If Todd Bowles is going out, he’s doing so with a bang.
The Buccaneers coach, following his team’s 29-28 loss to the Falcons on Thursday, didn’t hold back on doling out blame.
“It’s inexcusable. You don’t make excuses,” he told reporters after the Bucs blew a 14-point second-half lead to fall to 7-7.
“You got to f–king care enough where the s–t hurts. You got to f–king care enough where the s–t hurts. It got to f–king mean something to you. It’s more than a job, it’s your f–king livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can’t sugarcoat that s–t.”
While Bowles, the former Jets coach, put the stunning loss on his players, he had plenty of detractors pointing the finger at him instead.
“Fire Todd Bowles” became a trending topic on X in the aftermath of the game, with fans criticizing his clock management, defensive failures and entire resume.
Bowles, 62, is in his ninth season as an NFL coach, putting together a 60-72 career mark over stints with the Dolphins, Jets and now Tampa Bay. Over eight full seasons, he has made it over .500 three times, twice with the Bucs.
This season, injuries have hit Tampa Bay hard, with receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan all missing time, plus an extended absence from top running back Bucky Irving. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has also played through a shoulder sprain.
Despite Thursday featuring a fully healthy offense, Mayfield threw a fourth-quarter interception that allowed the Falcons to cut the lead to two and later missed on a crucial throw to rookie Emeka Egbuka.
The QB was, at least publicly, on board with his coach’s message.
“It falls on my shoulders,” Mayfield said. “Can’t turn the ball over, can’t have that interception. And then just got to hit Mek in stride on that third down. Listen, 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 it comes down to how I play. This one’s going to haunt me. This falls on my shoulders.”
With the loss, the Bucs gave the Panthers (7-6) the top spot in the NFC South with a chance for Carolina to outright grab it when they play the Saints on Sunday.
Tampa Bay now has just three games left in its season, two of them against the Panthers sandwiching a matchup with the Dolphins, and Bowles is seemingly at the end of his rope — with the fans and his own locker room.
“At this point, you’ve seen everything in the season,” he 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 gotta hold each out accountable. As a coach, you can sit there until you’re blue in the face, until they start holding each out accountable and doing the little things right, and that’s not everybody — you’re talking about a small select few, but the small select few is what’s getting us beat. We’ve got to get up and go to work tomorrow, no matter how bad today looks. You’ve got to put it behind you, and we’ve got to win the last three games. We know that.”
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