Todd Bowles says Bucs need to 'look in the f---ing mirror' after loss to Falcons

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers started the 2025 season with a 6-2 record ahead of their Week 9 bye week. Something changed during their week off. 

The Buccaneers have lost five of the six games they have played since the bye week, including a Week 15 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The most recent loss, arguably the biggest so far this season, knocked Tampa Bay out of first place in the NFC South with just four weeks to go.

The Buccaneers now trail the Carolina Panthers by one game. If Carolina wins out or wins three of their last four games, they will win the NFC South and advance past the Buccaneers. 

Tampa Bay hasn't looked like itself, and while they have had some bad injuries, they got Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan back in Week 15, and it wasn't enough to right the ship. Head coach Todd Bowles talked about the most recent loss and the losing streak in his press conference after the game, and he was uncharacteristically harsh when speaking about his team. 

Here is what Bowles said following the loss in Week 15 to the Falcons. 

MORE: NFC South standings after Buccaneers lost to Falcons

Todd Bowles' Week 15 comments

Bowles was asked about the fact that the Buccaneers had a 14-point lead with 10 minutes left in the game and lost. The head coach said, "Didn't execute. Few guys that didn't make some plays, weren't where they're supposed to be. Inexcusable. Can't happen."

Bowles was later asked what his message was going to be to the locker room. His response went viral because it was very uncharacteristic of the head coach, with explicit language. Bowles dropped seven F-bombs in his response.

"It's inexcusable. You've gotta f---ing care enough, where the sh-- hurts. You've gotta f----ing care enough, where the sh-- hurts. It's gotta f---ing mean something to you. It's more than a job, your f---ing livelihood, how well do you know your job, how well can you do your job. We can't sugarcoat that sh--. It's inexf---ingexcusable. There's no f---ing answer for it. No excuse for it. That's what you tell them in the locker room. Look in the f---ing mirror."

Bowles was asked about the return of Mike Evans and he said, "He played winning football. He cares. He's one of the guys that cares. He gave his heart, he gave his all, need more guys like that." This prompted the reporter to ask if any of the players don't care. Bowles responded, "They all care. It's just a matter of execution. There's nobody out there trying to mess it up. At some point, you gotta get it right."

Bowles was asked what he could say to the coaches to help get the players ready for these kinds of situations. He said, "We're ready in the situations, we gotta execute. Coaches and players are all in it together; when the coaches are bad, the players are bad and vice versa. We gotta execute better...nobody is pointing fingers, but at the same time we gotta hold each other accountable and we have to be better than that."

Buccaneers remaining schedule