Bucs OC Dave Canales and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR In Barnwell’s article, he mentioned that Tampa Bay has lost by just 4.4 points over their recent skid, and if they capitalized on two of their chances things would look a lot different. If the Bucs would have won their Week 7 contest against the Falcons and taken advantage of Desmond Ridder fumbling the football three times, that’s one win against their biggest division threat. More and more that game looks like a blown chance to have the NFC South run through Tampa Bay and has served as the beginning of the snowball effect of losing that has carried on for roughly half of the season. Two weeks later, the Bucs’ offense came alive and put up 37 points, including a late-game score from Cade Otton on a pass by Baker Mayfield. All signs pointed to the team coming out of Houston with an impressive win. That was until rookie sensation C.J. Stroud drove the Texans down the field to score the game-winning touchdown in the last seconds. If those two game outcomes went the other way, Tampa Bay goes into Sunday at 6-5 – and head coach Todd Bowles would have been able to let out a few more victory “YEAH’s!” Instead, the team returns to Raymond James Stadium with little to no momentum on their side. How that begins to change starts with Bowles and the players being accountable for the recent stretch of losing Buccaneers football. Bucs Will Only Find The Win Column With More Accountability How the Bucs get back in the win column with more regularity circles back to Bowles and the players and the element of accountability. This was something Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds and Matt Matera pointed to on Wednesday’s podcast referring to Bowles’ comments that day and both of them were spot-on on what the team has been missing. Demanding accountability is key to getting the #GoBucs back on track. There are a lot of lead-by-example guys, but sometimes you need to hash it out. Scott Reynolds and Matt Matera discussed this more on yesterday's show. Energized by @CelsiusOfficial https://t.co/3oYWmhwR3N pic.twitter.com/TktHfjhj6u — PewterReport 
(@PewterReport) November 30, 2023 Here is Todd Bowles’ full statement when asked about if his team has gotten complacent. “There’s no complacency, there’s just youth,” Bowles said. “It’s accountability. You’ve got to bring one along. Everybody is playing hard, but until they start being accountable for each other – and I’ve told them this – we won’t turn this corner until they start being accountable for each other on the field.” There is a lot of youth along the roster, and many of them have had to learn on the fly. It’s worked out for some guys, such as Calijah Kancey, who just won NFC Defensive Rookie of the Month. Otherwise, it’s been a lot of late-round picks trying to find footing on a team with playoff aspirations. As Barnwell pointed out in his article, the Bucs have had nine rookies play at least 150 snaps this season, tied for most in the league. That includes much of their draft class, including Day 3 picks SirVocea Dennis, Payne Durham, Josh Hayes, and Trey Palmer. That also extends to the undrafted Christian Izien and Markees Watts. 
Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R With that, it means that the leaders on the roster need to not only fill the mentor role but do more to hold everyone accountable for their actions and performances. Baker Mayfield has been the most vocal about calling out his teammates. While he is supposed to be one of the leaders as the quarterback, players who have been within the building longer and have experienced playoff football have to step up and lead with their playoff hopes this season hanging in the balance. If the Bucs fail to make the playoffs this year in what has again been the weakest division in the NFL, big changes are coming from the head coach to the personnel on the field. Winning Sunday is a start to solving the puzzle, but to get there it’s going to take playing 60 minutes of quality football. Bucs co-defensive coordinator Larry Foote understands the nature of the outside noise getting louder, and that will only be calmed down by winning and finishing the season strong. “We do understand winning solves everything,” Foote said Thursday. “That’s what we’re concentrating on.” The post It’s Do Or Die For Bucs’ Playoff Hopes On Sunday appeared first on Pewter Report. Source: https://www.pewterreport.com/bucs-playo ... do-or-die/
