Ronde Barber On Why Tampa Bay Buccaneers Need To Develop ‘Killer Instinct’ To Emerge As Elite Team

There’s no doubt in Ronde Barber’s mind that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can beat the best teams in the NFL as currently constructed.

The current era of the Buccaneers is actually the most successful in the franchise’s near 50-year history. They’ve clinched five straight playoff appearances, four straight division titles and won a Super Bowl over the past five years. That’s never been done before in franchise history.

However, they’ struggled to get over the hump in recent years since Todd Bowles took over as head coach during the 2o22 season. While the Buccaneers have been the team to beat in the NFC South, they’ve also suffered some playoff setbacks, losing by one possession in each of their elimination games over the past two seasons.

Barber – a Buccaneers legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer – believes Tampa Bay needs more of a defensive playmaker to change the outcome of close games. He mentions how the Buccaneers don’t force enough turnovers, ranking 16th in the NFL in the category last season.

Bowles recently mentioned how the Buccaneers need to develop more of a “killer instinct” next season.

“If you’re in the fourth quarter and you need the ball back, you need to ball back to give your offense a chance,” says Barber in a one-on-one interview. “You need to get off the field in three damn downs or get a takeaway or something. Create something. They really haven’t shown that consistently over the years.”

Barber brings up the Buccaneers’ lack of forced turnovers and their lack of pressure on the quarterbacks. Tampa Bay did rank sixth in sacks last season, but the lack of timely sacks in key situations is what Barber is hammering home on.

“They don’t take the ball away very often, which is annoying,” says Barber. “Especially from a play-caller on defense perspective. They don’t put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. What he’s (Bowles) is trying to say, the killer instinct of enforcing your will, it’s happening against them.”

Barber – a key staple of the early 2000’s Buccaneers defensive units – points towards how his teams “forced their will” on you. When a key stop was needed, they made it. When they needed to force a turnover, they did it.

That’s something that is lacking in this version of the Buccaneers. While they remain a consistently good team, they’re lacking the playmakers to make that big play to turn the tide of a game. Tampa Bay allowed the Washington Commanders to drive 51 yards down the field for the game-winning field goal in 10 plays at the end of their playoff game this past season.

Ronde Barber: Great Teams ‘Force Their Will On You’

“Great teams, one way or another force their will on you,” says Barber. “When we were a good defense in the 2000’s, we forced our will on you. We dared you to try to beat us, running the ball, throwing the ball. We’re like, ‘We dare you to come try to beat us.’ We’re going to out execute, we’re going to outwork you, etc.

“We always got stops,” Barber continues to say. “The stats proved it right. What he’s saying is they need to find a team that can force their will on their opponent. If it’s in the fourth quarter and you two first downs to end the game, you want to force your will on them with your defense.”

The former five-time Pro Bowl defensive back gives major props to the Baker Mayfield-led offensive unit of the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay’s offense has become better in the Mayfield era compared to the last season of the Tom Brady era. The Buccaneers ranked fourth in scoring last season after ranking third in passing yards and second in passing touchdowns.

By comparison, they ranked 25th in points scored and 12th in passing touchdowns during Brady’s final season in 2022.

However, Barber mentions that unless Mayfield and the offense is putting up points on the board, the Buccaneers aren’t winning.

“Baker’s really showed that he can be the guy,” says Barber. “They’ve been fortunate that they have Baker Mayfield and the dynamic offense. They can go out and score points and keep them in games. Otherwise, they’re not winning.”

The 49-year-old Hall of Fame defensive back stresses that the Buccaneers to find an edge rusher or defensive back with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Adding two-time Pro Bowler Haason Reddick will only help matters, but the bottom line is this – the Buccaneers need more game-changing plays on defense in order to take the step from being a playoff team into a Super Bowl one.

Ronde Barber Helps Create Pro Football Hall of Fame Star-Studded Golf Event

Barber is keeping busy these days, participating in the first-ever James Hardie Pro Football Invitational in Boca Raton, Florida. While celebrity golf tournaments are all the rage these days, this one is notable because it features a vast collection of Pro Football Hall of Fame talent that is rarely seen in one setting, especially a golf course.

The James Hardie Pro Football Invitational features 38 Pro Football Hall of Famers, including Barber and his former Buccaneers teammates such as Derrick Brooks and Warren Sapp. That’s not even mentioning others such as Marshall Faulk, Terrell Davis, Cris Carter, Dan Fouts, Calvin Johnson and Eric Dickerson.

The football legends will tee it up on Friday and Saturday at Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Florida. The tournament will also feature 78 PGA Tour Champions players, who will be competing for a purse of $2.2 million.

Barber was actually the key figure that eventually led to the creation of the invitational among all of these Pro Football Hall of Famers. The tournament is partnered with the PGA Tour and the Buccaneers legend details the whole point of the invitational is to expand the reach of the Pro Football Hall of Fame away from just one weekend in Canton, Ohio.

“It just kind of materialized based on need and an opportunity,” says Barber. “Especially the opportunity for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, because one of Jim Porter’s (President of Pro Football Hall of Fame) initiatives is to expand the reach of the Pro Football Hall of Fame away from just that one weekend in August. This is a big step towards that.”

The Buccaneers great mentions how this is the biggest collection of Pro Football Hall of Fame talent on one golf course at the same time.

“The Hall puts one (golf event) around the Hall of Fame, so there’s one at Firestone’s South Course the week of the Hall of Fame, when you get a whole bunch of guys who are there that are already going to be there,” says Barber. “Aside from that, this is probably the biggest one around a golf event and obviously we want to make it bigger and better in the future.”

Barber admits that while he’s a good golfer himself, he isn’t the best one on the course – that honors belongs to Rams legend Marshall Faulk. The Hall of Fame defensive back basically describes his former NFC rival as a silent killer on the golf course, saying that Faulk never talks trash – he just smiles while he beats you.

“The best golfer that I’m always around is Marshall Faulk,” says Barber. “It’s not even close. He is legit good. He’s got a solid long game, very above average, if not really good short game. He is an unbelievable putter, he’s really good. He’s quiet, he kind of smiles, and lets his game do the talking for him.”

Barber hopes that recent Hall of Fame inductee and Green Bay Packers legend Sterling Sharpe will join him on the golf course next year.

“Sterling Sharp, who’s just getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, he’s not here this weekend,” says Barber. “I’m a 100% sure he will be in the future. His game is probably on par with Marshall and he talks a lot of trash all the time. He’s good at it and he knows he is good at it.”

The main goal for the invitational moving forward is to continue to grow the roster of Hall of Fame talent at the tournament.

“Trust me, a bunch of the Pro Football Hall of Famers are hacks,” says Barber. “We’re not real golfers. But it’s fun. I’ve been here for two days already and it’s a great time. Can’t wait for it to keep growing.”