CBS Is Down On Bucs’ Start, Maybe Their Whole Season
May 15th, 2026
Scoffed at by CBS.
Like draft grades, it seems every Tom, Dick and Harriette has to type up a “Winners and Losers” of the NFL schedule release.
While Garrett Podell of CBS isn’t exactly calling the Bucs “losers,” Podell believes the Packers are a winner from the schedule release, in part because Green Bay plays the Bucs in Week 4.
Podell believes the Bucs will still be searching for their footing in Week 4 with so much roster change. And, Podell is a non-believer in Baker Mayfield.
Week 4 will feature another road game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team last seen losing seven of their final nine games of the 2025 season en route to missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Quarterback Baker Mayfield had his worst season as a Buccaneer by every key passing metric, and Tampa Bay will be breaking in yet another new offensive coordinator in Zac Robinson. Also, 2026 will be Mayfield’s first year with the Buccaneers without Mike Evans after the latter departed for the San Francisco 49ers.
Podell makes some valid point. And while Podell mocked Mayfield and the Bucs for losing seven of their final nine games — the Bucs should be mocked for that when you look at the level of their opponents in those seven games — perhaps Podell is unaware the Bucs jumped out to a 6-2 mark last season largely without Evans and without Chris Godwin, too.
It’s not like Mayfield will be throwing to a bunch of stiffs this season.
