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Bucs are a bad team currently.
Since all the injuries to the offense mounted and defenses began respecting Emeka Egbuka, and since the Bucs defense started playing as if Mike Smith has returned to coach them, this Bucs team has turned bad.
In fact, the way the Bucs are playing, they are not looking anything like a playoff team.
They look like a team with a top-10 pick in the draft.
Since the bye, the Bucs’ defense is getting lit up like a Roman candle on the Fourth of July. Every week it seems like a quarterback has a career day or sets personal records. First it was Drake Maye. Then Josh Allen. Sunday night it was Matt Stafford’s turn.
The Bucs offense is in disarray. The Bucs defense is an unholy sieve. Chris Godwin’s return helped but by the time it seemed the Bucs offense got into gear, the game was over. Baker Mayfield hitting Tez Johnson was the lone touchdown for the Bucs.
Getting chain-whipped, the Bucs had little choice but to deviate from the run game. Once Emeka Egbuka was moved to No. 1 receiver by necessity because of injuries, the passing game has waned and Egbuka has gone from Offensive Rookie of the Year leader to being suffocated by defenses.
Bucky Irving wasn’t running the ball that well when he got hurt but he was dangerous in the passing game.
Simply put, right now, the Bucs are not a good team. They are playing like a team hellbent on a top-10 draft pick, not a team that two months ago had Super Bowl aspirations.
There is very little good this team is doing.
So the way Joe looks at it, if the Bucs really do have good coaches, they will find a way to snap this team out of its funk. And they better find a way fast. Otherwise, when the cavalry does show up (Mike Evans, Bucky Irving, Calijah Kancey), it will be too late.
The Bucs simply do not look like a playoff team the past three weeks. They look closer to one of the wretched Bucs teams during the Lost Decade.