Here we go again as a new offseason has brought the same old disrespect for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It's truly getting tiresome at this point; the Bucs have managed to do nothing but improve every year of the post-Tom Brady era, yet can't get a lick of respect from anyone outside of Tampa. Fans might have grown accustomed to it by now, but it's getting harder and harder to fathom how this team can be so utterly disrespected on such a consistent basis.
Last year the Bucs turned in their first 10-win season since 2021, and hit that win total for just the fifth time since 2002. Baker Mayfield played like an MVP candidate for most of the season, Bucky Irving was one of the most electric rookies in his class, and Tampa Bay had one of the highest-scoring offenses in the league.
Above all of that, the Bucs punched a ticket to the playoffs for a fifth season in a row and won a fourth consecutive NFC South title -- both set new franchise records. The team managed this despite the fact that the defense was bogged down by injuries all season and key players like Antoine Winfield Jr., Mike Evans, and Tristan Wirfs all missed time while Chris Godwin was lost halfway through the year with a season-ending injury.
None of this seems to have mattered much, though, based on how low ESPN has the Bucs ranked in their first power ranking of the offseason.
Buccaneers are already getting disrespected and the offseason has barely even started.
ESPN's first post-Super Bowl power ranking is out, and it's getting an early start on what feels like another offseason of disrespect for the Buccaneers. Despite finishing as the three-seed in the NFC and winning the division for a fourth straight season, Tampa Bay was ranked No. 16 in the admittedly "Way Too Early" power ranking.
Jenna Laine explained that the Bucs have some questions to answer on defense, which is fair but seems like a bad reason to have them as low as they are.
"With the offensive coordinator situation solidified (Josh Grizzard), the Bucs really need to shore up their defense. They've had only three double-digit sack edge rushers since 2005 and none since 2021. They also had only seven interceptions in 2024 after almost double that in 2024 (13). They gave up an average of 22.6 points in 2024, which is middle of the pack and not necessarily bad, but they're trying to go from playoff contender to Super Bowl winner," Laine wrote.
For the record, Laine didn't rank the Bucs there she just provided the blurb. It's the powers that be at ESPN that Bucs fans have a bone to pick with.
Tampa Bay no doubt has some things to figure out on defense, but it's not like the team was dealing with a bottom feeder unit. Despite major injuries disrupting depth, the Bucs managed to have the one of the best defenses over the last seven games of the season. Todd Bowles' defense allowed just 26 total second half points after the bye week, an average of 1.8 points allowed per quarter over the last seven games.
That's insane, especially considering Winfield missed the last four games of the year. How well the defense played despite the chips being down is a big reason why the Bucs ended the season on a 6-1 winning streak and were able to win another division title.
All of that happened while the offense was humming -- although not perfectly -- and if injuries were't a factor it's easy to imagine the Bucs having finished with an even better record. None of that seems to matter, though, as ESPN's ranking has Tampa Bay behind the three teams that missed the playoffs and the entire NFC West outside of the Cardinals.
Disrespect has fueled the Bucs over the last few years but you'd think that folks would have wisened up by now. We're not that far removed from Peter King ranking Tampa Bay as the second-worst team in the league, though, and it seems that respect is going to have to be snatched by the Bucs since it so clearly won't be given.
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