It is fair to say that Sunday's 24-20 loss for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the hands of the New Orleans Saints was a new low for 2025.
The Buccaneers were 2 of 7 on fourth down and 3 of 13 on third down in what was an all-around poor performance that now sees the franchise's spot at the top of the NFC South in doubt, with the Carolina Panthers also having a 7-6 record.
Now, on a short week with the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night, there is no time for dwelling on what was dished up on Sunday. It is time to move forward.
And for head coach Todd Bowles, he's offered a rather stern message to his team -- get over it.
“We lost yesterday, we got to get over it, we got to be big boys,” Bowles said. “We got to get over it and own what we did, we got to look in the mirror. We understand that as a group. We've been through this before, but it's different every single year and every time you do it. Nobody likes to lose, and coming on a short week, got a chance to get the bad taste out your mouth, but they should be upset.
"They should own what they do. We as coaches own what we do, and as a team own what we do. We got to come out Thursday, and we got to correct them.”
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Buccaneers have to stop the slide
Losing four out of your last five games isn't a great form line, particularly at this time of year with playoffs just around the corner.
But the Buccaneers have four weeks to correct this skid, with the Falcons, the Panthers (twice), and the Miami Dolphins on the schedule. The Panthers' games will be for the division, so there will be playoff football even before the postseason starts.
The Buccaneers were in a good position for the division, but now, after the embarrassing loss to the Saints, that could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Bowles wants his team to get over the loss and focus on getting better, because a performance like that can seep into the next week, and the last thing the franchise wants is for Sunday's performance to carry over into Thursday.
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