Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles will have a very hot seat if the Bucs don’t win the NFC South.

One NFL analyst isn’t feeling great about Tampa’s chances.

This reaction comes on the heels of Tampa’s depressing 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, who came into Thursday Night’s game in Tampa 4-9 and out of realistic playoff contention.

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Atlanta faced a 3rd and 28 and a 4th and 14th on the last possession, and still managed to win it on a walk-off field goal.

For ESPN’s Damien Woody, this is the type of game that could ruin a season.

“This is a brutal loss by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” Woody said on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. “Again, you already stated it. They had a 14-point lead in this game. The Atlanta Falcons had 19 penalties for (125 yards.) Scott, like, you don’t see teams win games like that. When you lose a game like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, what I’ve seen through my career, teams don’t recover from that. They just don’t, they don’t recover from that.”

Woody then pointed out that Tampa lost to another losing NFC South team, the 3-10 New Orleans Saints, at home the week before.

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Nonetheless, Tampa is still right in the thick of things, just a half-game out of first.

“That’s the beauty of how the NFL has scheduled these games down the stretch,” he said. They’ve backloaded all the divisional games at the end of the season. So, you’re absolutely right. You have an opportunity to get in, but it is dire right now for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”

Nobody understands Tampa’s situation better than Bowles, who held nothing back in his post-Atlanta presser.

“We don’t make excuses,” he said. “We… you gotta *expletive* care enough to where the *expletive* hurts. You gotta *expletive* care enough to where the *expletive* hurts. It’s gotta *expletive* mean something to you. It’s more than a job. It’s your *expletive* livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? We can’t sugarcoat that *expletive.* It’s in-*expletive*-excusable, and there no *expletive* answer for it. No excuse for it, and that’s what you tell them in the locker room. Look in the *expletive* mirror.”

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Tampa Bay is still the favorite in the NFC South, with ESPN giving it a 55% chance to win the division over Carolina (45%). The teams will meet next Sunday, Dec. 20, in Carolina, with first place on the line.