Divisional Round Discussion

[BucsNBills]

He went from top 5 WR in the league to the 4th option on his team. Something’s off. Either injury or he’s done with Buffalo.

Their offense has changed significantly since Daboll left. A lot more run oriented. WRs have to block in that offense, which he does not. When he's on the field it kind of telegraphs what the offense is going to do.

I hope this doesn't happen, but Evans in Buffalo would be a great fit imo. Her can block and gives Allen a big target to toss the ball up to.

[Doctor]

Evans in a lot of places would be a great fit.

[Phantom]

Hey! At least the Bucs are part of the most watched team in the records.

[BuccaNOLEer]

Hey! At least the Bucs are part of the most watched team in the records.

Looks like I'm not the only one who would like to see the Lions go all the way. It makes for a feel good story.

[uscbucsfan1]

Hey! At least the Bucs are part of the most watched team in the records.

Looks like I'm not the only one who would like to see the Lions go all the way. It makes for a feel good story.

I'd love for them to win as well, but they look like the worst team remaining in the playoffs at this point.

Hopefully they step up.

[BuccaNOLEer]

Looks like I'm not the only one who would like to see the Lions go all the way. It makes for a feel good story.

I'd love for them to win as well, but they look like the worst team remaining in the playoffs at this point.

Hopefully they step up.

Frisco is vulnerable. Baltimore proved it. If I'm Dan Campbell, I pull tape from that game and study it hard.

[uscbucsfan1]

I'd love for them to win as well, but they look like the worst team remaining in the playoffs at this point.

Hopefully they step up.

Frisco is vulnerable. Baltimore proved it. If I'm Dan Campbell, I pull tape from that game and study it hard.

Easier said than done.

The Lions don't have the roster that Baltimore does.

[Babeinbucland]

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/bucs/20 ... 4mNGym_mu4


While the end felt cruel, ride was one to remember for this Bucs team
John Romano | Even as the Bucs walked off the field following the playoff loss to the Lions, it was with the sense that they had maxed out their potential.
By
John RomanoTimes staff
Published Yesterday|Updated Yesterday
DETROIT — The ribs had been sore for a few weeks now. The ankle was taped up, too.

And yet, when the final hour arrived, the only way Baker Mayfield would depart was with a broken heart.

His final throw of the 2023 season — potentially his final throw for Tampa Bay — was an interception with 99 seconds remaining and the Bucs still 85 yards away from madness in a 31-23 loss to the Lions in a division playoff game Sunday afternoon.

For a moment, Mayfield stood watching in disbelief. Then he bent over at the waist, staring down at the Ford Field turf, until left guard Aaron Stinnie came over and put an arm around him. Soon, left tackle Tristan Wirfs arrived. And then, as Mayfield was walking off, Lavonte David and Mike Evans stopped him, as well.


“I told him I loved him. Told him I was proud of him,” Wirfs said later in a hushed locker room. “We’re all in this together, all 22 hands in the same pile. He’s real hard on himself and so I wanted him to know I loved him and that he should keep his head up high.”

The Bucs eventually left the field with the slow, tortured walk of runners-up everywhere but this was unlike most season-defining losses. While it may have seemed demoralizing, it was not premature.

This team outlived expectations. It outlived the Cowboys, Eagles and Dolphins. It outlived common sense.

This was not a great team that came up short; it was a plucky team that went long. And that was the message David delivered when they crowded together in the cramped, muggy locker room across the hall from the victorious Lions.

“He said, ‘I know this hurts because we didn’t win the Super Bowl, but we beat a lot of odds.’ A lot of people counted us out,” linebacker K.J. Britt said. “People didn’t think we would make it this far. A lot of them were saying we’d be 4-13 this year. Lavonte said he was proud of us all.”

There was sadness, but not anger. Disappointment, but not regret.

This was supposed to be a team in decline. A team shedding veterans, salaries and hope.

In that sense, the final game was a fitting coda for a group that kept coming back when the smart money counted them out.

The Bucs were behind three different times in three different quarters Sunday, and eventually tied the score on each occasion.

Fifteen minutes away from the NFC Championship Game, and the Bucs were in a 17-17 game on the road. That just doesn’t happen. Not for teams that begin December with a 4-7 record. The last time a team reached a conference championship after a 4-7 start was 27 years ago.

If you want to define cruelty, it’s a team that was just beginning to find itself when the lights went out.

“Yeah, this is tough to accept,” said Stinnie. “We were just hitting our stride, which is what you want when you’re getting to the playoffs. You want to keep on rolling and keep on climbing, so this is a hard moment to live with. To have it end so suddenly? That’s playoff football.”

The Bucs never led on Sunday, but they kept the Lions and 66,201 fans in constant fear. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when the Bucs had lost defensive backs Jamel Dean and Kaevon Merriweather to injuries that Detroit finally began moving the ball with confidence. Detroit had back-to-back touchdown drives of 75 and 89 yards to put the Bucs in a hole they could no longer crawl out of.

“It sucks,” said Mayfield, who is a free agent after signing a one-year, $4 million deal with incentives in a career-reviving decision. “I feel like my heart just got ripped out.”

So how do you measure success? By how far you traveled or how much you overcame? By trophies or self-worth?

The reality is this season was a gift. A third consecutive division title. A fourth postseason appearance in a row. All for a team that had mortgaged its salary cap future to win one Super Bowl and try for two others with Tom Brady at quarterback. A team that led the NFL in playing time for rookies.

The Bucs have won six playoff games since 2020, which is as many as this franchise had won in the previous 44 years combined.

