Forget the haters and your frayed nerves. The Bucs are 4-1. Enjoy it

TAMPA — Let them cackle. Let them doubt, dismiss and ridicule.

If someone calls the Bucs pretenders — and not all the number-crunchers or oddsmakers are impressed by Tampa Bay’s 4-1 start — do not take it personally. There are a dozen teams with better Super Bowl odds than the Bucs today, but do not shake your fist at the heavens.

The truth is, there are logical and legitimate reasons to question Tampa Bay’s place among the NFL’s elite. The early part of the schedule, for instance, would not be confused with a walk down a dark alley. And the average score in Tampa Bay’s first five games — 27.0 to 26.4 — invites skepticism.

But here’s what the numbers fail to measure:

Confidence.

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“I remember specifically saying, ‘Hey, this is what we do,’” receiver Tez Johnson said of the last-minute comeback on Sunday in Seattle. “It gets close to the end, and I immediately say, ‘This is what we do,’ and every guy on the sideline looks and (is) like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ It was calm, poise, no panic.”

Heart.

“The closer it gets, the more (Baker Mayfield’s) competitiveness comes out,” said head coach Todd Bowles. “He really breathes life into everybody that’s out on the field, and they get the job done.”

Fight.

“All 11 guys out there on the field (were) pissed off because we were in that situation,” linebacker Lavonte David told reporters after the game. “We shot ourselves in the foot throughout the whole game. We weren’t making plays. They were capitalizing on things we were doing. It was a moment to rise.”

Corny? Maybe. And will those qualities stack up against more talented teams across a 17-game schedule? Who knows.

But there is something to be said for a team that understands what it takes to win.

A year ago, the Bucs repeatedly stumbled in similar situations. They lost four games on the final play and were 2-6 in games (including playoffs) decided by seven points or less.

“You learn from last year,” Bowles said. “Experience is one thing, resiliency is another, practice is another. Coach (Tom) Moore says it all the time: You prepare hard, you practice hard, you play hard.”

At this point, the question is not whether the Bucs have the talent, experience or resolve to win close games. That’s already been proven.

The bigger concern is whether they can continue to put themselves in a position to win. The difference between glory and heartbreak has been so razor thin, it’s not just what happens in the final seconds that matters. Any screwup during the first 58 minutes could derail the outcome long before the two-minute warning arrives.

For instance, the Bucs have only two turnovers in the first five games. That puts them on pace for seven turnovers on the season. Sorry, but that’s not going to happen. Not when the same offense had 23 turnovers last season. Mayfield is too much of a daredevil to avoid turnovers indefinitely.

Statistically speaking, the defense is also the weakest of all the 4-1 teams heading into Monday night’s games. The Bucs surrendered 463 yards to the Seahawks on Sunday. Going into that game, Tampa Bay had been 7-31-1 in games when the defense gave up that much yardage.

Of course, there were extenuating circumstances. The Bucs were missing four starters on offense and three on defense on Sunday. You could argue that traveling more than 3,000 miles and winning with a depleted roster should buy them some grace.

“We never grade on a curve,” Bowles said. “We tell it like it is.”

Fair enough.

As impressive as that 38-35 victory was, it was also somewhat fortuitous. The Seahawks lost an unforced fumble that led to Tampa Bay’s first touchdown. Seattle kicker Jason Myers also missed a makeable field goal in the first quarter. Those sort of plays happen every week, but you cannot always count on them going your way. And so far in 2025, most of them have benefited Tampa Bay.

“We’ve got to be a lot better fundamentally,” Bowles said of the defensive effort on Sunday. “When you look at the tape, we’ve got to be better than that. We’ve been better earlier in the year. We just have to get back to basics.”

Tampa Bay is not the first team to start 4-1 with an unimpressive point differential. In the Super Bowl era, there have been a dozen teams that won four of their first five games while outscoring opponents by even less than Tampa Bay’s five-point differential.

And what became of those 12 teams?

Eleven of them went on to make the playoffs.

Two of them — the 1970 Colts and 1976 Raiders — won the Super Bowl.

“You don’t ever want to play games that close,” Bowles said. “This year, we’ve been finding a way to win.”

John Romano can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @romano_tbtimes.

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