So this is how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season ends, not with thunderous canon burts but boos from fans as the team runs off the field -- and into the offseason.
There are still four more games left on the schedule but there's really no point in caring much after Thursday night. Maybe the Bucs will bounce back from a 29-28 loss to the Falcons, which came after a loss to the last place Saints, but it really doesn't matter.
Nothing about this Bucs team suggests they'd be anything more than canon fodder in the playoffs, and any question about that was firmly answered in Todd Bowles' press conference after Thursday night's loss.
Todd Bowles calls out Buccaneers and throws his team under the bus after latest embarrassing loss
Bowles was as angry as he's been in his four years as head coach, but everything about what he said sounded like the death rattle of this current iteration of the team. Bowles called his players out, exclaiming that the coaches have "done all they can do" and it was on the players to figure things out.
An angry Todd Bowles just threw his players under the bus.
— Josh Hill (@jdavhill) December 12, 2025
“Coaches have done all they can do”
“They have to hold themselves accountable”
This is exactly what it sounds like when the end is near. The Bucs are cooked. It’s over, folks. pic.twitter.com/vntvGIm9Ka
That's right, he preached accountability by passing the buck.
It's not totally fair to say that Bowles is avoiding responsibility for what has happened. He has, to a fault, defended players with half-baked comments when asked specific questions. He's protected guys in the locker room over the years who haven't deserved it, but it's clear the shop is going down and he knows he's going with it.
Any doubt about his future with the Bucs was confirmed on Thursday. There's no path forward with how things are structured. Even if Tampa Bay goes on a run and wins its way into the playoffs, this unsustainable.
Nothing signified that more than Bowles drawing a line against his own locker room. When the team fell into midseason slumps each of the past two seasons, they found a way to climb out of the hole. Not once was there finger pointing nor was the blame game played.
The vibes have been off for a while, but everything about Bowles' comments after the game are what it sounds like when the end is near. We hadn't heard anything like this the last two seasons, but we are now and it's impossible to ignore now.
At every level -- from the field to the locker room -- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a broken team and there's no way, or reason, to fix it now.