Buccaneers 'Clutch Gene' Part Of Positive 2025 Outlook

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have found plaudits few and far between since Baker Mayfield took over from Tom Brady, but all the former first-round pick has done is play good football.

Back-to-back division wins and playoff appearances (smacked the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023), and Mayfield is coming off his best-ever season in the league last year.

Given the abundance of weapons on offense, the Buccaneers, on paper, have one of the best units in football. It is just the defense that causes some worry, but Haason Reddick joined in free agency, and the Bucs' draft selections should help.

And it appears that this feel-good feeling about Tampa Bay in 2025 is beginning to spread, with Pro Football Network's Kyle Soppe giving Todd Bowles' team an 84.6 percent chance at making the postseason as division winners.

"You mean a team with a four-game midseason losing streak and a QB who has played for four teams in four seasons can have success in this league? And can it carry over for another year? I think so," Soppe writes. The “clutch” gene isn’t something that I generally believe in, but it should be noted that Tampa Bay outscored their opponents by 82 points in fourth quarters a season ago, the best mark since the 2021 Patriots."