There hasn’t been much to be happy about for the Bucs after a skid of losing three out of their last four games. That includes falling 20-18 to the lowly Pittsburgh Steelers in a game where they never led, even as a huge favorite.

As frustrations build up following the lack of success, the Bucs are focusing on the big picture. For starters, they’ve yet to play a complete game of football, let alone play up to their potential.

Bucs Playing For A Division Title

But more importantly, despite their 3-3 record, the Bucs are still in first place. There’s so much to play for.

“We’re ultimately in the position that we would like to be in,” outside linebacker Shaq Barrett said. “But we’re just not playing the way we want to play. Once we start playing the way we want to play, we’ll be in a better position.”

Tampa Bay is tied atop of the NFC South at 3-3 along with the Atlanta Falcons. Then, you have the Saints, who are reeling at 2-4 with a myriad of injuries to their roster. And rounding out the group is the Bucs’ opponent this week, the 1-5 Panthers, who have traded away their best players to strengthen their chances at landing the top pick in next year’s draft.

Bucs WRs Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It’s looking like it could be a two-team race, and the Bucs have the advantage over the Falcons with a better divisional record. Once the Bucs play up to their level, hopefully they can pull away.

“We’re still optimistic,” wide receiver Mike Evans said. “I mean, you can’t stop playing. We’re all professionals. We’ve got a division game coming up this week – we’ve got to win it. It’s a must win for us. We’re just looking at the positives, but we don’t want to underachieve. That’s what we don’t want. We’ve just got to be better and soon.”

Great Week Of Practice

Tampa Bay has responded well after the surprising loss, according to head coach Todd Bowles. Players have been more attentive this week. It just needs to transition into the game, he said.

“The leadership was great, the effort has been outstanding all week,” Bowles said. “It’s just got to carry over to Sunday. We understand we lost a game but we’re still tied for first place, it’s early in the process. We’re going to work out some kinks and a I thought we did a lot of good things this week. We’ve just got to carry it over.”

Bucs Have Been Here Before

This isn’t the first time the Bucs have gone on an unfortunate string of losing multiple games with this group of players. In their 2020 Super Bowl winning season, they lost three of four games from Weeks 9 through 12 before heading into the bye week. They regrouped, did some self-scouting and never lost another game that season.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There was pressure at that time, but the season wasn’t over. You have to look at the big picture without getting too worked up in the moment. The Bucs find themselves in a similar situation early on this year. They’re not pressing yet, just getting everything corrected.

“It’s a super long season,” Evans said. “I feel like we’re just trying to stay as healthy as possible and get it right, right now before it’s too late.”

“It’s a marathon,” Bowles said. “I wouldn’t say (playing with) urgency because they play hard all the time. We’ve got to play smarter, you know. We’ve got to play smarter, we’ve got to coach smarter. So, it’s not a sense of urgency, it’s just a sense of awareness and a sense of us coming together, knowing what kind of team we are this year.”