Bowles eviscerates Bucs in expletive-filled rant after TNF collapse

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles called out his team in brutal fashion after its home collapse in Thursday's 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

"It's inexcusable," Bowles said postgame. "Don't make excuses. You gotta f-----g care enough where this shit hurts. You gotta f-----g care enough where this shit hurts. It's gotta f-----g mean something to you. It's more than a job. It's your f-----g livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can't sugarcoat that shit. It was inex-f-----g-cusable."

The Buccaneers, who've now lost five of their past six games, took a 28-14 lead in the fourth quarter but weren't able to hold on. Atlanta committed 19 penalties but still found a way to win, scoring 15 unanswered points to walk off Tampa Bay on Zane Gonzalez's 43-yard field goal.

The Bucs entered Thursday's matchup with a 124-1 record since 1991 when leading by at least 14 points in the fourth quarter, including in the playoffs, according to Josh Dubow of The Associated Press. The franchise's lone loss over that span came in an infamous 2003 game against Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts.

Bowles put the onus directly on his players after the Bucs fell to 7-7.

"The coaches have done everything they can do," he said. "This is a player-driven team in the last four or five weeks. You gotta execute and they gotta 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, we're talking a small select few but the small select few is what is getting us beat. Until that happens, it's not going to get right, so we gotta get up and go to work tomorrow, no matter how bad today looks."

Quarterback Baker Mayfield took responsibility for Tampa Bay's latest defeat.

"This one's gonna haunt me, this falls on my shoulders," said Mayfield, who threw a costly interception in crunch time. He finished the night with 19 completions on 34 attempts for 277 yards and two touchdowns against one pick.

The Bucs once seemed like a lock to win the NFC South, but Bowles' outfit now ranks second in the division behind the 7-6 Carolina Panthers, who face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The Bucs and Panthers play each other twice in the season's final three weeks.