The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the season aiming for more than a division title.
Nine games in, the four-time defending NFC South champions are still trying to figure out how to go from being a good team to a great one. They're leading the division again, but aren't playing like a team that can go deep in the playoffs.
“The difference between a good and a great team is preparation on a daily basis,” coach Todd Bowles said on Monday. “I don’t think we’re great. We prepare. Most of the time, we’re very good. It’s just one or two guys that have a blank or a (mental error) here or there that costs everybody else, and it’s a different guy each time, and we’ve got to get that fixed.”
The Bucs (6-3) had several lapses in a 28-23 loss at home to the New England Patriots. The defense allowed four plays of 50 yards or more and the offense couldn’t get going after scoring a touchdown on the opening drive. They didn’t score again until the final drive to cut into a 12-point deficit.
Baker Mayfield was critical of his teammates afterward, indicating there were issues in practice that weren’t solved.
“At some point, when the stuff comes up during the week, whether it’s mistakes or things we talk about and then it shows up on Sundays, you have to have some pride about you,” Mayfield said. “You gotta have the fear of that failure and messing up for your teammates when we talk about something, you gotta have better responsibility and accountability for the guys around you and get it fixed.”
With road games coming up against the Bills and Rams, it’ll take an upset for the Buccaneers to avoid dropping to 6-5 after a 6-2 start. However, the schedule then gets softer. Tampa Bay’s final six games are against teams that currently have a losing record.
“We worry about us. We’re not worried about Buffalo until we play on Sunday,” Bowles said. “At this point, every week’s going to be a round-robin tournament. Everybody’s going to be playing for desperation, as we see it anyway. So, we’ve got to take care of the things we’ve got to take care of, correct our mistakes, come out and put our best foot forward, and execute like we know how to execute.”