Tampa Bay fans have cheered for more talented teams and more glorious endings, but it’s rare to walk away from a season with the sense that you have just witnessed a team that maxed out its potential.

“Obviously, I’ve been on more talented teams. That 2020 season is hard to beat for elite history,” said Evans, who finished with 147 receiving yards and one touchdown. “This is one of the best teams I’ve ever been on, as far as heart and fighting to the end and not listening to the outside (noise).”

And perhaps that’s how this team should be remembered.

With Chase McLaughlin hitting a game-winning field goal in the season opener in Minnesota. With Mayfield throwing a touchdown pass to Cade Otton in the final seconds at Atlanta. With a huge upset in Green Bay and a defensive stand at Carolina.

With head coach Todd Bowles convincing his players to ignore the criticism, learn from the losses and trust each other when nearly everyone else was willing to write them off.

That’s what you should take away from this season. That’s what you should recall when, years from now, someone asks about the team that won a division title and a playoff game with a 9-8 record in the regular season.

Yes, it ended on Sunday.

The Bucs ran out of comebacks, and they ran out of time.

But there were plenty of memories left in their wake.

John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.

[Doctor]

Great read.
Paste that article as my updated response to this:

I do not subscribe to "anyone but" dogma. If you can show you an actual genuine alternative I'll weigh it, but I think there are A LOT of options out there that would make the next few years a whole lot worse and a more than not likely chance we land one. Meanwhile, I don't let one play from a game 2 years ago overrule my judgment of what I see in front of us now.

What I see is a coach who has put together good defenses repeatedly, particularly one that picks off great QBs in big moments. The best at finding and developing DBs. One that actually has the very kind of blitz packages you want in today's NFL. But most importantly, I see a guy who still very much has the locker room. A guy who still has his players fully bought in, who come out saying "yeah, we saw the film, we saw the mistakes. The plays are there to be made, we just got to make them, it'll come". That Palmer drop changes things. That Winfield drop changes things. Those "almost" sacks change things. Those missed Baker reads change things. They know that and still believe THEY can be the change. That when they do make those plays they control their own destiny.

That kind of locker room culture is worth gold. On the other side, I appreciate his belief and handling of Canales and the offense. He isn't making any rash overrules because things aren't going well right away. He is letting Canales do this thing, and he's another coach who has players (and this fan) bought into what he's selling. We just got to get there. And yes, that maybe with be Nix or Penix or someone else.

I am asking this sincerely and with 100% curiosity - why do you think you are in the minority in believing what you do (above)?

I'll say it again. That kind of locker room culture is worth gold.

[kaimaru]

I agree that we need to pass like against the Eagles.

However:
2020 4.1 ypc
2023 3.4 ypc

That is a huge difference. We were also not creative early in the year and not passing out of condensed formations like we have now. Because of that of course they stacked the box. They don't anymore

Yes it is, but I will contend that teams respecting that pass with Brady and teams NOT respecting the pass with Mayfield is the biggest factor. Of course, our inferior middle of the line blocking is a big part as well. But again, when teams respect the pass, they're less likely to take advantage of other weaknesses.

I think we can all be honest and say that there isn't a defense in the NFL that is scared of Mayfield's passing ability.

And yet the Lions played their safeties deep which was pointed out as to why we were running so well...

[CannonFire]

Yes it is, but I will contend that teams respecting that pass with Brady and teams NOT respecting the pass with Mayfield is the biggest factor. Of course, our inferior middle of the line blocking is a big part as well. But again, when teams respect the pass, they're less likely to take advantage of other weaknesses.

I think we can all be honest and say that there isn't a defense in the NFL that is scared of Mayfield's passing ability.

And yet the Lions played their safeties deep which was pointed out as to why we were running so well...

Because their pass defense stinks. They were trying to minimize Evans' big play ability and create an environment for Mayfield to throw. How'd that last drive go?

[kaimaru]

And yet the Lions played their safeties deep which was pointed out as to why we were running so well...

Because their pass defense stinks. They were trying to minimize Evans' big play ability and create an environment for Mayfield to throw. How'd that last drive go?

What does the last drive have to do with anything we are talking about?

[CannonFire]

Because their pass defense stinks. They were trying to minimize Evans' big play ability and create an environment for Mayfield to throw. How'd that last drive go?

What does the last drive have to do with anything we are talking about?

You're the one who brought up the Lions defense/game plan, so that's what I was talking about, the Lions defense/game plan. They were letting Mayfield pass, just not give up big plays. They stink, so they still gave some up. They probably figured that the Bucs wouldn't attack them the way they did during the season, so they were pre-emptively trying to address it. But like I said, their pass defense stinks, but they were just waiting until the time where Mayfield would fock up... low and behold, I give you, the last drive.

[kaimaru]

What does the last drive have to do with anything we are talking about?

You're the one who brought up the Lions defense/game plan, so that's what I was talking about, the Lions defense/game plan. They were letting Mayfield pass, just not give up big plays. They stink, so they still gave some up. They probably figured that the Bucs wouldn't attack them the way they did during the season, so they were pre-emptively trying to address it. But like I said, their pass defense stinks, but they were just waiting until the time where Mayfield would fock up... low and behold, I give you, the last drive.

You had to write an entire paragraph to explain how you could match a diss to Mayfield about their defensive plan....you need a therapist

[Phantom]

...

[Grahamburn]

What are we looking for in that photo?

[Primeminister]

What are we looking for in that photo?

Whatever it is will be artificial

[Babeinbucland]

Only if the NFL is scripted and they wanted a Purdy/Stroud Super Bowl do I see any of that happening

If that were true it would be the Chiefs so they could capitalize on Taylor Swift. For real.