Three weeks into the season, the Buccaneers have already given up nearly two football fields in penalties. Tampa Bay has been flagged 22 times for 182 yards, and for a team sitting at 0-3 after three close losses, those self-inflicted mistakes are becoming impossible to overlook. Offensive holding has been the biggest offender. Tampa Bay has already been called for eight accepted holds costing 77 yards. Against Minnesota, Cody Mauch was called for holding after Bucky Irving ran the ball to the Vikings' three-yard line. Graham Barton was then flagged on the very next play, turning what had been a first-and-goal opportunity into first-and-27. Instead of potentially scoring seven, Tampa Bay settled for three.
The worst one came later in the game.
Baker Mayfield found Chris Godwin Jr. for what should have been an 85-yard touchdown on third-and-29, only for Luke Goedeke to be called for holding. Payne Durham also had a hold-erase-a-Mayfield scramble that would have moved the chains. The Bucs finished the game with eight penalties for 81 yards and lost by seven points. It has not been limited to holding either. Tampa Bay has four false starts and three unnecessary roughness penalties through three games. That combination says plenty about the lack of discipline. False starts put the offense behind schedule before plays even begin, while unnecessary roughness penalties give opponents free yardage after the play.
This is where the conversation has to come back to Todd Bowles. When mistakes persist across multiple games and players, it becomes a team problem. Tampa Bay has spent years talking about needing to communicate better, execute better, and play smarter, yet the same issues continue showing up. The Bucs have enough problems without creating more themselves. They have lost their first three games by a combined 17 points, while penalties have cost them 182 yards. For a team constantly talking about the small details separating wins from losses, Tampa Bay continues to get far too many of those details wrong.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Bucs’ lack of discipline is becoming impossible to ignore
