Despite a depressing loss in Miami, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain alive in the NFC South.
The Bucs looked cooked in a 20-17 loss on Sunday, trailing by double digits for long stretches, letting seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers dice up the defense, and Baker Mayfield turned the ball over three times. Yet, with the Carolina Panthers losing at home to Seattle, Tampa, at 7-9, still has a chance to take the division title in Week 18.
"Here's the thing," Mayfield said after the loss, via the Associated Press. "We still have a chance next week. We've been blessed with a chance next week, and guys need to handle it the right way. Lavonte (David) spoke to the team after the game and hit the nail on the head, so we've got to respond."
After an opening-drive touchdown, the Bucs couldn't get out of their own way. Mayfield threw two interceptions and fumbled in the fourth quarter. The flubs overshadowed a 346-yard passing performance in which he spammed short tosses. Of Mayfield's 33 completions, 32 came under 20 yards. He went 1 for 7 for 33 yards and two interceptions on deep passes.
"We didn't deserve it," said wideout Mike Evans, who caught three of seven targets for 31 yards and a touchdown. "They played like they had a chance at the playoffs, and we played like we were ready to go home."
Tampa has lost four straight games and seven of its last eight, but they're not going home yet.
With an offense that continues to turn the ball over, a defense that gets burned, and a special teams unit that's come up short, there is a lot to clean up in short order for Tampa.
"We have to get ourselves together before we worry about anybody else," coach Todd Bowles said. "Carolina or anybody else. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot at every chance. That starts with me, I've got to coach them better. They've got to play better, and then we've got to figure out how we can stop making our mistakes to move on. So if we play and do the things we did today next week, we won't be going anywhere."
Despite the losing skid, a win over Carolina in Week 18 to move to 8-9 would likely give the Bucs a home playoff game.
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