Late-Season Bucs Collapse Predicted
July 8th, 2025
Joe wonders what Team Glazer will think of this production on programming it helps fund.
No, not Caillou on PBS.
Joe’s referring to Adam Rank’s latest for NFL Network. The longtime analyst and fantasy football maven took on the daunting task of picking every 2025 regular season game on the air.
The screenshot above reveals his Bucs picks.
Rank has the Bucs sitting with a 5-4 record after beating the Patriots at home, and then Rank sees Tampa Bay losing 5 of its next 7 games to enter Week 18 at home against the Panthers with a 7-9 record.
Per Rank, the season finale will be a meaningless game for the division-winning Panthers (9-8) and the Bucs will win to close their record at 8-9, tied with the Falcons.
Joe finds Rank’s Bucs prediction to be a clown call. There simply is no compelling reason to think the Bucs are a losing team.
However, Joe will note that Rank has the Bucs losing at home to the Cardinals and on the road at Miami. These are two games most Bucs fans are putting in the “W” column with little thought.
Joe is not in that camp.
Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is 12-4 at home over the past two seasons, and he’s won more games than he’s lost as a starter through his five NFL seasons. Those are not coincidences. If Tua is healthy against the Bucs, that’s cause for concern.
As for the Cardinals, they were a very dangerous, young eight-win team last season (including a “W” in Miami). Arizona also went defense-heavy in the draft, adding Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen in Round 1, a prospect Joe adored, along with another big-time playmaker in Round 2 with Michigan cornerback Will Johnson. And they paid a bundle in free agency for Eagles edge rusher Josh Sweat.
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