You know it's bad when Todd Bowles starts swearing.
After Sunday's loss to the Saints, Baker Mayfield called his team out and said they needed to "be frustrated" and take it out on the Falcons Thursday night. That didn't happen, and instead the Bucs lost a second straight game that essentially knocks them out of the playoff picture.
They can still climb back in with a win over Carolina next week, but at this point, that seems beside the point. The Bucs are not a good team, nor one that seems to care, and it's forced Todd Bowles to the brink.
Todd Bowles' uncharacteristic NSFW rant after Buccaneers' loss to Falcons is another nail in the coffin
After the loss, Bowles went on an uncharacteristically NSFW rant when asked about his message to the locker room after what happened.
We typically don't see this sort of stuff out of Bowles, which is why it's so alarming hear him dropping expletives in such a manner -- or with such frequency. On the one hand, it's objectively amusing, but on the other hand, it's yet another sign that the rot is starting to show, and there doesn't seem to be many ways that this whole thing ends well for anyone.
Bowles, specifically. For as monotone and even keel as he is, even after brutal losses of years past, this is as much as he's ever sounded like a coach who knows what's coming next.
Todd Bowles cant help but let the expletives fly after that embarrassing loss pic.twitter.com/LH40a3XEd0
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 12, 2025
This wasn't the only notable thing from Bowles' presser after the loss. He also called his players out and threw them under all 18 wheels, claiming that coaches have "done all they can do" and are "blue in the face" but can only do so much when players don't listen.
He stopped short of naming names, but Bowles mentioned a "small group" that has refused to take things seriously and it's those guys who are "getting us beat".
That's not what a healthy locker room sounds like. Making matters worse for Bowles was the fact that players -- including Mike Evans -- left the field early before Zane Gonzalez's game-winning kick was even attempted.
It's truly bleak stuff right now, but unlike like the last few seasons when the team has dealt with midseason slumps the warts are showing. There doesn't seem to be an easy way out of this, assuming there's one at all, and the calls for Bowles' job are nearly impossible to argue against.
This won't end in a proverbial public execution where the blood thirst of angry fans will be quenched. Bowles will probably retire or step down and move into an advisory role much like what Bruce Arians did back in 2022.
What won't happen -- what can't happen -- is for this current iteration of the team to be run back. It's broken and there's no way to fix it. Things haven't always been this bad, nor as bad as some made it seem, but it's impossible to deny that this has run its course and change is needed.