Jenna LaneESPN Staff Writer7 min read
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TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales may feel it on the sideline in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Bucs spent nearly the entire first half spinning because they couldn’t get a third down going in a new system and with a new quarterback.
But they are confident they will figure it out. They did it. Even without future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady hosting the show for the first time since 2020.
“This feels like a winning team,” Canales said.
He was right, at least through the first two weeks with the Buccaneers (2-0).
Now it’s quarterback Baker Mayfield’s show, and despite a slow start in Week 1, the Buccaneers are coming away with a win on the road.
“Despite the slow start, there was no panic at the beginning,” Canales said. “These guys were calm. They said, ‘OK, let’s figure some things out. Let’s sit down and get on with it.'”
Canales pointed to “Champions in the Rearview Mirror,” new banners hanging in the indoor practice facility that include a Super Bowl title and back-to-back NFC South titles that highlight the past three seasons.
But how long will this continue without Brady and a roster that quickly goes from one of the oldest and most experienced players in the NFL to one of the youngest? This has been a pervasive issue throughout the offseason and throughout training camp.
“We turned the page a while ago,” Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said at the time. “We’re a different team, we know we’re a different team. We’re moving forward that way. We’re not worried about the ghosts of the past or anything. We’re worried about what we have now and what we have to do Things win.”
General manager Jason Licht also expressed optimism about the roster he has assembled.
“I can’t make any predictions — I just feel like our team has the DNA to want to compete with anybody,” Licht said before the season started.
Now, with the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) coming to town on “Monday Night Football” (7:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+), we’ll see if his hunch true.
“We have confidence in this building, we have confidence in this building,” Powers said. “We’ve had winners in this building over the last few years — that doesn’t change. People change, but that doesn’t change. We’re going to continue to do that.”
Before Brady’s arrival in the spring of 2020, the Buccaneers were known for failing to score and lead in a single game.
After Brady returned in Week 15 of his first season with the Buccaneers, riding an eight-game winning streak and reaching the Super Bowl, perceptions in Tampa seemed to change. The Buccaneers trailed the Atlanta Falcons 17-0 before winning 31-27. They also came back from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Before Brady retired this offseason and won seven Super Bowls, the Buccaneers hadn’t made the playoffs since the 2007 season and they hadn’t won a postseason game since the 2002 season.
As fruitful as the Brady era was, it has become a distant memory at the AdventHealth Training Center.
The air around the facility feels lighter, less tense, almost like a collective collective exhale, and with it comes a sense of release. Players, coaches and front office welcome the opportunity to step away from the spotlight and mind their own business quietly, free from the constant bombardment of television cameras.
Some expressed dissatisfaction with the prognosticators’ preseason rankings, but for the most part, they were eager to prove that the success of the past three years was about more than just Brady — the same people who helped lure Brady to Tampa. The mainstays of Chris Godwin, Lavonte David, Devin White and Carlton Davis can help develop a group of young players.
“Even when we have (Brady), this is a team full of winners, so it’s no different for us,” Bowles said. “I think once you start acting on other people’s expectations, you start to let yourself down and let other people down.”
Bowles added that the benefit of having younger players is having “young legs” and being able to train every day rather than giving older players a few days off.
Licht joked that they had to “go to the dollar store and look for gems” while also borrowing $100 million from the future to fuel Brady’s three-year campaign. Mayfield, who signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers this offseason with a base price of $4 million and a whopping $8.5 million in bonuses, may be the brightest gem of them all.
“What they tell you is what you get. There’s no behind-the-scenes drama – it’s all about winning here,” Mayfield said. “How can we put our players in the best position to win? Unfortunately, there are very few organizations like that in the NFL – that’s why I’m excited to be here.”
Under Canales, last season’s high-flying offense has been replaced by a strategy that relies less on the quarterback for dangerous passes or the need for players to win one-on-one matchups, which highlights Mayfield’s stretch The ability to play with these legs.
Players are tired of Mayfield’s grit and swagger.
“One play that looked like it was dead, he looked like he was sacked, and then he somehow got out of it and moved about 4 or 5 yards, and from a negative to a positive play, we were ahead of the chain, Godwin said. “He’s smooth the whole game. He’s never too high, he’s never too low. I think those are the things you look for in a quarterback.”
Consider the past two games and you can see why the Buccaneers are in the position they are in now.
Against the Vikings, with 2:39 left before halftime, Mayfield completed seven touchdowns at the Tampa Bay 39-yard line and hit Evans on the post route for a 28-yard touchdown. The score was rewritten to 10-10 points. Yard line. 10 games. Then, with 54 seconds left, the Vikings threatened to score when nickelback Christian Izien intercepted quarterback Kirk Cousins at the 2-yard line.
In the second week against the Chicago Bears, with 2:12 left in the game, the team led 20-17. Outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett returned an interception for a touchdown, making the score 27-17. , and the team rushed to retire the emotional Barrett. , as he has been dealing with the death of his daughter Araya.
Then, after an 11-yard sack by Vita Vea, Izien intercepted Fields on third-and-19 to signal the victory — and here’s the defense One of five turnovers caused, tied for fourth in the league. They also had eight sacks (tied for fourth).
“We’re tough,” said Ezion, one of several undrafted free-agent prospects that has the front office and coaching staff excited. “We’re going hunting.”
The Buccaneers view Monday night as a litmus test, but they know there’s room to grow, especially in the red zone — where they went 4-1 against the Bears.
“They’re a really good team,” Godwin said of the Eagles. “They had a really good year last year and they got off to a hot start. But that’s just a metric if we allow it. No matter what we go out and do, if we allow this game to define our season, I think no matter what we do Win or lose, we all make mistakes.
“If we continue to improve our communication and execution, I think we’ll like where we are as the season goes on.”
Bowles warned that things could “go south pretty quickly,” but the Buccaneers know they have to stay the course to fully escape Brady’s shadow.
“We always knew what was in the locker room,” Mayfield said. “…It’s important now not to let the noise outside affect us in the building. We didn’t let it affect us before, why should we let it affect us now?”