A miserable season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came to a pitiful end on Sunday, but the work to fix things is only just beginning.
Even though the Bucs managed to beat the Panthers in Week 18, the fact that the bottomed out so hard over the last month rendered the victory irrelevant. For the first time this decade, the Bucs entered the final week of the season without control of their own destiny and ended up paying the price.
That's what happens when a team that needs to win only two of its last five games goes on a four game losing streak. Tampa Bay failing to win a single game in December out fans in a position where they needed to root for the Saints to win and therefore block a tiebreaker technicality. Instead, it was the Bucs who were blocked from the playoffs, and now the question of what happens with Todd Bowles takes center stage.
Don't expect a quick or easy answer, though.
Buccaneers fans might have to wait longer than they want to hear about Todd Bowles' fate
Ever since Bowles stepped into the role of head coach, fans have been calling for him to be fired. Some have turned being anti-Bowles into their entire fan personality, but a lot of the level-headed frustration is very justified.
Bowles has given the Bucs some incredible moments, like being the architect of a Super Bowl-winning defense that wrecked Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. He's also displayed some serious flaws that have fundamentally held the team back at times.
It's those mistakes -- like poor time management, the lack of player development, and the inability to coach out mistakes -- that have piled up on the Bucs over the last few years. Bowles coached the team to an improved record in each of his first three seasons and has an overall winning record (35-33, so not by much) but is just 12-20 against playoff teams during that time.
Two years ago, the Buccaneers made it to the NFC Divisional Round and came close to reaching the Championship game -- a loss to the Lions that was marred by questions about Bowles clock management in the final moments.
Bowles coached the Bucs to three straight NFC South titles, but won the division with a losing record the first year, needed a tiebreaker the second, and halted a midseason collapse just in time to barely retain the crown in Week 18.
All of this is to say, for as much as Buccaneers fans want Bowles gone it won't be that easy of a decision for ownership. Bowles has been with the Bucs since 2019, won a Super Bowl, and has the third-best winning percentage in franchise history. He's built a ton of important relationships inside the building over that time, and all of that counts just as much as the stuff everyone rightfully wants him fired for.
The decision on Bowles won't come quickly, something that has already been telegraphed. When the Bucs fired Lovie Smith, it didn't happen until the Wednesday after the season ended. When Bruce Arians retired, it happened a month into the offseason. Adam Schefter reported before Sunday's games that the Glazer's don't want to fire Bowles even though they'll be doing a full evaluation of his status in the aftermath of the historic collapse.
What comes next is unclear. There's a chance he gets fired and replaced with a younger, offensive-minded head coach to help usher the team into a new era. There's also the very real possibility that Bowles is back for one more season, but with significant changes to his coaching staff. Even the best relationships can't shield someone from accountability that comes with taking a 6-2 start and turning it into an 8-9 finish.
Nobody knows what the Glazer's will do with Bowles, but anyone expecting swift judgment is going to be as disappointed as they were watching the Buccaneers collapse this season.