The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost a game they could not and should not have lost on Thursday.
Entering the game tied with the Carolina Panthers for the NFC South lead at 7-6, the Buccaneers took a 28-14 lead over the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter. To that point, the Falcons had done a thorough job of beating themselves with a galling 19 penalties on the night, but then they finally started beating the Bucs.
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Even after the Falcons scored two touchdowns, with two failed two-point attempts, Tampa Bay still managed to push them into a 3rd-and-28. And then to a 4th-and-15. And still, they ended up losing 29-28 on a walk-off field goal.
At one point, the Bucs’ win probability topped out at 97.1%.
Does any of that sound like something that’s going to leave a coach happy?
The answer is no, as Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles unleashed a profane tirade for the ages when asked what he told his team in the locker room. He dropped nine words you can’t say on TV in the span of 30 seconds.
A censored transcript:
QUESTION: «What do you tell them in the locker room after game like this?»
BOWLES: «It’s inexcusable. You don’t make excuses. You’ve got to f***ing care enough where this s*** hurts. You’ve got to f***ing care enough where this s*** hurts. It’s got 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? Well you can’t sugarcoat that s***. It was in-f***ing-excusable and there’s no f***ing answer for it. No excuse for it. That’s what you tell them in the locker room. Look in the f***ing mirror.»
Bowles in his fourth season as Buccaneers head coach after taking over for the retired Bruce Arians. The team holds a 34-31 record in that span, with three playoff appearances. They are now facing long odds to make a fourth straight appearance.
Todd Bowles wasn’t happy after a mortifying loss for the Buccaneers. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was hard on himself as well, after completing 19-of-34 pass attempts for 277 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception:
«Disappointing, obviously, but it falls on my shoulders. Can’t turn the ball over, can’t have that interception.
«You can say what you want about being up two scores and the defense right there, but we have to be better on offense and that comes down to how I play. This one’s going to haunt me. This one falls on my shoulders.»
The loss leaves the Buccaneers second in the NFC South behind the Panthers with four games to play. Two of those games are still against the Panthers, so they still have time to right the ship, but they just lost most of their room for error in a supremely winnable game.
