Turning the corner?

Yes, Joe can take away positives from the loss to the Dixie Chicks on Thursday night. No, really.

The first two were the return of Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan. Man, that’s the best the Bucs passing game has looked maybe since the bye, certainly since the loss to the Patriots.

And looky there, the Bucs proved you can actually have production from a tight end. Seeing Devin Culp catch a touchdown pass warmed Joe’s heart. It was the first touchdown catch by a Bucs tight end this season — in Game 14!

The offense really flashed evidence of what may have been if not for all the injuries.

And Joe hopes last Thursday is a sign Baker Mayfield has snapped out of his funk. In Mayfield’s previous five games, he has really struggled.

Joe isn’t anti-analytics as some suggest, only against not the crazy numbers crunching. For example, the calculator crowd loves something called “EPA.” This is one of those stats Joe cannot embrace.

What does “EPA” stand for? Expected Points Average. Right away, Joe is holding a crucifix to this stat. Expected? Whose expectations?

Whenever a stat starts with the word “expected” or “adjusted,” that means someone’s twisting numbers and as Joe was taught in high school, people can twist and stretch numbers to prove any point they want to make.

But Joe will acknolwedge that if you look at Mayfield’s EPA stat from Weeks 8-15, you can see he has really fallen off the map. Does Joe believe Mayfield isn’t much better a quarterback than J.J. McCarthy or Shedeur Sanders? Of course not. But this stat, even if Joe doesn’t believe in it, documents in at least a roundabout way that Mayfield has had a rough last six games.

Mayfield threw for 277 yards and had two touchdown passes Thursday. That’s his best game since he threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns against New England.

If Mayfield really is climbing out of his slump, he picked a perfect time. It’s December and the Bucs need two more wins to make the playoffs. What better time for a quarterback to start warming up than now?

Remember when Baker Mayfield was an MVP candidate early in the season?

He’s been a bottom 3 quarterback since Week 8. Only McCarthy and Sanders rank worse. pic.twitter.com/7oEOtHVW9x

— Iain MacMillan (@IainMacBets) December 15, 2025