TAMPA, Fla. — Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles didn't mince words after Thursday night's disaster of a loss to the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium.
"You got to f---ing care enough where the s--- hurts. It's got to f---ing mean something to you," Bowles said bluntly. "It's more than a job. It's your f---ing livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can't sugarcoat that s---. It was inexcusable. There's no f---- answer for it. No excuse for it."
WATCH: Reeling Bucs still looking for answers
Bowles said players shoulder their fair share of the blame for the Bucs' recent slide. After a 5-1 start to the season, Tampa Bay sits at 7-7 with three regular-season games to go.
"At this point, you've seen everything in the season. The coaches have done everything they can do. This is a player-driven team in the last four or five weeks. You got to execute. They got to hold each other accountable," he explained. "As a coach you can sit there till you blue in the face. Until they start holding each other accountable and doing the little things right, and that's not everybody, we're talking about a small, select few. But the small, select few is what's getting us beat. Until that happens, it's not going to get right."
The Bucs blew a 28-14, fourth-quarter lead over a then 4-9 Falcons team that had already been eliminated from the playoffs. Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield connected with receiver Mike Evans six times for 132 yards- Evans' first game since he broke his collarbone on October 20. But the two-touchdown lead wasn't enough, as Atlanta back-up Kirk Cousins engineered a pair of touchdown drives and the drive that resulted in the 43-yard game-winning field goal from Zane Gonzalez as time expired.
"Listen, you can say what you want about being up two scores and the defense right there," Mayfield, who's interception courtesy of Dee Alford resulted in a Falcons TD drive, said. "We have to be better on offense. It comes down to how I play. This one's going to haunt me. This falls on my shoulders."
"It's gotta mean something to you. Like I always say, man. What's your purpose? What are you playing for? It's gotta mean something to you when you're out there," veteran linebacker Lavonte David added. "A lot of things that we can get back from this game. Dug ourselves in a deep hole. A huge hole we gotta get ourselves out of, some way, somehow."
"No matter how bad today looks, you got to put it behind you," Bowles said when talking about bouncing back. "We got to win the last three games. We know that."
The 7-6 Carolina Panthers face the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday at 4:25. Tampa Bay travels to Carolina to battle for first place in the division on the 21st.
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