Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Stunning Collapse: Coach Todd Bowles Calls Out Players After Loss to Atlanta Falcons
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a devastating 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night, and coach Todd Bowles was not mincing words in his post-game assessment. With the Buccaneers blowing a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter, Bowles blasted his players, challenging them to “look in the mirror” and take responsibility for their actions on the field.
The loss marked the fifth time in six games that the Buccaneers have come up short, and it has significant implications for their playoff hopes. The team now falls a half-game behind the Carolina Panthers in the NFC South, with the Panthers holding a 7-6 record compared to the Buccaneers’ 7-7 record. According to ESPN Analytics, the Buccaneers’ chances of winning the NFC South now stand at 35% if the Panthers win against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, but rise to 76% if the Panthers lose.
Coach Bowles’ Scathing Critique
Bowles’ frustration was palpable as he addressed the media after the game. “You don’t make excuses,” he said in an expletive-laden reaction. “You got to f—ing care enough where the s— hurts. It’s got to f—ing mean something to you. It’s more than a job. It’s your f—ing livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can’t sugarcoat that s—.” Bowles’ comments underscore the sense of urgency and disappointment that pervades the team after this latest setback.
The game itself was a thrilling, back-and-forth affair, with the Falcons cutting a 14-point deficit to 28-20 on Bijan Robinson’s 6-yard touchdown run with under 10 minutes left. The Buccaneers’ quarterback, Baker Mayfield, was then picked off by Dee Alford on the ensuing drive, and the Falcons capitalized on the mistake, driving 67 yards for a touchdown and missing the 2-point conversion to make it 28-26.
The Falcons forced the Buccaneers to punt and got the ball at their 30 with no timeouts and 1:49 to go. Facing a third-and-28 on their final drive, quarterback Kirk Cousins completed passes of 14 yards to Kyle Pitts Sr. and 20 yards on fourth-and-14 to David Sills V, setting up Zane Gonzalez’s 43-yard field goal as time expired. The stunning collapse has left the Buccaneers reeling, and Bowles was quick to put the onus on his players to execute and hold each other accountable.
A Call to Action
“At this point, you’ve seen everything in the season,” Bowles said. “The coaches have done everything they can do. This is a player-driven team in the last four or five weeks. You’ve got to execute, and they’ve got to hold each other accountable. As a coach, you can sit there until you’re blue in the face. Until they start holding each other accountable and doing the little things right — and that’s not everybody, you know, we’re talking about a small, select few. But the small, select few is what’s getting us beat. And until that happens, it’s not going to get right.”
Mayfield, who had all of his wide receivers available for the first time this season after six-time Pro Bowler Mike Evans and second-year pro Jalen McMillan were activated from injured reserve, shouldered the blame for Thursday night’s loss. “This one is going to haunt me. It falls on my shoulders,” Mayfield said. “It’s not the defense’s fault. It’s my fault.” The Buccaneers will look to regroup and refocus as they head into the final stretch of the season, with crucial matchups against the Panthers in Weeks 16 and 18 looming large.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
