Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles tore into his team in his postgame press conference with an expletive-laden rant on Thursday after the Bucs suffered a 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium.
Bowles' squad was up 28-14 in the fourth quarter but squandered the lead, and the loss dropped the team to 7-7 on the season. The 62-year-old head coach repeatedly called the loss "inexcusable" and tore into his players for not caring enough.
"You don't make excuses," Bowles said. "You got to f---ing care enough where this s--- hurts. You've got to f---ing care enough where this s--- hurts. It's got to f---ing mean something to you. 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 is inex-f---king-cusable and there is no f---ing answer for it."
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Bowles said the coaches have done everything they can do, and that the players need to hold each other accountable.
"At this point, you've seen everything in the season," Bowles said. "The coaches have done everything they can do. This is a player-driven team in the last four or five weeks. You've got to execute, and they've got to hold each other accountable."
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"As a coach, you can sit there until you're blue in the face. Until they start holding each other accountable and doing the little things right - and that's not everybody, you know, we're talking about a small, select few. But the small, select few is what's getting us beat. And until that happens, it's not going to get right."
The loss was crushing, as it dropped the Buccaneers out of first place in the NFC South, as the Carolina Panthers currently have sole possession of the top spot at 7-6. Bowles said the team knows they need to win their next three games.
Fortunately for the Buccaneers, two of their next three games are against the Panthers, so they can still control their own destiny. The Buccaneers have won the NFC South in four straight seasons, but if they don't turn things around, that streak will end.
They will look to bounce back when they play the Panthers next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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