Despite losing for the seventh time in eight games — 20-17at Miamion Sunday — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still have a chance to win the NFC South, if the Atlanta Falcons lose one of their next two games and the Bucs defeat the Carolina Panthers at home next week.

“I think we got to erase that from our heads, because we have to get ourselves together before we worry about anybody else – Carolina or anybody else,” coach Todd Bowles said. “We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot at every chance. That starts with me, I got to coach them better. They got to play it better, and then we got to figure out how we can stop making our mistakes to move on. So if we play and do the things we did today next week, we won’t be going anywhere.”

Quarterback Baker Mayfield added, “This is our last chance and it’s blatantly obvious.”

Mayfield, who was considered a legitimate MVP candidate after leading the Bucs to a 6-2 record, threw two touchdowns and two interceptions. The defense surrendered two first-half touchdowns to Dolphins backup quarterback Quinn Ewers. Special teams surrendered two field goals and sawChase McLaughlin‘s 55-yard field goal attempt blocked.

This marks the first time in Bucs history they’ve lost four straight games by four points or fewer, according to ESPN Research.

“We work hard. We do it right in practice. Can’t explain it in the game, but we definitely as coaches and as players got to look ourselves in the mirror and we just need to work on the Bucs,” Bowles said. “Whatever Carolina does, they do. We got to work on the Bucs and stay working on the Bucs, and we got to figure that part out.”

It was a much different story earlier in the season. The Bucs won their first three games by a combined six points — without All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs, Pro Bowl wide receiverChris Godwinand Jalen McMillan, who led the NFL with seven touchdowns in the final five games in 2024.

The hope was if they got those players back, the margins wouldn’t be so tight.

Instead, the Bucs’ 1,000-yard rusher from last season, Bucky Irving, missed two months with a shoulder subluxation and sprained foot. Mike Evans, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, suffered a broken collarbone at Detroitin Week 7. They lost not only starting right guard Cody Mauch to season-ending injured reserve in Week 2, but starting left guard Ben Bredeson in Week 14.

Wirfs was out again against the Dolphins with a toe injury and at one point, in a video captured by a fan, could be seen having an exchange on the sideline with a visibly upset Irving. Those sideline interactions, while not outside the realm of football, are less common in Tampa and illustrate the toll the Bucs’ recent losses have taken with so much on the line.

“I thought we were close in areas,” center Graham Barton said. “We’ve got to execute, we’ve got to come together this week, it’s got to be an upbeat week. There’s got to be energy, there’s got to be the attention to detail and the intent to practice well and go out and get a win Sunday. At the end of the day, if you go win Sunday, that’s all that matters — we’re in the playoffs whether we went 17-0 or lost five in a row and won the last week.”

The Bucs have been to the postseason five consecutive years and won the NFC South the past four. The last two seasons things came down to the wire, too. They started 4-6 last season and won six of their last seven games to clinch the division. And in 2023, they started 4-7 and won five of their last six.

But that experience hasn’t helped them the way players believed it would.

“I’m very frustrated. I think we just beat ourselves. We’re not doing the small things correctly and we need to finish,” McMillan said. “I think it means that we need to pour everything into this week and that everybody on this team needs to approach this week differently than we did the last. We all need to look ourselves in the mirror and we need to just evaluate ourselves and understand that we need to hold ourselves accountable as teammates on the field.”

Mayfield is hopeful they can push those feelings of frustration aside.

“The fact that we’re still in it, that should give us the positivity we need to rebound from this, hit the reset button, like Todd said, erase it,” Mayfield said. “It’s about us executing. Listen, to have a chance at home to get into the playoffs and win the division, wouldn’t have it any other way. Obviously the things leading up to it, yeah, we would love to change them, but still have a chance. Playing for the division at home and we’ll get this group ready.”

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