The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are only two games into the 2026 season. There are still 15 games left; every NFC South matchup remains ahead of them, and plenty can change between now and January. Still, after the way last season ended and the way this one has started, Bucs fans have every right to be concerned.
Tampa Bay fell to 0-2 after Sunday's 23-19 loss to the Cleveland Browns, marking the franchise's first 0-2 start since 2014. The Bucs have had opportunities to win both games late, but that only makes their losses more frustrating.
Week 1 was defined by four lost fumbles in a 33-27 loss to Cincinnati. Tampa Bay cleaned up the turnovers against Cleveland, but another problem took their place. The Bucs repeatedly reached scoring position and settled
for field goals, finishing just 1-for-4 in the red zone while their only touchdown came on a five-yard pass from Baker Mayfield to Emeka Egbuka in the third quarter.
Two games don't suddenly make Mayfield's new contract a mistake, but the timing isn't exactly ideal. Tampa Bay signed Mayfield to a three-year, $165 million extension shortly before the season, keeping him under contract through 2029, and the Bucs haven't won since.
Mayfield has completed 44 of 62 passes for 398 yards with one touchdown and one interception through two games while adding 59 yards and another score on the ground. His three lost fumbles against Cincinnati were particularly costly, although Mayfield is far from the only reason Tampa Bay is sitting at 0-2.
When an organization makes that kind of investment in its quarterback, expectations naturally rise. Mayfield has had stretches where he's kept the offense moving with his arm and his legs, but neither he nor the offense around him has consistently played well enough to finish games.
The bigger concern might be what Tampa Bay's start means for Todd Bowles. This isn't simply two disappointing games in isolation after the Bucs started last season 6-2 before falling apart down the stretch, finishing 8-9 and missing the playoffs. Tampa Bay has now lost 10 of its last 13 games dating back to Week 9 of last season, making this year's slow start much harder to brush aside.
There have also been some familiar problems during that stretch. Tampa Bay couldn't get the late defensive stop it needed against Cincinnati after cutting the deficit to six. Against Cleveland, the Bucs led 16-6 in the second half before the Browns erased the deficit and eventually took the lead on a 12-play, 68-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
Bowles acknowledged after the loss that the situation carries a different level of urgency. "I think [there is] always pressure until you get your first win out [of] the way," Bowles said Monday. "It's probably a different kind of urgency."
Calling for a coaching change after two games would ignore how much football remains, but Bowles shouldn't get a clean slate after the way last season ended. The Bucs missed the playoffs after sitting at 6-2 and have now opened the following season with consecutive losses. If Tampa Bay can't reverse that trend, questions about Bowles' future are only going to get louder.
There are reasons not to panic yet. The NFC South race is still in its early stages; the Bucs have been within one possession late in each of their first two games, and 15 weeks is plenty of time to turn around a season. Being competitive in close losses, however, isn't the standard for a team that entered the year expecting to return to the playoffs.
Tampa Bay committed $165 million to Mayfield and brought Bowles back after last year's collapse with the expectation that this team could get back on track. Instead, the Bucs have continued losing close games and are still searching for their first win. Two games aren't enough to write off the 2026 season, but after a 3-10 stretch dating back to last year, it's not too early for Bucs fans to worry about where this is heading.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Should Bucs fans be worried after disappointing Week 2 loss?
