John Romano: The worst thing you can say about this Buccaneers loss? It felt familiar

John Romano, Tampa Bay Times on Sep 14, 2026

Published in Football

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TAMPA, Fla. — If you just focus on the scoreboard, you might convince yourself it wasn’t so bad.

After all, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still had a chance against Cincinnati in the final minutes. And, it should be pointed out, it was a road game against a team with playoff aspirations. Also, it goes without saying, half the teams are going to lose their season openers.

So, yeah, no reason to take this 33-27 loss too hard.

Except for the distant echo of similar losses.

More than anything else, that’s what turned Sunday into such a disappointment. After all the offseason moves and excitement about new possibilities, it’s the fear that the Bucs didn’t really solve the problems that led to one of the great collapses in franchise history in 2025.

The defensive line? Still can’t get a pass rush.

Baker Mayfield? Still too many turnovers.

Crunch time? Still coming up short.

“We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror and be like, ‘How can we expect to be a championship-level team when we turn the ball over four times?’” tackle Tristan Wirfs told reporters in the locker room afterward. “It’s on us, 100%.”

The refrain is similar to last season, when the Bucs began December with a lead in the NFC South before dropping four consecutive games. If it isn’t seared into your brain, the Bucs lost those four games by 4, 1, 3 and 3 points.

Sometimes, it was the offense coming up short in the fourth quarter. Sometimes, it was the defense failing to keep the opponent off the field.

On Sunday, it was a little bit of both.

Tampa Bay was near midfield and trailing 30-20 when Mayfield’s inner clock apparently stopped ticking while he stood in the pocket for what seemed like an eternity before Boye Mafe hit him from behind and knocked the ball loose for the Bucs’ fourth fumble.

Later, when they had gotten within six points of the lead and the clock had just over three minutes remaining, the defense went on the field needing a quick three-and-out. Instead, Joe Burrow completed passes of 18, 14 and 18 yards in a span of four plays.

“There are some things that are unacceptable and some things that have got to be cleaned up,” cornerback Zyon McCollum told reporters. “And we’ll do that.”

The biggest disappointment might have been in the trenches. The Bucs devoted a lot of money toward beefing up the pass rush by drafting Rueben Bain Jr., signing Al-Quadin Muhammad and A’Shawn Robinson, and giving Vita Vea a fat new extension. At least on Sunday, they didn’t get much for their investment.

Burrow threw 35 passes, and Tampa Bay’s only sack came on a blitz from inside linebacker Josiah Trotter. Bain, Vea, Yaya Diaby and Calijah Kancey combined for two tackles and two quarterback hits.

The offensive line didn’t fare much better. After all the talk of getting the gang back after an injury-filled 2025, Mayfield was sacked four times and hit six other times.

“It doesn’t matter how we play,” McCollum said. “If we lose, then we didn’t do enough.”

The biggest offseason investment, of course, was signing Mayfield to an extension.

His supporters will say Mayfield did the best he could under adverse conditions. Despite Cincinnati’s heavy pass rush, Mayfield completed 23 of 28 passes for 216 yards and did not throw an interception for a passer rating of 98.8. In his NFL career, Mayfield has gone 34-7 whenever his passer rating was that high.

But his detractors will point out that Mayfield’s do-or-die personality isn’t always conducive to winning. There are 10 quarterbacks who have started at least 100 games since 2018. Mayfield is the only one in the bunch averaging more than one turnover per game. His three lost fumbles on Sunday were a new career high.

If nothing else, the Bucs now have a template of what they cannot do in 2026.

They need to be fierce chasing the quarterback. They need to hold on to the ball. They need more urgency early in the game. The defense needs to come up with more answers on third down, and the offense needs to stretch the field a bit more.

This is not a bad team. That should not be the takeaway.

The Bucs have the potential to be one of the league’s better offensive teams, and the defense should be better than last season, when opponents averaged more than 24 points a game.

Of course, none of that matters until the Bucs go out and prove it.

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