A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough Bucs question. This week’s prompt: What is your Bucs record prediction for the 2025 season?
Scott Reynolds: 11-6 Feels Right For This Improved Bucs Team
I have the Bucs going 11-6 this year after nailing Tampa Bay’s record last year with my 10-6 prediction. In fact, every Pewter Reporter picked the Bucs to finish 10-6 last year, which was a first for our media enterprise. I debuted my 2025 Bucs record prediction in Friday’s SR’s FAB 5 column, and offered up my game-by-game predictions. Thankfully there is no four-game losing streak this year for Todd Bowles and Co. But there is another strong finish for the third straight year.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today
An 11-6 record should win the NFC South in what is always a competitive division – but one that the Bucs should continue to rule. That means a fifth straight division title for the Bucs, which is a new record, and a fourth straight NFC South crown for Todd Bowles, which would be a franchise record. But what you want to know is how far the Bucs will go in the playoffs, right? Especially after last year’s disappointing home loss to the Commanders in the Wild Card game.
The good news is that winning the division means a home playoff game, and that should give Tampa Bay the edge as long as the team has some late-season momentum and health on its side. The Bucs’ Super Bowl window is open and this is a legitimate Super Bowl contender that Bowles and general manager Jason Licht have assembled this season. A Super Bowl season wouldn’t surprise me at all. But I think this team will get to the NFC Divisional round. After that, it will depend on health, some luck and who the opponents will be deep into the playoffs.
It feels like 2026 might be the year for an actual Super Bowl run. Then again, I said the same thing in 2020 upon Tom Brady’s arrival. I thought the Bucs were going to be better in his second year in 2021 – and they were, evidenced by a franchise-record 13 wins. But Tampa Bay caught fire down the stretch and wound up winning the Super Bowl a year earlier than I anticipated. Maybe that happens again this season? Wouldn’t that be nice?
Matt Matera: Todd Bowles Improves Bucs By 1 Win To Go 11-6
Each year that Todd Bowles have been the head coach of the Bucs, they’ve gone up by one win every season while winning the NFC South Division. We’ve seen eight wins, nine wins and 10 wins under his leadership so it seems that the path would be for Tampa Bay to continue that and get to 11 wins this year. When including a returning cast on offense, a rookie standout in wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and an improved defense, it makes even more sense.
Bucs GM Jason Licht and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
The first month of the season will dictate how quickly the Bucs can reach this number. Matchups on the road at Atlanta and Houston followed by home games facing the Jets and Eagles could see the Bucs at 1-3 or 3-1, but a reasonable outlook is 2-2. This gives enough time for the Bucs to figure out what they have on offense with Josh Grizzard calling plays, knowing that the cavalry is coming with left tackle Tristan Wirfs and wide receivers Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan set to return in the first half of the season.
Games against the 49ers, Lions, Bills and Rams leave some uneasiness for Tampa Bay, but if they can split those matchups with the best opponents on their schedule besides the Eagles early on in Week 5 they’ll be in good shape. The tail end of the schedule shapes out really well the Saints, Dolphins and Panthers twice down the stretch.
The Bucs will be the favorite several times this season. They’ll have to overcome adversity with Wirfs, Godwin and McMillan all missing some time early in the season, but the additions of Haason Reddick on defense at outside lineabcker and an improved secondary should make the Bucs division winners again with a legitimate opportunity to compete for a Super Bowl in 2025.
Bailey Adams: Bucs Continue Upward Trajectory, Finish 11-6
The Bucs went from eight wins in 2022 to nine in 2023 to 10 in 2024, and I think that trend continues into 2025 with 11 wins, making for an 11-6 finish and a fifth straight NFC South crown. This Tampa Bay team is extremely talented, and I think some of the moves head coach Todd Bowles made with his coaching staff this offseason will pay off. Not only that, but I think the improved depth and overall improved personnel on defense, as well as the hiring of Zach Beistline as the team’s director of football research, will make Bowles better this season.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today
The schedule also plays out fairly nicely for the Bucs, and no matter how I’ve gone about the different combinations of picking winners game by game, I always arrive at 11 or 12 wins. I’d conservatively expect a 2-2 start, though it could certainly be 3-1 or even 4-0 given the team’s talent level. From there, I think I’d have them at 3-1 over their next four games, with a potential loss in Detroit making them 5-3 heading into the bye week.
