tampa bay buccaneers Coach Todd Bowles criticized his players and challenged them to “look in the mirror” after his team blew a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter and lost 29–28. atlanta falcons Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium.
Bucs (7-7) fall to half a game after losing for the fifth time in six games carolina panthers In the NFC South.
“Don’t make excuses,” Bowles said in an expletive-laden response. “You have to care enough where it hurts. It means something to you. This is more than a job. This is your livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can’t pay attention to that—.”
The Falcons cut the deficit to 14 points, 28-20. bijan robinson6-yard touchdown run with less than 10 minutes left, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was raised by D Alford On the upcoming drive. Atlanta then drove 67 yards for a score and missed a 2-point conversion to make the score 28–26.
The Falcons forced the Buccaneers to punt and got the ball at the 30 with no timeouts and 1:49 left. Facing third-and-28 on his final drive, the quarterback cancer cousin completed a 14 yard pass for Kyle Pitts Sr.and 20 yards on fourth-and-14 David Sills V to install zane gonzalez43-yard field goal as time expired.
Bowles called the defeat “inexcusable” and placed responsibility for the execution on the Bucs’ players.
“At this point in the season you’ve seen everything,” Bowles said. “The coaches have done everything they can. This is a player-driven team over 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 your face gets sad until they start holding each other accountable and doing the little things right — and that’s not for everybody, you know, we’re a small, select few.” Talking about it. But the small, select few are defeating us. And until that happens, it’s not going to be right.”
According to ESPN Analytics, the Bucs’ chances of winning the NFC South drop to 35% if the Panthers win against them. New Orleans Saints On Sunday; That increases to 76% if the Panthers lose.
Mayfield had all of his wide receivers available for the first time this season after being a six-time Pro Bowl selection mike evans and second year prof. Jalen McMillan The injured were activated from the reserve.
He was held responsible for Thursday night’s defeat.
“It’s going to bother me. It falls on my shoulders,” Mayfield said. “It’s not the defense’s fault. It’s my fault.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
