Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today / CB Zyon McCollum – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.
QUESTION: What do you expect the Bucs uniform schedule to be? And could we see the white creamsicles and or pewter uniforms return?
ANSWER: The Bucs’ first two home games are on September 21 and September 28 against the Jets and the Eagles, respectively. I fully expect Tampa Bay to wear white jerseys and white pants against New York and either white jerseys and white or pewter pants versus Philadelphia. The team played the Eagles last year in Week 4, which is when they play them this season, and it was a scorcher. Easily the hottest game of the year.
Let’s remember that the Bucs only have eight home games this season as nine of them are on the road. The next home game is against the 49ers in Week 6 on October 12. That’s the last home game before the bye in Week 9. Tampa Bay played San Francisco at home in Week 10 last year and was still wearing white jerseys with pewter pants for that game. The team has also worn their creamsicle uniforms in October the last couple of years, playing the Lions in Week 6 on October 15 in 2023 and versus the Falcons in Week 8 on October 27. So there is a chance the San Francisco game could be the creamsicle game.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and TE Cade Otton – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
After the bye week there a couple of opportunities against New England in Week 10 on November 9 and on November 30 against Arizona in Week 13. Would the Bucs wait that long for the creamsicle game? Tampa Bay historically wears red at home in November and December. But the way the schedule sets up, the team only have three home games before the midseason bye week and five home games afterwards.
A real twist would be the Bucs waiting until Week 15 when Tampa Bay hosts Atlanta on December 11 on Thursday Night Football. Hey, the creamsicles might deserve to be seen by the entire nation in primetime, right? I would be for that change-up by the franchise, especially in the 50th year of Tampa Bay football. The only other options left would be against the Saints in Week 14 on December 7 or versus the Panthers in Week 18 on January 4. Those games feel like red jerseys and pewter pants to me.
As for the white creamsicles? That could be a surprise for the 50th year with Tampa Bay wearing white jerseys with either white pants or orange pants. If the team decided to mix it up and use that throwback look instead of the orange jerseys and white pants, then the Week 4 game against the Eagles could be in play for the throwback game. Remember, Tampa Bay’s first-ever playoff game was against Philadelphia in 1979, which was also the franchise’s first-ever postseason win. So that game could have some extra meaning due to the history between the two teams.
Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today
As for the pewter jerseys, what I’ve been told is that the pewter jerseys will most likely be a road alternate moving forward, especially when the Bucs only have eight home games as opposed to nine away games. Then the issue becomes which Bucs road game will feature the home team wearing white jerseys so Tampa Bay could wear the all-pewter ensemble? Tampa Bay has worn its pewter jerseys on the road before at Denver, at the L.A. Rams and at Indianapolis. So the pewter jersey is really at the mercy of what the Bucs’ opponents on the road decide to wear – although the Colts wore blue and the Bucs wore pewter back in 2023. So maybe the “color blind rule” the league tries to invoke for TV broadcasts may not be absolute?
I’ve also been told that the Bucs likely won’t wear the pewter jerseys in primetime, opting for the classic red jerseys like we’ve seen at Dallas on Sunday Night Football in the 2023 season opener and the 2024 Sunday Night Football game last December. So that automatically rules out the pewter jerseys at Houston on Monday Night Football in Week 2, at Detroit on Monday Night Football in Week and at Los Angeles against the Rams on Sunday Night Football in Week 12. We’ll see if the pewter jerseys return for a game after a year-long absence in 2024.
QUESTION: Do you think the Bucs will wear the creamsicle jerseys more than once this year. If not, which game would you think they would wear it for?
ANSWER: The NFL has increased the number of times that a team can wear alternate jerseys to four. So technically the Bucs can wear the creamsicles on multiple games if the franchise chooses to. That might be an interesting twist this year – to have multiple creamsicle games. The first could feature a white jersey with white or orange pants versus the Eagles in Week 4.
