Bucs Nation
Another week, another late-game fourth quarter comeback, courtesy of Baker Mayfield. Week five featured Mayfield dueling with his 2018 first round constituent Sam Darnold. Darnold had a front row seat to watch as the number one overall pick from that draft tossed two touchdowns and led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to 10 points in the last two minutes of play, getting his team out of Seattle with a victory. Week 6 will likely require more Mayfield magic. The Buccaneers’ injury report is longer than the I-95 and San Francisco has been able to seamlessly work in Mac Jones, who is undefeated this season. How can Baker and the Bucs do it again?
Baker Mayfield. The Buccaneers have injuries like Florida has humidity— A topic for another conversation, rather a different portion of this conversation. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing yet another good team this week. The San Francisco 49ers are 4-1 (same as the Bucs), and have not lost a game with Mac Jones at quarterback. In three games, Jones has thrown six touchdowns and just one interception.
Tampa has been a semi-quirky/genuinely odd team this season. The club’s 4-1 record is elite. The route taken to get to that mark is certainly unorthodox. The 2025 Buccaneers have been guided by Baker Mayfield— More than ever before, the Buccaneers are his team and Tampa is his city. The results on the field bear that out. Tampa Bay has put itself on Baker Mayfield’s back and is fully along for the ride.
If there anything that is a near certainty heading in Tampa’s showdown with the 49ers, it’s that the Bucs’ defense will let up points. San Francisco may not score at will, but they’re not going to be starved for offense. Kyle Shanahan versus Todd Bowles is not a matchup that has historically favored Tampa Bay. Week six will be another week where Baker Mayfield will have to saddle up all of Tampa Bay on his back and drag them across the finish line.
Let up 100 points. Hyperbole is the fact of the fool, but this week the Buccaneers’ defense really may go for triple digits. If the football Gods had to stack every stackable chip against the Buccaneers’ defense this week, the stack would look very similar to the one unit currently being presented with. Rolling with injuries like ants in a colony, the group is ravaged. Worse than the total sum of injuries is the fact that each and every season the Buccaneers have played as of late, has seen injuries pile up at the same position(s). This year’s edition, the wide reciever and cornerback rooms.
Tampa Bay will be without three major offensive weapons Sunday (Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and running back Bucky Irving), those players’ absences lend more towards this article’s first notion, however, the Bucs are rocking cornerback injuries just as earth rocks water— Stuff’s everywhere. Zyon McCollum? Not playing. Benjamin...
