Bucs head coach Todd Bowles didn’t mince words when talking about his team’s horrifically bad loss, 20-18, at Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon.

Tampa Bay came in as heavy 9.5-point favorites against a Pittsburgh team that had lost four straight games, was starting a rookie QB in Kenny Pickett and was without four of its five starters in the secondary. There was no way the Bucs should have lost this game. Yet they did.

“We didn’t take them lightly, number one,” Bowles said. “Number two, I think guys that are living off the Super Bowl are living in fantasy land. You’ve got to get your hands dirty and go to work like everybody else. We’ve been working hard, and we have to work harder. Nobody is going to give us anything or feel sorry [for us]. We have to go back as coaches, as players, and the time for talking is over. You’ve either got to put up or shut up.”

So, who is living in fantasy land?

Bucs ILB Devin White and Steelers RB Najee Harris – Photo by: USA Today

Was Bowles referring to inside linebacker Devin White, who had a dumb roughing the passer penalty on third down that extended the Steelers’ first touchdown drive? White also blew the coverage on running back Najee Harris, who was wide open for a 6-yard touchdown catch.

White was named to his first Pro Bowl last year when he didn’t really play at a Pro Bowl level. And he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month in September, but he has actually seen his play regress since a Week 1 win at Dallas.

Or was Bowles talking about another Bucs player or players?

Perhaps Bowles was talking about offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, who called an absolutely horrible game as the offense continued to struggle in the red zone, on third downs and on two-point conversions. Leftwich received a ton of credit from former head coach Bruce Arians for the prolific nature of a Bucs offense that has averaged 30 points per game over the past two seasons.

Bowles has mentioned the Bucs being “out-coached” and having to “coach it better” at times this season when talking about the offense, and he did so again after the Bucs’ embarrassing loss to the Steelers.

But when Bowles was asked a follow up question about a possible Super Bowl hangover from 2020, he shut down the topic –maybe realizing he actually said aloud what was on his mind.

“I didn’t say we were,” Bowles said about some on his team possibly living in a post-Super Bowl fantasy land. “I’m just saying when you get patted on the back so much, you’ve just got to re-live … every year and every week, you have to go out there and earn your pay and earn your keep. And if you don’t live like that, then there is going to be a result like today.”

Bucs Were Awful On Third Downs On Offense And Defense

Bowles was especially critical about the offense’s ineptitude on third down, where the Bucs were a woeful 4-of-14 (28.6%).

“We could not get one yard on third- and fourth-and-short,” Bowles said. “We got stalled in the red zone. I don’t think we coached it well. I don’t think we played it well.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

“We’ve got to find a way to score in the red zone. We’ve got to find a way to score in the red zone – and more importantly, we’ve got to find a way to be better in short yardage. Third-and-1 and fourth-and-inches, we have to find a way to be better.”

Bowles didn’t let himself or the defense off the hook, either. The Bucs allowed a 7-of-15 (46.7%) mark on third downs, including four third-and-long situations to be converted in the second half.

“We didn’t get off the field and make plays,” Bowles said. “We didn’t make plays. We’ve got to make plays. We can’t let the quarterback out of the pocket and scramble. [Mitch] Trubisky did a good job buying time and it turned into a scramble on the back end and he found the guy that was open.

“They played well, they played a team ball game,” Bowles said. “We did not play well all the way around.”