It's been a tough week of debriefing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as a winning season ended in a brutal loss in the playoffs. Unlike last season, the Bucs couldn't make it out of the Wild Card round, instead losing a heartbreaker to the Washington Commanders on a last-second field goal.
As if the way the game ended wasn't bad enough, what led to that point is even worse in hindsight.
All season long the Bucs made a habit out of beating themselves, as no team was its own worst enemy more than Tampa Bay. This was highlighted during the team's four game losing streak in the middle of the season, as losses to the Chiefs, Falcons, and 49ers all came thanks to self-inflicted errors that put the game just out of the Bucs' reach.
We unfortunately saw that again on Sunday in the Wild Card game, and it's not only Buccaneers fans noticing how frustrating the loss was.
Bill Belichick thinks the Buccaneers beat themselves in Wild Card loss to Washington
Former NFL head coach and current North Carolina Tar Heels head coach -- which still feels weird to say -- Bill Belichick is right there with Bucs fans as far as being frustrated over the loss. We've seen Belichick lose his cool over bad football both on the sideline with New England and the ManningCast on Monday nights, and his assessment of what happened with the Bucs is spot on.
Belichick was appearing on The Pat McAfee show this week and pointed out rather bluntly that the Bucs beat themselves more than the Commanders defense did.
"They fumble a handoff on a jet sweep-action play. That really didn’t have anything to do with the defense. Then they [butcher] another short-yardage play and screw up the handoff and get stopped and get held to a field goal," Belichick said. "“That didn’t have anything to do with Washington’s defense. It was just bad football.”
What makes this even harder to swallow is that the Bucs were let down at the worst possible time by an offense that had helped carry the team to that point. Todd Bowles' defense was ravaged by injuries which led to a reduced level of play, but Liam Coen and Baker Mayfield taking the offense to new heights was what helped offset some of the defense's shortcomings.
That's what makes things like the fumble or the botched snap in the fourth quarter that screwed up a potential touchdown even worse, because the best side of the ball was making the fatal mistakes.
It doesn't ruin anything that preceeded it in terms of the right pieces being put into place, as the Bucs are set up for a monster 2025 if everything goes their way this offseason. That doesn't make the fact that those mistakes are lasting impression of the season any easier to stomach, especially knowing that the reason the Bucs are sitting at home now is their own fault.
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