'It’s not the energy, it’s the execution': Todd Bowles, Bucs running out of excuses as Tampa Bay's nosedive continues at 0-4

· Yahoo Sports

Sometimes, the numbers tell the whole story. Tampa Bay is 0-4 this season, every single one of those games a one-possession loss. Dating back to December 2025, Tampa Bay is 1-8, and every single one of those games has been a one-possession contest. Cut another way, Tampa Bay has lost eight of nine games by an average margin of less than four points. 

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Cut it however you like: Tampa Bay is flailing. This is the NFL, not figure skating; you don’t get credit for valiant but imperfect finishes. Blame injuries if you like, blame bad luck, blame the ownership, blame the ghosts that roam the decks of the pirate ship in Raymond James Stadium. The end result is the same: this is a team in freefall, with no landing in sight. 

The latest evidence: losing a winnable game Sunday against a similarly reeling Green Bay, 17-14. The almost-as-hapless Packers certainly gave the Bucs opportunities — Tampa held the ball with four minutes remaining down a field goal — but simply could not close the deal. 

“We didn't get it done,” head coach Todd Bowles acknowledged after the game. “We've been here a couple weeks now at the end of the ballgames, and we're not finishing. We’ve got to find a way to finish the game.”

They’ve got to find a lot more than that, starting with the quarterback position. Baker Mayfield is out for at least two more games with a thumb injury, meaning that rookie Jalon Daniels is now under center. In his first NFL start, Daniels went 19-for-27 passing for 148 yards, with one clutch touchdown pass to Kenny Gainwell against two interceptions. 

It wasn’t a terrible performance, all things considered, but when the rest of the team is so ineffective, particularly the offensive line, a quarterback has to be much more than “not terrible” — and that’s asking a whole lot of a guy just four weeks into his NFL career. 

To his credit, Bowles didn’t fall back on the tired “we know what kind of team we are” trope that losing teams use to convince the media (or themselves) that they’re better than what their record shows. Tampa Bay and Green Bay had fairly equal numbers across the board, from total yardage (275 to 283) to turnovers (2 apiece) to time of possession (30:10 to 29:50), and yet the Bucs couldn’t make the necessary plays in crunch time. 

“We can't keep getting close and not winning. That's not good enough,” Bowles said. “Our record says what we are. We're 0-4, and until we acknowledge that, and we correct our own mistakes, it's going to keep happening.”

The real issue, Bowles suggested, is something more straightforward: it doesn’t matter if a team believes in itself if it can’t do the damn job. “It's not the energy,” he said, “it's the execution.”

There’s plenty of blame to go around, from the macro (the front office didn’t have a backup plan more seasoned than Daniels?) to the micro (was Tampa Bay trying to set a record for most unblocked edge rushers allowed into the backfield to blow up Daniels?). But the end result is the same: a concentration of blame centering on Bowles. 

“I can do more. I can always do more. I'll always take the blame on that,” Bowles said. “We're going to fight, and we're going to stick together, and we're going to figure this thing out. And I'll lead them to that.”

Rookie Jalon Daniels was competitive in his first NFL start but it wasn't good enough to lead Tampa Bay to its first win of the season. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit)AP Photo/Peter Joneleit

The odds are not in Tampa Bay’s favor. In NFL history, only one team has started 0-4 and reached the playoffs: the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who won 11 of their next 12 to reach the postseason. With Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore and the Los Angeles Rams on the slate, that seems like an unlikely outcome for Tampa Bay, to put it mildly. 

If Bowles has any kind of job armor, it’s the fact that the Glazer ownership group hasn’t ever fired a coach midseason. But he’s certainly putting that stance to the test. Since taking over Tampa Bay in 2022, Bowles’ teams have won 10 games just once, going 1-3 in the playoffs over that span. And Tampa Bay plays in the woeful NFC South, a division so misbegotten that an 8-9 team reached the playoffs last postseason (and it wasn’t the 8-9 Bucs). 

Tampa Bay now has no margin for error. Mayfield will be out at least another two games, and the Bucs are right back in action Thursday night in Dallas (2-2). 

“We’ve got to concentrate on us,” Bowles said. “No matter how dark the days are, we’ve got to focus on us. And those guys are real good at that.”

Focus is fine. Results are better. And so far this season, the Bucs clearly aren’t real good at results. Unless and until they can finish, it’s going to be a long season for Tampa Bay fans, and potentially a short one for Bowles. 

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