Former Bucs Regan Upshaw, Hardy Nickerson and Chidi Ahanotu
As I previously stated, that game could pay tribute to Tampa Bay’s first-ever playoff win, which was at home against Philadelphia in 1979, 24-17. I think Week 4 might be too early for the Bucs to wear their classic orange jerseys and white pants. I do think we’ll see an alternate throwback look this year with the white jerseys, perhaps in addition to the classic orange jerseys and white pants. Seeing multiple throwback games would not surprise me.
I could even see the Bucs wear the throwback white jerseys with either white pants or orange pants on the road this year. But that would only happen if the team made sure of having a home game featuring the creamsicles. Can’t rob the Bucs fan base of experiencing the throwback game at Raymond James Stadium because the team does such a great job with the pageantry, decking out Ray-Jay in orange and playing 70s and 80s music over the loudspeakers.
QUESTION: Do you think we wear white throwback uniforms against Seattle?
ANSWER: Yes, I think there’s a chance that happens. If you go back and look at the team’s 2025 schedule reveal video featuring former head coach Jon Gruden, I think there were some Easter eggs in there. Remember that Gruden opened the box and pulled out a Simeon Rice jersey to talk about the game against Arizona, which was the team that drafted Rice in the first round back in 1996. It just so happens that news broke the next day that Rice is going to be inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor this year.
Another potential Easter egg in Gruden’s schedule reveal is that he pulled out a Bucs throwback German stein when talking about the Seahawks. The Bucs and Seahawks entered the NFL together back in 1976 and it’s the 50th anniversary for both Seattle and Tampa Bay as a result. With the beer stein in hand, Gruden referenced Tampa Bay beating Seattle in Munich for the first ever NFL game in Germany, 21-16.
But the Bucs wore their red jerseys and pewter pants for that game. So why wouldn’t the team have sent Gruden a stein with the current red battle flag logo instead? It would be super cool for the Bucs and Seahawks to play their game in Seattle in Week 5 with both teams wearing throwback uniforms, right? Whether it would be white jerseys with white pants like the team used to wear back in the 1970s and 80s, or wearing the orange pants like Tampa Bay introduced in 1992.
QUESTION: The toughest stretch in the Bucs schedule is ________?
ANSWER: The Bucs have had two tough four-game stretches in each of the last two seasons. So tough, that the Bucs squandered 3-1 starts in each season to go on a four-game losing streak. Head coach Todd Bowles has talked about the need to eliminate such a letdown this season, as it’s caused the team to have to scramble to win the NFC South championship and make the playoffs right at the end.
There is another four-game stretch that appears somewhat tough. I mentioned this in a new Pewter Pulse video I did last Friday. Starting with the home game against the Eagles in Week 4, the Bucs then travel to play the Seahawks in Week 5 before playing the 49ers at home in Week 6 and then a Monday Night Football road game versus the Lions in Week 7.
Bucs ILB Lavonte David and Eagles TE Dallas Goedert – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
The Bucs have beaten the Eagles in each of the last two games at Raymond James Stadium – handily. Tampa Bay won’t be afraid of the defending Super Bowl champions, that’s for sure. Who knows how good or bad the Seahawks will be. But that’s a mighty long flight from Tampa to Seattle. The last two trips to the Northwest have resulted in a pair of overtime losses for the Bucs.
The 49ers have won three straight games against the Bucs, including last year in Tampa Bay. The good news is that San Francisco’s margin of victory keeps shrinking, and it came down to a last-second field goal last season. Although the Bucs beat the Lions last year on the road in Week 2, Detroit is a very talented and formidable team. And the Motor City will be revved up on Monday night as these two teams square off for the fourth time in the last three year.
If the Bucs can go 2-2 during that stretch they should have a winning record heading into the bye week after playing at New Orleans in Week 9. That would be a far cry from what’s happened over the last two seasons when Tampa Bay has been below .500 entering the bye.