The moment everything unraveled for the Buccaneers this season

It's always hard to pinpoint the moment a season goes downhill for a football team. There are a lot of factors at play over the course of a year in the NFL, and sometimes, a team's downfall is more than an isolated incident.

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that could still be true — a number of factors contributed to a disastrous collapse that saw them go from 5-1 to 8-9 without a playoff appearance. That being said, the Bucs were cooking in the early part of the season and defeated a number of marquee opponents, but the vibes started to change after one specific game in the 2025 season that ultimately kickstarted them toward their downfall.

Here's why Tampa Bay's game against the Detroit Lions set them down the dark path they'd follow for the rest of the year:

Buccaneers began collapse in Week 7 vs. Lions

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) runs against Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (31) | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

From Weeks 1-6, everything was going well for Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers were 5-1 to start the season, with big wins over the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks, and they just came off a home win over the San Francisco 49ers that featured their largest margin of victory across the whole year. Next up was a primetime game against the Detroit Lions on the road, and a win there would undisputably stake their claim as the NFC's top dog.

As we all know, though, that didn't happen. The Lions embarrassed the Bucs 24-9, and it ended up being a showcase of all the problems they would face over the course of their collapse.

Tampa Bay's defense showcased one or two bright spots during the game, including an interception on Jared Goff, but it was otherwise dire. Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs thrashed the Bucs' defense, running for 136 yards and two touchdowns and catching three passes for 82 yards on the day. The Lions were able to win the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 31:39, and they controlled the game from the start by taking advantage of Tampa Bay's poor defense.

Injuries were a major story of the year for the Bucs, and this game featured a brutal one. In Mike Evans' first game back from a hamstring injury, he took a brutal landing on a deep ball that saw him break his collarbone and suffer a concussion, knocking him out for most of the remaining season. Injuries affected Tampa Bay in a big way, and this game saw an injury occur to its best skill player — and his absence would be sorely noted.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) makes a pass against Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (97) | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Finally, quarterback Baker Mayfield had been an MVP frontrunner before heading into this game, partially due to his late-game heroics that won the Bucs a number of close games. Mayfield's play would sharply drop off after Week 6, though, and this was the game that started his downward trend. Mayfield completed just 56% of his passes and was sacked four times, and he had a horrendous EPA/play of -0.52 during that game, per SumerSports. His downfield accuracy was also shambolic, throwing 23 passes over 10+ air yards and completing just six of them.

Overall, Tampa Bay's Week 7 faux pas on Monday Night Football would show the NFL world why they didn't deserve to be contenders. The Bucs would have a quick bounce-back the following week vs. the New Orleans Saints, but after they returned from the bye week, everything that made them lose this game amplified itself tenfold to cause the Bucs to go 2-7 and miss the playoffs entirely at the end of the year.

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

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