Baker Mayfield shouldered the blame after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ collapse against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football.
The Falcons were down by two scores, 28-14, with less than ten minutes remaining in the contest, but were able to rally back to pull out a 29-28 victory and knock the Bucs out of pole position in the NFC South in the process. It was the second straight defeat for the Bucs, who also lost to the lowly New Orleans Saints last season.
While some blamed Tampa Bay’s defense for allowing the late scores, Mayfield pointed at himself and the offense for failing to close the game out when they had the opportunity to do so.
“It falls on my shoulders,” Mayfield said. “Can’t turn the ball over, can’t have that interception. And then, just gotta hit [Emeka Egbuka] in stride on that third down. Listen, you can say what you want about being up two scores and the defense right there, but we have to be better on offense, and it comes down to how I play. And this one’s gonna haunt me. This falls on my shoulders.
“And, like I said, when you’re up two scores and your offense has a chance to put the game away, and you don’t—obviously, people are gonna blame the defense, but it’s not the defense’s fault,” he added. “It’s our fault. It’s my fault. And that’s that’s how I view it, and that’s how I’m gonna handle it.”
It’s admirable for Mayfield to shoulder it, but there’s plenty of blame to go around after that game – some for the offense, some for the defense and some for the coaching staff. Everyone needs to be held accountable, but Bucs head coach Todd Bowles doesn’t seem to see it that way.
After the game, a fiery Bowles seemed to place the blame for the loss at the feet of his players.
"The coaches have done everything they can do," Bowles said. "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. 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 season is far from over for Tampa Bay. They still have a solid shot at making the playoffs, over 50 percent, according to NFL.com. The Bucs still have two games remaining against the division-leading Carolina Panthers, and those games will go a long way towards determining who ultimately wins the division and secures a playoff berth. But, if they don’t play better than they did the past couple of weeks, their season will likely end in an unceremonious way.