Tampa Bay Buccaneers repeat NFL history in a very ugly way after Sunday's loss to 49ers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had some truly putrid defenses from their 2008-2019 playoff drought.  In fact, one of those defenses - the 2019 team - put out a feat of futility that no other team had managed to match.  

That is, until the 2024 Tampa Bay Buccaneers did just that on Sunday after losing to the San Francisco 49ers 23-20 at Raymond James Stadium. 

Per FOX Sports' Greg Auman, the Bucs became just the second team to ever score at least 180 points over a six-game stretch and win just one game.  The other team that pulled off that terrible feat before?  The 2019 Buccaneers. 

The 2019 team scored 193 points over a six-game stretch that began with a very well-known loss, 32-31 to Daniel Jones and the Giants after holding a 28-10 halftime lead.  That followed with a 55-40 win over the Rams in Los Angeles and then four straight losses.  The Bucs finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs. 

The 2024 Buccaneers have combined for 182 points over their next six games after their 33-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles back on September 29.  Their only win over that stretch included a 51-27 win over the short-handed New Orleans Saints with rookie QB Spencer Rattler under center.  

Since that Eagles win, it's been a field day for some of the league's best quarterbacks against Todd Bowles - who also served as defensive coordinator in 2019 - and his defense. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens scored 41 and could have surpassed that if they kept their foot on the gas. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs started slowly but were unstoppable in the second half and overtime. Brock Purdy and the Niners would have scored much more than 23 if kicker Jake Moody didn't have the yips and shank three field goals. And Kirk Cousins looked like Dan Marino in his prime, totaling an Atlanta franchise record 509 passing yards in the first of two Falcons victories over the Bucs this year. 

At 4-6, the schedule will get far easier for the Buccaneers after the bye, with very winnable games against the Panthers (x2), Raiders, Giants, Cowboys, and Saints still to come.  However, if Bowles and his defensive staff can't figure out how to turn another of his historically bad units around quickly, then a navigable path to the playoffs likely won't matter for the Bucs.