Why is "2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season" trending?

Wikipedia Overview

The 2025 season was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 50th in the National Football League (NFL), their 12th under the leadership of general manager Jason Licht, their 28th playing their home games at Raymond James Stadium and their fourth under head coach Todd Bowles. They entered the season as four-time defending NFC South champions. This was the Buccaneers' fourth straight season with a new offensive coordinator, as their previous one, Liam Coen, was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars to be their head coach. While the Buccaneers raced out to a promising 6–2 start which was their best since 2021, a number of key injuries, defensive breakdowns, ineffective coaching, and a decline in quarterback Baker Mayfield's performance caused the Buccaneers to lose seven out of eight games after their bye week and dropping their record to 7–9. This late-season collapse caused the Buccaneers to fail to improve or match their 10–7 record from 2024 after a Week 16 loss to the Carolina Panthers and have their first losing season since 2022 after a loss to the Miami Dolphins the following week. Despite defeating the Panthers in Week 18 to finish the regular season at 8–9, the Buccaneers were eliminated from playoff contention the following day when the Atlanta Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints. Atlanta's win forced a three-way tie that gave Carolina the division based on head-to-head advantage. As a consequence, the Buccaneers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019. It also was the third time in franchise history they missed the playoffs after losing in the wild card round at home in the NFL playoffs the previous season.