Buccaneers get brutal grade to finish 2025 season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished the 2025 season at 8-9, losing the NFC South and missing the playoffs.

Change is coming to Tampa Bay after head coach Todd Bowles announced a slew of coaching staff changes immediately following the end of the season. The Buccaneers were lacking on both sides of the ball in numerous different areas, so the staff changes aren't a surprise, and they will have much more to take care of when it comes to the roster as well.

The Bucs started strong to begin the season, even earning praise as one of the best teams in the league, but ultimately got in their own way as they collapsed down the stretch. Falling off a cliff was less than ideal and is part of the reason why the Buccaneers earned a D in Sports Illustrated's Gilberto Manzano's end-of-season report card.

"Tampa Bay endured its fair share of heartbreakers, including the blown 14-point fourth-quarter lead to Atlanta in Week 15. But the Buccaneers were embarrassed 34–7 by the Rams in Week 12, a reminder that they didn’t belong with Super Bowl contenders. Tampa Bay was only in the postseason mix until the end because it resided in the subpar NFC South. If they were in any other division, the Buccaneers would not have survived losing seven out of eight games before the regular-season finale against the Panthers," wrote Manzano.

"The Buccaneers find themselves in a tricky situation because they might be thinking they retained the wrong coach after letting former offensive coordinators Liam Coen and Dave Canales go for head-coaching opportunities," Manzano continued. "Coach Todd Bowles struggled to get more from his defense and even threw them under the bus after their Week 15 loss to the Falcons. It also doesn’t help that Coen and Canales guided the Jaguars and Panthers, respectively, to the playoffs. Expect changes on the defensive side and maybe even on the coaching side after a 2025 letdown."

Tides must shift in Tampa Bay

Dec 11, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Watching the Bucs' collapse in real time was almost unbelievable, but at a point it became laughable and apparent that changes were indeed needed across the board.

While Bowles himself was the center of scrutiny, he was retained as head coach while changes to his staff, including the firing of offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, were at the forefront of the first moves made to improve from 2025 into 2026.

If the Buccaneers want to return to being viewed as a legit threat in the league, they will need to nail their next hires as well as build out a roster that can perform at the highest level. These are key ingredients to success, but the Bucs will also need Bowles to restructure how he goes about his complex defense, particularly by potentially installing some base schemes that the team can rely on when in a pinch.

The 2026 Bucs and Bowles will be under scrutiny to begin the season, but if they can play their cards right, they could find themselves back on top of the NFC South once again in 2026 and receive a higher grade at the end of the season.

Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2025 season.

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