Can Playmakers Save The Bucs?
December 13th, 2025
Yes, shreds of optimism remain in corners of JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters.
Despite Todd Bowles wrongly and in appropriately saying Thursday night “the coaches have done everything they can do” and it’s on players to right the ship, the Joe typing here thinks the Bucs have enough players to possibly do just that.
No, Joe’s not saying the Bucs can fix their systemic problems, only that there is so much damn talent on the roster that the Bucs have the firepower to beat Carolina.
On Thursday night, the Bucs actually got a fourth-quarter, strip-sack from Haason Reddick with 1:43 remaining in the game. Officials ruled that both Reddick and Kirk Cousins recovered the ball at the same time, so the ball was given to the Falcons. If the Bucs get that recovery, the game would have ended in Falcons territory. Atlanta already had used its final timeout.
Think about that for a moment. Bucs nation was “this close” to celebrating a defensive walk-off for the second time in three weeks.
That’s football and there’s no prize close. But Joe’s point is that the Bucs have playmakers all over the offense and defense.
As Joe mentioned previously, the Bucs now have their loaded receiving corps intact. Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan looked great on Thursday. Emeka Egbuka was rejuvenated and Chris Godwin looked good, despite Baker Mayfield not seeing him open at times. No other team in the NFL has a corps like that.
And yes, the Bucs still have a solid rushing attack with a very dangerous and versatile running back.
Scoring 28 on a very average defense like Carolina’s should be in play.
The Panthers are one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL. They’ve dropped absolute stinker performances in three of their last six games.
The Bucs are a bad team now and coaches say they are out of answers (shame on that attitude) but perhaps the team can cover those warts with enough big plays to win a bad division?