Tampa Bay Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles: 'We Were Right There'

Two months ago, nobody would have guessed that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season would be where it is right now.

The Bucs started the year 6-2, QB Baker Mayfield was playing like an MVP candidate, and everything was fine and dandy.

Then, the wheels fell off.

Three straight losses to the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams were frustrating, but forgivable, since all of those teams are Super Bowl contenders.

After a three-point win over the Arizona Cardinals– who are now 3-12– the Bucs lost three more games, and these were worse.

The New Orleans Saints (5-10) and Atlanta Falcons (6-9) won’t be going to the Super Bowl, and the Carolina Panthers (8-7) probably aren’t, either.

But because Carolina beat Tampa Bay 23-20 in a battle for first place this past Sunday in Charlotte, the Panthers still have a shot.

For Tampa to make it, it must win the last two games, and coach Todd Bowles has no choice but to stay in the best possible spirits.

“I’m fine,” Bowles said during his Monday press conference. “You get pissed off when you lose, but you coach, you’ve got to get them better each day.”

As Bowles pointed out, Tampa beat out Carolina in most statistics, such as first downs (20-16), total yards (296-275) and rushing yards (169-101).

“We were right there, we did everything we wanted to do,” he said. “We controlled every category except for the turnover at the end, and we lost the ballgame. So we try to get the ball to our stars, but at the same time, we have to establish a run game and make it balanced as well.”

So how’s the team handling everything?

“They’re off today, but we talked about it yesterday after the ballgame,” Bowles said. “We understand we control our own destiny, but right now, our biggest enemy is us, and we understand that as well. So going into the week, that’s all we’ll focus on. We’ll focus on the things that we can do better as coaches and players, and we’ll go into the game against Miami.”

For the Bucs to make the playoffs, they must beat the Dolphins (6-9) and the Panthers.

The key to doing that is straightforward for Bowles.

“Have to execute. I mean, it comes down to execution. When you go in there and play your hardest, you have to play your best at the same time. Your best players have to play great, and your role players have to play well. Then it comes down to execution at the end. We just didn’t execute at the end.”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles: ‘We Were Right There’

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