Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ head coach sees only one way for the team to avoid more bad losses like they had last week, and that is for the team’s leaders to step and “not just lead but make plays.”
A true rarity occurred last week during the Buccaneers’ last-minute defeat to the Cleveland Browns. It was the first time in the long and storied career of future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady, that a team he was the starting quarterback for blew a seven-point lead late and lost in the final minute (via Pro Football Talk). Up until last week, Brady had gone 218-0 in similar situations during his career.
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The backbreaking loss was all the more frustrating because it ended a two-game streak where the Bucs seemed to be back on track after losing five of six games before that. It was another gut punch for the 5-6 Buccaneers who are somehow still in first place in an awful NFC South.
Obviously, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ luck will run out once they hit the postseason if they keep playing like this. The only way out of this rut in head coach Todd Bowles’ mind is for the Tampa player leadership to do much more than they have so far.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach says they ‘can’t piss away any more ball games’
During a conversation with the Buccaneers Radio Network this week, Bowles put the pressure on his top players and team captains to help them find their way back to NFC prominence by leading by example with making plays on the field when it’s needed.
“The leaders lead and everybody else follows. So it’s time for our leaders to lead and step up. And everybody else has to follow, and make plays. Not just lead but make plays. And show them by example, show them by being vocal, show them by how they practice. And they’ve been doing that for the most part but, you know, we can’t piss away any more ball games sort of speak. So it’s time for us to step up and make plays. We got six games left until we’ve got to get in the tournament.”
-Todd Bowles (h/t JoeBucsFan.com)
The Buccaneers have some very winnable games in their final six, including division matchups with the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons. However, they have back-to-back games against NFL elites in the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals in Weeks 14 and 15.