You Tell 'Em, Coach.
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Panthers-Bucs: 21-3.
"While [Bucs] sat at their lockers visibly stunned and staring at the floor in silence, coach Todd Bowles was not at a loss for words.
"We're not playing well. We're not playing well as individuals, we're not playing well as a team," he said. "We're not coaching well. All around. We're not scoring enough on offense. We're not stopping them enough on defense. So as a result -- we have to wear this on our sleeve. We've got to be grown men. We're going to see what we're made of -- how many people can handle adversity? This is as dark as it's going to be right now.
"Those guys who are going to step up are going to show up this week in practice. Our leaders are going to lead. Our coaches are going to coach. We're just going to dig and keep our head down. It's a prideful football game. ... Either you can or you can't. We're going to see what we have going forward and see how many people crumble when it's dark, and see how many people step up and starting playing better.
"We as a team, starting with me and the coaches, and the players have got to be accountable as well -- it's a dark day for us losing the way we did and with the mistakes that we had, that we shouldn't have had," he continued. "You can't do nothing but pick your shirt up by the tail. We own it, we have to own it, to a man, we have to stand up here and own it and make no excuses, and we've just got to start digging."
GO BUCS.
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I'm afraid you might be right. Coach's words were harsh, but what is left for him to say? What's left for him to be, but brutally honest?
The Buccaneers have always (?) been a team of ordinary with a pocket of talent. Right now the talent is decimated, through retirement or injury, and what is left isn't getting it done. From the beginning, Brady cultivated his weapons and the rest, well, you didn't hear much about them. At his finest, Brady could only pull off so many miracles; now his marriage is crumbling and his team is crumbling -- how much can a man take? How much can we expect from even the GOAT right now?
The Bucs are my team, I love them, I'm enjoying my life's first taste of irrational fandom, my guys do or die. But Coach is right: we're at Week 8, and it's time to fish or cut bait; go big or go home. I wish I could go down to Tampa Bay and shove them onto the field and kick their asses myself . . . but I can't.
I love them, but I'm not blind.
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And for a woeful P.S. from ESPN:
"After starting the season 2-0 in beating the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints on the road, the Bucs had a 98% chance of making the playoffs and a 93% chance of winning the division, according to FPI. After losing to the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs, their Week 5 win over the Atlanta Falcons gave them a 97% chance of making the playoffs and a 94% chance of winning the division. But after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers on the road, they’re now at a 67% chance of making the playoffs with a 61% chance of winning the division."
GO BUCS.
