September 14th, 2026
Emeka Egbuka celebrates a first down early in the Bucs’ loss at Cincinnati yesterday. He vanished in the second half.
What a depressing Sunday. What a letdown on opening day. Grab your coffee and let’s roll and power through what should be a sad week.
Some Things Don’t And Won’t Change
What a range of emotions: the highest of highs is the anticipation of football returning, someone you have sorely missed for seven months. And then — SPLAT! — like the hot chick in the bar belted you for looking at her.
That’s what yesterday felt like to Joe with a hint of Groundhog Day mixed in. We’ve seen this before. And Joe’s guessing we will see it again this season.
Joe is not going to overreact to Week 1. Joe expected the Bucs to lose, so Joe is not and will not be calling for anyone’s head after yesterday. That’s just crazy (after Week 1).
Joe got a Twitter right after the game from a Bucs fan and it hit home. The fan typed (Joe is paraphrasing), Todd Bowles has had seven years to craft a defense in his image. How has yesterday’s defense looked any different than when he first took over in 2022?
Joe thought the guy had a point.
It seemed to Joe that most fans concluded that drafting the Miami Mauler, Rueben Bain, would magically change the Bucs defense. Joe kept reminding people who was calling the shots on defense and that hasn’t changed.
Joe actually thought the defense played decent and good at times. Some players. But overall, yeah, same as the old Bucs. Still no pass rush. And bad tackling.
Secondary Played Well
That’s right: Joe didn’t think the Bucs would win yesterday. Why? Joe thought it was a bad matchup.
You had maybe a Hall of Fame quarterback, certainly a top-five quarterback, with the best one-two punch in the game at receiver going against the Bucs’ thin and shaky corners. Well, Joe did not like this. At all.
If before the game Joe told a Bucs fan, “Pppsssttt… Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins won’t get 72 yards receiving combined and neither will score;” you’d think the Bucs would have won the game.
Well, Higgins was held to 59 yards. Joe swears he never heard his name until late in the first half. Chase? He had a grand total of 12 yards. Just 12!
So yeah, Joe thought Jacob Parrish, Zyon McCollum and Benjamin Morrison played really well Sunday. They shut down Chase and Higgins.
Problem was, the Bucs forgot about a journeyman tight end named Mike Gesicki.
What a Game By Josiah Trotter
So much for not being able to defend the pass. Bucs rookie Josiah Trotter had predraft haters all over the place swearing he cannot defend the pass, and they killed Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht for drafting him in the second round.
What did Trotter do yesterday? He only went out and got a pick-six and jump-started the Bucs’ comeback.
Trotter set a Bucs record yesterday with 10 tackles in his first start and he made his mark in NFL history, too. But the coolest of them all?
Trotter is really, really tight with his family. He always thanks his dad, Jeremiah, for making him the football player he is today. Trotter, in his very first NFL game, got a pick-six (and a sack!). Trotter’s pick-six — in his first game — is half of what his dad got in his entire 11-year career.
Jeremiah Trotter only had two pick-sixes.
Joe typed all summer how the Bucs defense was different with Trotter on the field. Now it wasn’t much different yesterday in Cincinnati, but at least the corners showed up along with Trotter.
Interesting to Joe is Trotter broke a Bucs record held by Derrick Brooks and Mason Foster for most tackles in their first NFL games. Both of those guys turned out OK.
We all know what Brooks did, but Foster was a solid linebacker. When Lavonte David was a rookie, Foster took David under his wing and the two had many brainstorming sessions going over the Bucs’ defense into the wee hours of the night. Foster started at inside linebacker on a playoff team in Washington. But he wasn’t good enough for lousy Lovie Smith.
Trotter’s 10-tackle day with a sack and a pick-six is the new standard for Bucs rookie linebackers in their first NFL game.
Free Ted Hurst!
Bucs rookie receiver Ted Hurst was damn near a no-show until late in the game when the Bucs needed to score in a hurry.
Baker Mayfield hit Hurst on three straight passes for 16, 8 and 12 yards. When the Bucs woke up and someone told Zac Robinson the end zone, where points are scored, was down the field and the end zone was not located on the sidelines, the Bucs offense hummed.
Joe hopes folks pulling the levers on offense learned from this: Get Hurst on the field and use him downfield rather than playing footsie with passes behind the line of scrimmage.
Baker Mayfield’s Bad Game
Mayfield’s game yesterday was worse than bad. But Joe got a laugh out of the reaction to Mayfield putting the ball on the ground three times in Cincinnati.
Common feedback was, Baker must learn to take care of the ball. Buhahahahahaha! Guys, Mayfield’s been in the league for a decade. This is his 11th season. He’s 31.
If he hasn’t figured out turnovers are bad by now, this just in: He never will.
Mayfield is like America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston. Mayfield, like Jameis, is a high-wire act. So long as the tightrope walker gets to the other side, it is fun as hell. But if the tightrope walker slips, it’s a disaster. That’s Jameis. That’s Mayfield. This is who he is.
You just have to roll with the bad times because the good times will come.
Mayfield tied for the NFL lead in fumbles in 2024 and in 2025. Most of those, however, didn’t turn into turnovers. Three did yesterday.
Remember, Mayfield has said repeatedly that one reason he fell in love with Tampa is because the Bucs’ brass is the team that told him to be himself. Not counting the Rams, every other team he has been on has tried to change him and he’s resisted.
Yesterday was the wrong side of the double-edged sword that is Mayfield.
From Elias: Josiah Trotter is the first NFL rookie with a pick six and a sack in his NFL debut since sacks became an official stat in 1982. He is also the ninth player in NFL history with a sack and interception in his NFL debut since 1982 https://t.co/Nu7KZIny3N
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) September 13, 2026
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