3 reasons why the Buccaneers missed the playoffs

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, despite a valiant last attempt against the Carolina Panthers in Week 18, are out of the playoffs. The Bucs finished with an 8-9 record, and in a three-way tie in the NFC South, end up on the bad end of the tiebreaker. The Panthers will win the division and go to the playoffs, and the Buccaneers will watch at home.

The Bucs started off hot with a 5-1 record, but they went 2-7 in their last nine games to put themselves in this position. There are a myriad of reasons why the Bucs are on the outside looking in, but here are perhaps the three biggest ones in 2025:

Injuries

Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Cody Mauch (69) looks on before their game against the Detroit Lions | Eamon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had some very tough sledding when it came to injuries. Impact players like Tristan Wirfs, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, Jamel Dean, Bucky Irving, Luke Goedeke, Calijah Kancey and more I didn't name have all been hurt at one point or another this year. Perhaps the biggest injuries have been to the Bucs' guards, Cody Mauch and Ben Bredeson, who have both been out for a sizable amount of time and have caused back guards Michael Jordan and Dan Feeney to step in.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield has also been playing hurt, which is fairly detrimental. That being said, the Bucs have been healthier over the course of their huge late-season collapse than they were at the beginning of the season when they went 5-1 — more on that in a bit.

Poor quarterback play

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) throws a pass against the Carolina Panthers | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

As we've mentioned, Baker Mayfield has almost certainly been playing injured for a good portion of the NFL season. On top of that, he's had numerous weapons missing time, and his two interior linemen being hurt has made passing much more difficult with increased pressure up the middle. That being said, it's fair to acknowledge both that Mayfield has been in a bad situation and that he has perhaps come down to Earth a bit since throwing over 40 touchdowns last year.

Since Week 10, per SumerSports, Mayfield is 26th in yards per attempt (6.5), 24th in EPA/play ( -0.064) and 26th in deep ball accuracy (25.9%). Mayfield threw an interception in each of his last five games and ended that stretch with 13 touchdowns and nine picks since returning from his bye week. Bailing from empty pockets with erratic accuracy, there are plenty of reasons why Mayfield could have been playing poorly over this stretch — the bottom line, though, is that he has been.

Coaching is the last factor in what could be causing this regression from Mayfield. And speaking of which...

Coaching failures

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles walks around the field during warmups prior to a game against the Miami Dolphins | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

At the end of the day, this team has floundered in all three phases of the game since returning from the bye week.

The defense has considerably regressed, finishing the year at 26th in pass yards per game given up and 31st in red zone scoring percentage, both of which fall on head coach Todd Bowles. The offense has suffered, too, fielding a top-five unit last year under Liam Coen and regressing to No. 22 in the league in yards per game under OC Josh Grizzard. Tampa Bay's special teams unit is so bad that it resolved to kick the ball out of the end zone every kickoff instead of put the ball in play, and the Bucs suffered multiple blocked kicks and punts.

The Bucs missed the playoffs largely due to coaching ineffectiveness all across the board, and that falls on Bowles. Now, the Bucs will miss the playoffs, and they might keep Bowles for another year despite the NFC South once again going down to the wire. If they do, Bowles would have to think about making staff changes under his leadership — and no one should be safe.

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