Todd Bowles defends having Chris Godwin in the game at the time of his injury

There were two losses suffered by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, one far worse than the other. While the Bucs lost 41-31 to the Ravens, losing Chris Godwin to a potential season-ending injury has a far greater impact on the playoff picture than any single loss could have.

Godwin suffered what the team believes is a dislocated ankle, an injury that effectively would end his season. The minimum recovery time is around 8 weeks and that's assuming everything goes perfectly; 6-8 weeks should be spent in a boot with 2-3 spend rehabbing after.

That timeline puts Godwin out until at least mid-Decemeber but there's absolutely no need to rush him back even at that point. What makes his injury even more devastating is the fact that he's a free agent at the end of the season and was playing at a level that suggested he was about to get paid a nice fat contract.

All of that is on hold now, and the context of his injury has everyone questioning head coach Todd Bowles in the aftermath of what happened.

Todd Bowles explains why Chris Godwin was still in the game during final minute of MNF

Godwin was injured in the final minute of a game the Bucs were trailing by 10 points in. Tampa Bay had just scored 13 unanswered points to cut a 41-18 lead down to two scores and were attempting to drive the field and hopefully recover an onside kick if they were able to further cut into the lead.

After the game, Bowles spoke to the media and was pressed about why he had left Godwin and the rest of his starters in the game. It's a good question to ask, but is one tinged with hindsight that Bowles very bluntly punched through in his response.

"We were trying to win the ballgame," Bowles said. "With Mike [Evans] going down, we didn't have that many receivers left as it was so we play with what we've got ... it's unfortunate he got hurt and we feel bad about that, but he's a football player who wanted to be in the game just like Baker [Mayfield] and everybody else.

Things got particularly testy when Bowles was essentially called out for not protecting Godwin from himself, which was a barbed acquistation on a few fronts. The implication was that Bowles mismanaged the situation and in a roundabout way led to Godwin getting injured, which he took exception.

"I do protect my players, all the time. That has nothing to do with why we left him in the ballgame, we still had a shot to score some points and win," Bowles said.

While it's understandable that in the immediate aftermath of such a devastating injury Bowles' decision would be questioned, but it's a little unfair as well. Bowles is essentially in a lose-lose situation; had he taken his starters out of the game he would have likely been accused of waving the white flag in a game the Bucs still mathematically could have tied or won, but he's being buried for doing the exact opposite.

Godwin's injury colors everything, but it's also hindsight. Let's say Godwin hadn't been injured and the Bucs connected on a touchdown the very next play -- the Bucs would have been an onside kick away from being in position to potentially win the game.

Lest we forget the Bucs had already recovered an onside kick earlier in the game to put them on a track to be in a position have their starters on the field when Godwin was injured. By the logic being thrown at Bowles, why not just wave the white flag even earlier and not even attempt the onside kick.

Bowles has been buried for his decision making before, and there have been times when it's warranted. This is simply not one of those times; at the very least Tampa Bay was building momentum that they were going to carry into a game against Atlanta next week but Godwin's injury casts a shadow over all of that now.

There were many things to get upset with Bowles about on Monday night, but trying to do all he could to win a game is absolutely not one of them.

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