That time the Bucs thought they were better than the Seahawks

The Seahawks lost and learned in Week 5 to the Buccaneers

Take everything you know about the 2025 Seattle Seahawks and apply it to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

• Super Bowl champions

• Number one seed

• 2018 QB gets the playoff monkey off his back

• Offensive Player of the Year

• Offensive Coordinator hired as a head coach

• Head coach hailed as one of the best in the NFL

• Rookie superstar

This is not something anyone found unimaginable midseason, because most would say that it was expected after the Bucs beat the Seahawks at Lumen Field:

Since he became a star at Oklahoma and won the Heisman in 2017, there has always been a segment of the media desperate to crown Baker Mayfield as an elite NFL quarterback. So seeing his career finally blossom in Tampa Bay, and then finally leading the Bucs to meaningful wins while posting some gaudy statistics midseason, was the opportunity to rush to judgment that most media members couldn’t wait for.

And I doubt they would have done it for Sam Darnold and the Seahawks.

After beating the Seahawks 38-35 in Week 5, the Bucs improved to 4-1, and a week later they beat the 49ers. Following a loss to the Lions and a win over the Saints, Tampa Bay had a 6-2 record with nine games to go and their playoff odds were well over 90 percent.

A loss to the Patriots in Week 10 didn’t hurt much. The Bucs were still 91 percent to win the NFC South, let alone make the playoffs, and 9 percent to reach the Super Bowl; barely trailing Seattle’s 11 percent odds.

Baker remained well positioned in the MVP race, posting 16 touchdowns and only two interceptions through nine games, and hardly worried about the Carolina Panthers or Atlanta Falcons.

What happened next not only changed the landscape of the NFC playoffs but could have a significant impact on Darnold’s extension negotiations in 2027:

• The Bucs lost seven of their next eight games

• Mayfield threw 10 TD/9 INT in the last eight games

• Tampa Bay lost the division title to the Panthers

• The Bucs missed the playoffs entirely

• The OC was fired

• Todd Bowles is on the hottest seat

• Rookie Emeka Egbuka fell off

Every possibility I mentioned at the start that happened for Seattle went in the complete opposite direction for the Tampa Bay.

Could we have seen this coming when the Bucs beat the Seahawks in Seattle in Week 5? There were a few clues, perhaps none bigger than who the Seahawks didn’t have and why Seattle still should have won.

2025 season recaps so far:

Week 1 - 49ers

Week 2 - Steelers

Weeks 3/4 - Saints, Cardinals

Week 16 - Rams

NFC Championship - Rams

Bucs 38, Seahawks 35 (Condensed Game)

These Players Were Out