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Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles ripped his team during his postgame press conference with an expletive-laden speech Thursday after the Bucs suffered a 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium.
Bowles’ team led 28-14 in the fourth quarter, but squandered the lead and the loss dropped the team to 7-7 on the season. The 62-year-old head coach repeatedly called the loss “inexcusable” and criticized his players for not caring enough.
“You don’t make excuses,” Bowles said. “You have to care enough about where it hurts. You have to care enough about where it hurts. It has to mean something to you. It’s more than a job. It’s your fucking livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can’t sugarcoat that. It’s unex-f—king-cusable and there’s no fucking answer to that.
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Todd Bowles, head coach and defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, looks on before the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on December 11, 2025. (Kim Klement Neitzel/Imagn Images)
Bowles said the coaches have done everything they can and the players need to hold each other accountable.
“At this point, you’ve seen everything during the season,” Bowles said. “The coaches have done everything they can. This is a player-led team the last four or five weeks. You have to execute and they have to hold each other accountable.”
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles speaks after an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Tampa, Florida on December 11, 2025. (Chris O’Meara/AP Photo)
“As a coach, you can stay 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 everyone, you know, we’re talking about a select few. But that select few is what makes us beat. And until that happens, it’s not going to go well.”
The loss was crushing, as it caused the Buccaneers to lose first place in the NFC South, with the Carolina Panthers currently the only ones holding the top spot at 7-6. Bowles said the team knew it had to win its next three games.
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Luckily for the Buccaneers, two of their next three games will be against the Panthers, so they can still control their own destiny. The Buccaneers have won the NFC South for four straight seasons, but if they don’t turn things around, that streak will end.
They will look to bounce back when they face the Panthers next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
