For as disastrous and embarrassing as Sunday's loss was, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly managed to pull off another miracle Houdini act at the last-minute.
Unlike the first three weeks of the season, the comeback wasn't meant to be, but despite being down by multiple scores earlier in the game, the Bucs ended up losing by less than a touchdown.
Part of that was a garbage time safety by Philly to run out the clock, but most of it was a gritty fight within the team we all know is there. Baker Mayfield knows it, but he made it known he's less than impressed that it's being overshadowed by everything the Bucs are doing wrong.
While speaking with the media, Baker co-signed a message that Lavonte David sent the team in the locker room about how they should be feeling after a loss like the one they suffered in Week 4.
"This group is too damn good to start slow, and until we take accountability to that, it should piss us off. Even though it's Week 4, this should piss us off. We've talked about starting fast and playing better ball, and we did not do that today," Baker said.
That right there is what they call leadership, and the fact that it's coming from two of the most respected voices in the locker room means it probably holds a ton of weight. Baker and Lavonte are right, the Bucs are better than what we saw out of them on Sunday, which is why it makes the repeat nature of the mistakes so unbelievably frustrating.
Baker Mayfield and Lavonte David sent the exact right message after 31-25 loss to Eagles
Falling into a 14-0 hole that avalanches into a 24-6 halftime deficit is a good way to lose games, which is what we saw on Sunday. It's not the first time the Bucs have clawed their way back, though, and the message from Baker and Lavonte is why they've been able to reverse course in the past.
In back-to-back seasons, the Bucs navigated out of midseason losing slumps, and it's pretty clear that they're trying to get ahead of that now. What makes the message hit even harder is that Tampa Bay nearly escaped Sunday's disaster despite how bad things looked and despite the fact that key players like Mike Evans and Luke Goedeke were out.
Nothing about losing is good, but it's worth remembering that we haven't seen a fully healthy version of the Bucs yet this season. There will come a day when Evans, Godwin, Egbuka, Bucky, and Baker are all on the field together and when it arrives the accountability better be there to ensure that nothing ends up getting wasted like we saw in Week 4.
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