The morning after the Bucs' 32-9 Wild Card win over the Eagles, most of the reaction has been about the Eagles. Will Jason Kelce return? Will Nick Siriani? Given how the Eagles' season started, a the focus on their enormous collapse is understandable -- but here at Pewter Plank we're going to focus on, if you can believe it, what we learned about the Bucs on Monday night. So here are three questions that their Wild Card win answered:
1. Todd Bowles job is safe
Through two years as the Bucs' head coach, Bowles is 17-17. An 8-9 season with Tom Brady, followed by a 9-8 season with Baker Mayfield, had some Bucs fans wondering if they could do better. But with the Bucs headed into a Divisional round matchup in Detroit this upcoming weekend, it seems all-but-certain that Bowles will be back next season. He deserves all the credit in the world for managing the departure of Brady as successfully as he has, and the team's ability to get the best out of Baker Mayfield has been one of this season's biggest surprises. He also thoroughly out-coached the Eagles on Monday night, even if some of that falls on Philly's total disinterest in mid-game adjustments. The Bucs' six-man fronts gave the Eagles fits all night, and Philly ended the game with only 42 rushing yards on 15 attempts. If there was any speculation about whether or not Bowles was coaching for his job this weekend, he cleared that up quickly.
2. Mike Evans is coming back next year
Evans has reached that place in The Discourse where, because so many people are talking about how underrated he is, he's actually properly rated at this point. But deservedly so: going over 1,000 yards receiving in each of his 10 seasons as a pro is an insane feat, and one that makes him a future first ballot Hall of Famer in most people's mind. He had a quiet night on Monday -- three catches for 48 yards and one tough drop -- but the guess here is that Mayfield's going to keep going to him. Just a hunch. Evans, who turned 30 in August, is set to be a free agent this coming offseason, and the inability to get a contract extension with the Bucs has been well documented up to this point. But the further teams go in the playoffs, the stronger the temptation is to run things back the next season. Evans has proven he can still produce at a high level, and the Bucs have proven that their current core is good enough to hang in the postseason. At this point, an offseason extension that keeps Evans in Tampa for the rest of his career feels like a no-brainer.
3. Baker Mayfield is going to get PAID
Baker Mayfield, man. After four years in Cleveland, followed by a season bouncing around between Charlotte and Los Angeles, Mayfield started the 2023 season in a legitimate QB battle with *Kyle Trask.* Since winning the job, Mayfield's set career highs in passing yards (4044), touchdowns (28), and completion percentage (64.3). He's making $1.7 million this season, which is only a bit less than what Tom Brady made last year to put up roughly the same level of production. He seems well-liked by both his teammates and the fans in Tampa, and at only 28, a long-term extension doesn't seem as daunting as it would with an older QB on the market. Only one year after losing the franchise quarterbacks of all franchise quarterbacks, it seems like the Bucs have already found their next one.