Not since the 2005 season have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to start the year 3-0, and they did their best to continue that streak right out of the gate on Sunday.
In one of the most stunning displays of ineptitude we've seen recently, the Buccaneers and Jets combined for 10 penalties over the first 19 plays of the game. Three of those went against New York which meant the majority of the mistakes happened on Tampa Bay's side and it showed over the first two drives.
Total of 11 penalties accepted by the Jets and Bucs in the first quarter for 125 yards combined. Brutal.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) September 21, 2025
After allowing penalties by Logan Hall and Lavonte David to extend New York's first drive into one that resulted in points, the Bucs upped the ante -- and lowered the bar -- when their offense took over.
Tampa Bay was called for an astonishing five holding calls, each of which wiped out what would have been much-needed positive yards. It reached the point of parody at one point when the Bucs watched Baker Mayfield connect with Mike Evans to put the ball well within reach of a touchdown, only to have Luke Haggard mindlessly commit a holding penalty.
That's a major factor to point out here as the Bucs are down to guys like Haggard who they need to pull off the practice squad to fill in due to injuries. Tampa Bay is without Tristan Wirfs, Cody Mauch, and Luke Goedeke which is why the offensive line needed to be reshuffled so aggressively.
Watching the unit respond to the adversity of being down so many key players by holding the Jets harder than a baby with its bottle is less than ideal. We've seen the Bucs start slow before and bounce back -- which is what happened each of the first two weeks -- but it seems they've found a brand new way to get in their own way.
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