The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have started the season strong again, but coach Todd Bowles is downplaying the importance of being 2-0 for the fourth consecutive year.
Even though the Bucs have won the NFC South for the past three seasons, they had to overcome midseason challenges and inconsistency—particularly under Bowles in 2022 and 2023—to finish at the top of a division where they are likely to face strong competition from the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.
“It’s a new season, still have a lot of games left,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said after Sunday’s 20-16 win on the road against the Detroit Lions, who had beaten Tampa Bay twice last season, including in the divisional round of the playoffs.
“It was a big win,” Bowles agreed. “But it’s 2-0. … We won the first two games last year and you see what happened after that.”
Two years ago, with Tom Brady in his final season and Bowles starting as head coach, the Bucs managed to win the division with a losing record of 8-9.
They lost six of their seven games following a 3-1 start in 2023 but went 5-1 down the stretch to win the division again and make the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.
Sunday’s win at Detroit, a team that came close to reaching the Super Bowl last season, boosted confidence and showed that the Mayfield-led Bucs might do even better this year.
“There’s a lot of stuff that we can fix,” Mayfield said after Tampa Bay was outgained 463 yards to 216 and converted just two of 10 third downs against the Lions, who turned the ball over twice and only scored one touchdown on seven trips inside the red zone.
