Bucs phone in the effort at home vs Payton, Denver
3 min read
Baker Mayfield Courtesy of Bucpower.com
It was evident early on that there was no want to.
It didn’t take me but about 5 to 10 plays from scrimmage to know that Denver had arrived more than ready for this matchup. The “Mile High” Mules wanted this win, and it was clear early that the Bucs were not going to rise to the occasion, scale the wall, pull it out of the fire, get their s*** together, wake up, dig down deep, “Win just one, for the Gipper“ or save the day. They had already lost the game when they went down by 14 in the first quarter. Jenna Laine of ESPN Sports reported Mike Evans’s words after the game: “It does hurt. It felt like they wanted it more when we was out there.” Finishing off with, “We all were just waiting for someone to make a play — not doing enough to change it. Jenna Laine also reported a Baker Mayfield quote. Mayfield: “You have to prepare like you’re playing a playoff game every week, or else this can happen. We got our asses kicked — physicality-wise, execution-wise, all over the board for us. It’s a good lesson for our team.”
A rah-rah guy, Bowles is not.
You’re never going to see Todd Bowles running up and down the sideline screaming, eyes bulging, veins popping, berating, or trying to boost his players. Bowles is a glass of iced tea in the middle of a battlefield, a Kahlua And Cream in a biker bar. He’s not a big emotions guy, in my opinion. He seems to expect his players to play their best and always give total effort. In other words, be a professional, a man, an example. He expects each man to be accountable to himself first and then to his teammates. There is enough at stake every week of the season. That alone should motivate and inspire. He’s not doing cartwheels and shaking pom-poms for anybody. It’s his style, it’s his right, he’s running the show. Not all of your employees can live up to that 100% every week; which brings us to 26-7 at home.
Overconfidence begets mediocrity.
Reading their own press clippings, buying into the hype, getting the big head, cocky, overconfident, and full of themselves, it has been described a thousand different ways. For the Bucs on Sunday at Ray Jay, it was all of the above. I never got the feeling they were going to come back against Denver. It was like launching your boat without the plugs in it. Once it starts to go down, there’s no saving it as it was for the Bucs this past Sunday afternoon. I called this one a big win for Tampa, 34-17. Knowing the Bucs, I also said just before week one that they would lose a game they were supposed to easily win. This loss fits that perfectly. Seeing the Bucs play this way really makes me question what the makeup (mental aspect) of this team truly is. I hope that this is just a blip on the radar of our season. Bowles expects them to learn from this loss like men, and adjust. Hopefully, they will do just that. Go Bucs!!
