Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Todd Bowles: Bucs' Spirits Are Still Up

The Bucs ceded control of their own playoff destiny with Sunday night's loss to the Cowboys but still have a shot at their fourth straight division title and are still fighting, as they did up to the end in Dallas

Dec 23, 2024 at 11:45 AM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 26-24 loss in Dallas on Sunday night was dispiriting mostly for the way it ended. The Buccaneers trailed the entire game after falling into a 10-0 first-quarter hole, but they continued to fight and, after a critical defensive stop late in the fourth quarter had the ball and a chance to win. Baker Mayfield stunningly avoided an almost sure sack to get an improvised pitch off to Rachaad White, but the eye-opening play turned sour moments later when DaRon Bland was able to rip the ball out of White's hands.

It was a bad ending to not only a bad night but an entire afternoon of football that didn't go in the Buccaneers' directions. Wins by Atlanta, Washington and the Los Angeles Rams all went against Tampa Bay's playoff odds, and the Falcons' blowout of the New York Giants was particularly harmful. The Bucs and Falcons are now tied atop the NFC South with 8-7 records, and the Falcons' head-to-head sweep from the first half of the season gives them a potentially calamitous tiebreaker advantage. The Bucs have to win one more game than the Falcons do over the next two weeks to claim a fourth straight division title.

The starkest way to put it is that the Buccaneers have lost total control over their postseason chances and will need help from either Washington or Carolina against Atlanta over the next two weekends. But while the Bucs ceded that division control they had held for two weeks, they didn't lose any of their fight. They can't do anything about the next two Falcons games, but they can take care of their own business to take advantage of an Atlanta loss if it happens.

"The spirit is still up," said Head coach Todd Bowles on Monday. "The grind is always going to be the grind. It's about discipline, doing the same things every day and not getting bored with doing the same things every day. We understand where we are. It's great to be playing December football. We just have to take care of ourselves and look up at the end and see where we're at."

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Mayfield, the team's emotional leader, doesn't think the Bucs will bow under the pressure of their less favorable situation, and he bases that in part on what he saw from the team on Sunday night when things started to look bleak.

"I've said it all along, this group will not quit," said Mayfield. "I'll be damned if anybody does. That's the standard we try and set. It'd be nice not to be in that situation if we had taken care of business earlier in the game, but it comes down to little things late in the game and we try to execute. We gave ourselves a chance. The defense gave us a chance as well. So, we've got to execute."

The Buccaneers have been treating every outing like it's a playoff game since coming out of their Week 11 bye with a 4-6 record. That helped produce a four-game winning streak that took them to the top of the division standings before Sunday's game. Fortunately, the loss in Dallas didn't actually eliminate them from the Super Bowl hunt, even if it did take away some of their own agency. They will continue with that approach this week as they prepare for a visit from the Carolina Panthers, who they barely beat in overtime in Week 13.

"We're in playoff mode," said Mayfield. "We've got to take care of business or else we have no shot. This one, we've got to take it on the chin. It's a short week. It's Christmas week. We've got to focus on Carolina and figure out a way to win.

"We just have to step up. Young guys have to move on, learn from this and it's on to Carolina. If we don't take care of business, we won't be in the playoffs."

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