The Buccaneers were selected to draft a player in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft, until a trade with the Houston Texans that took place causing the team to trade their third-round selection to move up certain spots to acquire Lavonte David in the second round.

On opening day against Carolina, Ronde Barber started his 200th consecutive game as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New head coach Greg Schiano installed a new regime and attitude at Tampa Bay upon his arrival.

A weak passing defense (32nd), however, and a five-game losing streak late in the season, saw the team ultimately fall from playoff contention.

Tampa Bay won on opening day, but lost three straight games to NFC East opponents in September.

However, the team rebounded and won five of their next six games, primarily behind the breakout efforts of rookie running back Doug Martin.

At Oakland in week 9, Martin rushed for 251 yards and four touchdowns, one of the most prolific statistical performances in NFL history.

After a comeback overtime win at Carolina, the team sat at 6–4, and actually controlled their own destiny for a wild card playoff berth.

The team rebounded and finished on a high note, beating the #1 seed Falcons on the road in the final week of the regular season.

The Tampa Bay defense held Carolina to only 10 yards rushing, snapping a ten-game losing streak dating back to week 6 of the 2011 NFL season.

Aqib Talib intercepted Tony Romo on the fourth play of the game, which led to a Tampa Bay touchdown and an early lead 7–0 over the Cowboys.

Josh Freeman threw for 328 yards and three touchdown passes, as Tampa Bay routed the Kansas City Chiefs 38–10.

Brady Quinn started at quarterback for Kansas City for the injured Matt Cassel, who suffered a concussion in the previous week's game against the Ravens.

Trailing by seven points in the final two minutes, Freeman drove the Buccaneers deep into the red zone.

On the final play of regulation, Freeman threw an apparent game-tying touchdown pass to Mike Williams in the back of the endzone as time expired.

This win snapped a nine-game away losing streak for Tampa Bay dating back to last season.

The Buccaneers last road win was against the Vikings in Minnesota in week 2 when the Bucs came back and won 24–20 after trailing 17–0 in the third quarter.

Buccaneer QB Josh Freeman had his third consecutive game with three touchdown passes, in which is a new franchise record.

Ronde Barber and Michael Bennett forced fumbles, with the Bucs recovering both of them in the second quarter.

The hits kept coming Thursday night as Tampa Bay had seven more tackles for loss, including three sacks.

That marks the first time in franchise history that the Bucs have had three straight games with over 400 yards of total offense.

Martin's 251 yards rushing broke the single-game franchise record previously held by James Wilder Sr. (219) from 1983.

With this performance Martin broke the NFL record for most yards from scrimmage (605) in a 3-game span set by Walter Payton in 1977 (593).

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked out of Bank of America Stadium with perhaps one of the most impressive comeback wins in their franchise history.

Late in the fourth quarter, Vincent Jackson caught a 24-yard pass for a touchdown with 12 seconds left.

E. J. Biggers sacked and forced Matt Ryan to fumble in the 4th quarter in which Gerald McCoy recovered.

Rookie linebacker Lavonte David led the team once again in tackles and also intercepted Peyton Manning in the third quarter.

The franchise celebrated the tenth anniversary of Super Bowl XXXVII, with former coach Jon Gruden and many players from the 2002 team in attendance.

Foles hurried up to the line of scrimmage and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 2 seconds left.

On the last play of the game, Jeremy Maclin caught a 1-yard touchdown pass as time expired, and Eagles escaped with the victory.