The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered yet another heartbreaking loss, this time to the San Francisco 49ers. The 23-20 final score was decided when 49ers kicker Jake Moody made a 44-yard field goal as time expired. The Bucs played their hearts out, but the number of injuries and poor decisions made by the team helped contribute to their fourth loss in a row. Heading into the bye, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles lamented on the dumb plays costing his team to the press.
“HC Todd Bowles says the Bucs are making too many mistakes late in games,” reported Scott Smith of the Buccaneers' official team site on X, formerly Twitter. “They have to play smarter in order to finish games.”
A number of costly choices helped Tampa Bay get into a deficit that it would never recover from on Sunday. That has been a theme during this losing streak, and something that the Bucs will have to figure out during their upcoming bye week. Can Bowles and his staff get the team back on track in order to finish the regular season on a hot streak? They were able to do so last year, and this bye week couldn't come at a better time for quarterback Baker Mayfield, linebacker Lavonte David and their respective units. If they can correct this slide, another NFC South title run could very well be in the cards.
Buccaneers head into bye week looking to move forward
After the bye week, the Bucs should start getting back to full strength. Number one wide receiver Mike Evans should be back from his hamstring issue, and hopefully good news continues to break for left tackle Tristan Wirfs. The multi-time Pro Bowler sustained an MCL injury in Sunday's loss, but the left tackle was staying positive about the severity of the injury according to Mayfield.
Bowles touched on the decisions his team has made lately in a more in-depth manner to the press postgame. Fox Sports' Greg Auman posted the coach's thoughts shortly after the game.
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“Bowles said he doesn’t think the Bucs were worried about the clock on final three play calls that had them miss on a chance for a TD to beat the 49ers,” reported Auman on X, formerly Twitter.
There were missed opportunities on Sunday. There have been missed opportunities for the last month. Due to the injuries they've sustained, it's been much harder for the Bucs to rebound from the missed opportunities. Can they use the bye week to get more players back to full strength and capitalize on more opportunities? If last year is any indication, then another Mayfield-fronted run should be in Tampa Bay's future.
