At their bye week in 2025, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 6-2 and headed toward a postseason berth. From that point forward, hardly anything has gone their way. The Buccaneers are off to an 0-3 start to begin the 2026 season, their coach is under immense scrutiny, their starting quarterback has a dislocated thumb and the last 12 games have been as disappointing as they come.
In the time since that bye week, the Buccaneers are 0-12 against the spread. That is the longest streak without a cover in the Super Bowl era, according to Action Network. Tampa Bay was the betting favorite in eight of those games and lost each of them outright, including the three where it was a favorite of at least a touchdown.
The struggles are not isolated to the point spread, either. The Buccaneers are just 2-10 outright in that same stretch. But coach Todd Bowles says the first nine games in that sample size are irrelevant to the direction of the franchise.
"We understand that, but it's this season now," Bowles said on Sunday after a 23-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. "Nothing counts last year no matter who you are." From the perspective of making the 2026 postseason, yes, last year's record has no bearing on what this edition of the Buccaneers can accomplish. But the abysmal conclusion to 2025 also provides important context for this team's momentum.
It is why Bowles is widely viewed to have limited job security and why there is an argument to be made that Tampa Bay should not have invested so heavily in its contract extension for quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield and the Buccaneers were locked into a high-profile contract standoff this summer that appeared as though it would carry into the regular season. The sides surprisingly got a deal done just ahead of Week 1, and they agreed on a lucrative three-year extension that placed Mayfield in a tie as the third-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL on a per-year basis at $55 million.
At his best, Mayfield is worth every penny. He was a dark-horse MVP candidate as recently as two years ago and earned two Pro Bowl selections in his first two years with the franchise. He regressed in 2025, though, and this year is off to an even worse start.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
