After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost Tom Brady to retirement during the most recent NFL offseason, the expectations for the team plummeted. The addition of veteran quarterback Baker Mayfield did little to calm concerns about this Buccaneers team’s chances to win more than a couple games. However, contrary to popular belief, the Bucs found themselves in the divisional round of the playoffs, where they fell to the Detroit Lions, 31-23.
It is an understatement to say the Bucs surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations this season. As a matter of fact, most projections picked the Bucs to be one of the worst teams in the entire National Football League (NFL), and those fears seemed more or less warranted. Their main core of players are considered to be well past their prime, and given that Tom Brady could barely take the team to the playoffs the year before, the hopes of Baker Mayfield doing any better were low.
However, it was clear to see within a couple games this rendition of the Buccaneers was going to be a tough game for even the top teams in the league. They won three of their first four games, including a win against the then division favorite New Orleans Saints. While the Bucs sputtered in the middle portion of the season, they finished strong, winning five of their last six contests to secure a coveted playoff spot.
Even after battling hard down the stretch to reach the playoffs, they entered their playoff game as an underdog against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, the Bucs once again managed to soar past the doubters, dispatching the Eagles at home by a score of 32-9, in a game that felt even more lopsided then the final score suggests.
Despite the domination of the Eagles, many doubters were quick to undermine the Buccaneer’s success before their divisional round showdown against the Detroit Lions. These select few pointed at the awful end to the Eagles season to prove that they were not a very good team this season. With that being said, most Bucs fans were optimistic that they could upset the mighty Detroit Lions.
However, even the most gung-ho Bucs fan knew the Lions would pose a serious challenge. When the team first faced off in Week 6, the Lions toppled the Bucs in Tampa by a score of 20-6. They proceeded to roll through the rest of their schedule to finish with a record of 12-5, good for second best in the league. Many believed the Bucs were going to be blown out in the game.
But the Bucs continued with their theme of defying expectations by keeping the game incredibly tight. Even when the Lions took a 14 point lead with little time in the final quarter remaining, the Bucs battled back, bringing the deficit down to eight to give them a chance to send the game to overtime. While their final drive came up empty to give the Lions the victory, there is no question the Bucs had an unexpectedly fantastic season.