Bucs head coach blames players for loss

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers started the season as one of the league’s hottest teams. Even with star wide receiver Mike Evans missing time, the connection between quarterback Baker Mayfield and rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka had the Bucs humming and looking like they’d run away with the NFC South.

Things have changed. The Bucs’ Thursday night loss to the Atlanta Falcons dropped them to 7-7 on the season, and pushed the Carolina Panthers to the top of the division. The loss saw Tampa Bay blow a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter, and afterwards, head coach Todd Bowles wasn’t shy about where he’s putting the blame for the way the second half of the season has gone.

“You don’t make excuses,” Bowles said in his post-game presser, according to ESPN. “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 emphasized his players needing to execute.

“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.”

The Bucs are just a half game back from Carolina, and will face the Panthers two more times in thier last three games. It’ll be interesting to see how Bowles’ message is received with all the chips on the line down the stretch.