Out of the bye, I like the Bucs to beat the Patriots before losses to the Bills and Rams drop them to 6-5. But from that point on, the schedule sets up nicely for a strong finish. I think this team should beat the Cardinals, Saints and Falcons at home, and I don’t particularly think they should lose any of the final three games at Carolina, at Miami and home against Carolina. I’m just not bold enough to predict a six-game winning streak following the Rams game, so I’ll play it safe and allow for one loss during that stretch.
That leaves my prediction at 11-6, and I think this year’s squad has a run to the NFC Championship Game in it. Of course, how playoff seeding, matchups and health work out will determine how long the run can go, but I do believe this is a team with Super Bowl potential with the right breaks.
Josh Queipo: 12-5 Will Keep The Bucs Alive (In The Playoffs)
Something feels different about this team. It’s eerily similar to 2020. Things are clicking. Even with some preseason injuries putting a damper on all of the shine, there is still a silver lining. Both Chris Godwin Jr. and Tristan Wirfs are ahead of schedule on their roads to recovery. Even the season-ending injuries to rookies David Walker and J.J. Roberts were for superfluous depth players.
Bucs OLB Yaya Diaby and DT Calijah Kancey – Photo by: USA Today
This year the Bucs won’t run into extended losing streaks like they did in 2022. And 2023. And 2024. And that small change leads to an extra two wins from a year ago and another division title. And that title and the number one overall seed in the NFC are a significant step forward for Tampa Bay.
After splitting the first two games of the season with a win in Atlanta and a loss in Houston, the Bucs win both of their home games against the Jets and Eagles to have them 3-1 at the first turn. A loss in Seattle sets up a three-game winning streak against the 49ers, Lions and the Saints headed into the bye week. The Bucs then beat the Patriots at home coming out of the bye before suffering two losses in Buffalo and in Los Angeles against the Rams. That puts Tampa Bay at 7-4 headed into the home stretch.
The Buccaneers end the year with a three-game winning streak at home against the Cardinals, Saints and Falcons before losing in Carolina in Week 16. Wins in Weeks 17 and 18 at Miami and at home against the Panthers gets Tampa Bay to the end of the regular season on a high note. After a bye week for Wild Card weekend, I have the Bucs winning the NFC Divisional and NFC Championship rounds before beating the Bills in a revenge game in the Super Bowl.
Adam Slivon: The Bucs Are Ready To Have A 12-Win Breakthrough
Over the past two seasons, I have accurately predicted the Bucs winning nine games in 2023 and 10 games in 2024. This year, I see the Bucs breaking through with a 12-5 record and entering their first true Super Bowl window under Todd Bowles. The team improved on both sides of the football over the offseason, maintaining continuity on offense while adding youth and firepower at each level of the defense. Midseason losing streaks have prevented the team from winning more games recently and have put playoff chances in jeopardy. I don’t see them needing to worry about that this time around.
Bucs OC Josh Grizzard and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
I have the Bucs jumping out to a 3-0 start before falling to the Eagles in Week 4. Entering Week 5, they should have Tristan Wirfs back, with Chris Godwin Jr. also nearing a return to further boost the offense. I see them falling to the Seahawks on the road before turning their recent losing streak against the 49ers around. That would have them sitting at 4-2 as they head to Detroit in Week 7. Although they beat the Lions at Ford Field last year, it will be tough to do it again facing an NFC juggernaut. A win on the road against the Saints would have them 5-3 entering the bye week, and that is when the season pivots.
I predict they come out of the bye week victorious beating the Patriots before suffering a defeat at the hands of the Bills. The difference I see the Bucs taking this year compared to recent years is overcoming tough losses and showing enough resolve to stop the slide. Stronger, deeper, and battle-tested, this year’s team won’t let one loss snowball into a skid, which is why I have them beating the Rams at Sofi Stadium. Then, the late-season run begins. I see them getting up to 9-4 before losing to the Falcons, splitting the season series with them.
To close out the year, facing the Panthers twice and the Dolphins lines up to have them rolling heading into the playoffs with a 12-5 record. That record is a reflection of optimism that this team will not only have a top 10 offense again but make enough strides to be a top 10 defense and possess a dynamic special teams unit. The Bucs are no longer a scrappy playoff team; they’re a legitimate NFC powerhouse capable of winning it all in 2025.