After two very strong performances in their first two games, the Bucs defense had a hiccup  against the Giants last Sunday. They allowed 31 points to rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, including squandering an 18-point lead in the second half.

Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles didn’t make any excuses for the defensive performance last Sunday, stating that it had nothing to do with communication issues or not having the right mentality. It simply came down to not making plays when it needed to be done.

“We didn’t make plays and they made plays,” Bowles said on Thursday. “I’m not going to sit up here and make excuses for what we did do and didn’t do. We just need to play better. We got to learn close out ball games.”

The defense did do a good job in the run game on Sunday, holding Saquon Barkley to just 10 yards on eight carries before he exited the game in the third quarter. That may have made the loss sting more considering the Giants didn’t have their best player out there, but that doesn’t matter to the Bucs defensive coordinator.

Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles – Photo by: PewterReport.com

“It didn’t matter if he played or didn’t play,” Bowles said. “If you don’t make plays against the team that’s out there, you’re going to lose the ball game. We didn’t make plays, it’s not about if their best player is hurt, if their worst player is hurt, we go out there to win the ball game. We don’t make excuses, we look at the film, we correct it, we move on.”

With such a gut-wrenching loss on a missed field goal as time expired, that could be a loss that lingers on most teams. That won’t happen to the Bucs, though, according to Bowles. The Bus are coming off one of their best practices last week, and that carried over to this week.

“We practiced hard,” Bowles said. “We let it go after Monday, we have a 24-hour rule win, lose, or draw. We let it go after Monday, they’re working hard, they’re practicing this week and just keep putting it together and win today and win tomorrow and worry about Sunday on Sunday.”

The Bucs have to move on quickly as they prepare to play against the defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams and their high-powered offense. That means Bowles has to game plan against the offensive mind of Rams’ head coach Sean McVay, and Bowles gave his thoughts on the challenge of coaching against him.

“Very intelligent, that’s why he’s where he’s at.” Bowles said. “Obviously it’s shown over past last year or so and it’s showing again this year. They can run the ball, they can throw the ball, he’s very innovative, he’s very bright, guys play hard for him, the team loves him, that’s very evident in their play, so you got to give him a lot of credit.”