Buccaneers coach takes blame for Falcons comeback with 3 words

Adam Schultz

Buccaneers coach takes blame for Falcons comeback with 3 words image

Much has been made of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and who should shoulder much of the blame.

The Buccaneers were up 28-14 before a fourth-quarter collapse saw the defense give up a third-and-28 with under two minutes left that helped set up the game-winning field goal.

But Baker Mayfield took the blame, with the offense unable to run out the clock, putting the defense in that position.

And offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard knows his unit was at fault for Thursday night's loss.

"Yeah, a thousand percent on to echo what Bake said where you see the end of the game and it's looked at like it's the defense, but especially once we got the ball back with the four-minute drill to be able to then and either get seven, three, we ultimately let them down for to put them back out there,” Grizzard said.

“So, we got to be able to ice the game, not to give it back to them.”

More: Why Buccaneers still have playoff 'juice' entering Week 16

Buccaneers own worst enemy in Falcons loss

The offense had the chance to ice the game, and after picking up a first down, things went south.

Grizzard mentioned the four-yard loss on a Bucky Irving run as the catalyst for the offense stalling, which meant Mayfield had to convert a third-and-14 to keep the drive alive.

He couldn't.

And the Falcons got the ball back, and the rest is history.

In truth, there is plenty of blame to go around for the Buccaneers' horror loss, and luckily, they weren't made to pay for it, as the New Orleans Saints beat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Still, a loss like that can't happen, and Grizzard knows it, especially with the sort of offensive weapons on the field.

More Buccaneers news:

News Correspondent