Heading into their Monday night matchup against the Eagles, the Bucs knew they were facing a top-tier team. Throughout the first half, they kept it a close game that could have gone either way. It took until there were less than four minutes left in the second quarter for the Eagles to lead by a touchdown.

There were some missed opportunities along the way for the Bucs in their 25-11 loss, but all is not lost. Philadelphia controlled much of the second half and this game serves as an important reminder of the work that Tampa Bay still needs to put in if they want to be a playoff-caliber team.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles Admits Team “Didn’t Play Well”

Bucs OC Dave Canales and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In his postgame press conference, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles addressed the hard-fought game his team had against a more formidable foe. One that truly circled them like prey. “It was tough,” Bowles said. “We knew they had a good team going in. They had a tough front. They played well. They got us out of a lot of things, kept us behind the sticks and we couldn’t capitalize.”

The Bucs failed to move the ball on offense, but Bowles did not want to place the blame solely on them. When asked about his message to the team afterward he stated, “It was a hard-fought game – we own it. We didn’t play a good ballgame.

“We didn’t move the ball well. As a team, we didn’t play well. It wasn’t just the offense. We’re going to win as a team and we’re going to lose as a team. [The] offense didn’t play well, [the] defense didn’t play well and special teams gave up field position.”

There are some things to fix, but the team is not broken. Instead, it just needs to be repaired – and quickly – as they will head to New Orleans in less than a week to face the Saints. It will be their first of many divisional battles in the NFC South, and one they would like to win to head into the bye 3-1. 

Bucs S Ryan Neal Sees No Reason To Freak Out

Bucs S Ryan Neal and ILB Devin White – Photo by: USA Today

Bucs safety Ryan Neal was busy against the Eagles, finishing tied for second with 11 tackles. While the defense had its faults, Neal wants the defense to own it.

“We started by showing up in the first half,” Neal said. “Gave up a fluky touchdown, but we’ve just got to finish. You know what they’re going to do coming out, we just got to own it. Have pride in it. Can’t let teams run the ball on you. It’s all easy fixes, nothing to really freak out about or lose your mind about. I guarantee you that when we see the film it’s just going to be like – damn – it’s just little stuff here and there. 

“We’re just looking forward to breaking down the film, seeing what we got to fix, and we’ll fix it. We’ll get back on it and we’re going to go ahead and have another good week and bring it to the next teams. It’s just one of those things, we got to get a little gut punch here and there, and we’ll be fine.”

The Bucs got a reality check in a big way facing a Super Bowl contender, and after winning their first two games, it’s back to the drawing board. Neal thinks the secondary in particular can build off their performance.

“Absolutely,” Neal added. “Shoutout to Dee Delaney, he’s always been that kind of guy for this team. He’s a special dude, can play multiple positions, and he’s always ready when he’s called upon. That’s just the thing about the NFL season, it’s long. If you’re a young guy, if you’re a [second or third-stringer], you got to be ready to go because you never know when your number going to get called. I mean, nobody knew that [Jamel Dean] was going to go down. Nobody knew that Dee was going to go down today. It’s just one of those things – if you’re a young guy – and I’ve been on the side of it, just be ready to go. That’s going to be the cool thing about it. It’ll be cool man, we’ll get back to the drawing board and we’ll be ready to move on.”

Quarterback Baker Mayfield reiterated this point, adding that “we don’t have time to lick our wounds.”

There is no wound-licking now, only time to modify and improve – and quickly with an important divisional showdown at New Orleans in less than a week. The Bucs hope to do so quickly to make this just a brief detour and not the beginning of a fork in the road.