16:57:16","slug":"bucs-season-comes-down-to-final-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/502917\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucs season comes down to final weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers no longer control their playoff destiny heading into their final regular-season game against the Carolina Panthers on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium. The team needs both a victory and an Atlanta Falcons loss or tie against the New Orleans Saints to secure a postseason berth.<\/p>\n

After a 5-1 start to the season, Tampa Bay has limped to a 7-9 mark with one game to go in the regular season.<\/p>\n

“You have to have a short memory, and I do. I know what the priority is and that’s winning Saturday,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “To be able to completely forget what’s going on? No, being the competitor I am, I am frustrated with where we’re at. I am able to compartmentalize and be able to focus on Saturday.” <\/p>\n

Head coach Todd Bowles acknowledges that there is no more time to make adjustments. The season comes down to one game.<\/p>\n

“We’ve all talked and said everything. We can do everything we want to do \u2014 we’ve practiced early, we’ve practiced later. We’ve done certain drills and have done certain things. We just have to do what we do better,” Bowles said frankly.<\/p>\n

Mayfield added that with the season on the line, doing the little things right is what might make or break them on Saturday.<\/p>\n

“You look at the things we’ve messed up in these last few games, you’ve got to be able to do the little details right,” he explained. “Everything \u2014 you never know when that play is going to really make the difference. So, be on your p’s and q’s on normal downs and distances, and obviously, third downs and red zone we have to be really locked in. How well can we do our jobs? That’s the goal.”<\/p>\n

Despite the team’s struggles this season, All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs says the culture inside the locker room isn’t fractured, and they’re still a confident unit. <\/p>\n

“This is one of the closest locker rooms I’ve been a part of. I think it’s all in our hands. I think we can control our destiny,” Wirfs said after Wednesday’s practice. “I think we can go out there and fly around on Saturday and play free and play fun. When the clock hits double-zeroes, hopefully we’re victorious. I just know we’re going to come out ready to go.”<\/p>\n

The Bucs and Panthers kick off tomorrow at 4:30. The Falcons and Saints kick off Sunday at 1p.m. in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Share Your Story with Kevin

Tampa Bay 28 Sports Anchor Kevin Lewis knows what happens on the field ties us together. From parents coaching kids to young athletes achieving life-long dreams, Kevin shares stories we can all celebrate. Reach out to him below.
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Redington Shores landmark Friendly Tavern reopens after devastating hurricanes<\/p>\n

After more than a year of closure following back-to-back devastating hurricanes, the nearly 80-year-old Friendly Tavern in Redington Shores has reopened its doors just weeks before New Year’s Eve.<\/p>\n

Redington Shores landmark Friendly Tavern reopens after devastating hurricanes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers no longer control their playoff destiny heading into their final regular-season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2377],"tags":[5,4,297,2550,52714,66780,68,2551,2549,10120],"class_list":{"0":"post-502917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-rays","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-rays","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-28","13":"tag-tampa-bay-bucs","14":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","15":"tag-tampabay","16":"tag-tampabayrays","17":"tag-wfts"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115826566588827514","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}