Cody Mauch injury just left the Bucs between a rock and a hard place
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be 2-0 to start the year for the fifth straight season, but it's come at a price. The Bucs are getting absolutely decimated by injuries and we're only two games into the 2025 campaign. Not good.
The latest injury to hit the Bucs unfortunately also came at the expense of their offensive line, which is already a banged up unit. Right guard Cody Mauch is out for the season with a knee injury in an event that seemingly came out of nowhere.
This made the Bucs offensive line situation go from bad to worse, as Tampa is already without starting left tackle Tristan Wirfs while right tackle Luke Goedeke exited Week 2's match-up against the Texans after just two drives. Now the Bucs will be without their starting left tackle, right guard, and right tackle as they open their 2025 season at home on Sunday against the 0-2 Jets.
Bucs OL situation goes from bad to worse after Cody Mauch season-ending injury
With Wirfs, Mauch, and Goedeke out, that means Tampa's starting offensive line will probably consist of Graham Barton at left tackle, Michael Jordan at left guard, Ben Bredeson at center, either Dan Feeney or Elijah Klein at right guard, and Charlie Heck at right tackle. That is... not an ideal lineup, to say the least.
The Jets have recorded five sacks in their first two games and former first-rounder Will McDonald IV leads their defense with two of those five sacks. New York might not have a good team but Bucs fans know better than anyone how a bad offensive line can completely change the game (cough Super Bowl 55 cough). They might be on the other end of that this Sunday, unfortunately.
The good news is that while Mauch is going to miss the entire year, Wirfs should be returning in the next few weeks and the hope is that Goedeke can return by the end of the season as well. One thing is for certain though and it's that Baker Mayfield is going to be feeling the pressure week in and week out.
Eagles are NFL's new boogeymen (and it should terrify the entire league)
After the demolition job of the Kansas City Chiefs at the wings of the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, many began to question if the Eagles had the Chiefs' number, and figured there'd be clarity when the two met again in Arrowhead during the 2025 regular season.
There's no doubt anymore, the Eagles have replaced the Chiefs as the NFL's boogeyman.
How the Eagles have taken over that title from the Chiefs
It's honestly kind of funny. If people considered Patrick Mahomes to be this generation's Tom Brady, then who would be his Peyton Manning? Well, we now know.
The Eagles own the Chiefs. And if you’re not ready for that yet there’s no denying Mahomes has one true rival and he ain’t in the AFC #JalenHurts pic.twitter.com/qwhoNRPeNj
— Brandon Thornton (@BThornton_33)September 14, 2025
The funny thing is, unlike the early days of the Brady-Manning rivalry, Jalen Hurts actually. Has a winning record against Mahomes, and none of those wins came in Lincoln Financial Field. This is all a part of the bigger picture, though.
Every decade has a dynasty, and the Chiefs have been that for the 2020s NFL. Teams tend to fold mentally when lined up against them, and many times overthink and beat themselves by pressing. We saw it all the time with the New England Patriots, and we see it now with the Chiefs.
We also saw the Chiefs be on the wrong side of that against the Eagles.
To put it bluntly, the Eagles are living in the Chiefs' heads at this point, to where frustration is boiling over and the Chiefs are beating themselves against the Eagles, and doing it frequently. The Eagles have become the team that frustrates everyone, though. All you have to do is look no further than the Hurts commentary on his ranking despite winning or the Tush Push legality brouhaha.
This leads us to this. The Eagles have taken over as the team that opponents have to play perfectly to beat. Look no further than the fact that the Eagles aren't even throwing the ball and playing about 60% of their potential. That should terrify everyone.
Heck, we're even scratching the surface of the "refs are favoring the Eagles" chapter of this book. With all that said, it's crystal clear. The Philadelphia Eagles are the new team that the NFL fears, and that's a beautiful thing.
