There is no question that the Bucs badly needed a bye week to get back on track.

After coming out of the gates strong, Tampa Bay has suffered some tough losses during the most difficult stretch of the team’s season. What has exacerbated their defeats is that the last three games have been decided by less than a touchdown, and the injuries have continued to pile up each week.

Getting a break to reset mentally and physically is what head coach Todd Bowles hopes leads to better results down the stretch.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles: Now Is The Time To “Recalibrate, Step Back, And Look At Everything”

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

The bye week could not have come at a better time for the Bucs after losing on Sunday to the 49ers 23-20 in the final seconds. The past two weeks the team was in it until the end, but costly mistakes kept them from pulling off an upset that would have helped their chances of making the playoffs this season. There is still a path to getting in, but it will take a strong finish over the last seven games.

The team must approach this week as an opportunity to improve, and head coach Todd Bowles has given them plenty of time to get ready.

“[We’re] trying to get everybody healthy, going to recalibrate, we need time off,” Bowles said on Monday. “They’re off after Wednesday anyway, they’re going to have four days off – practicing one day is not going to help that so they’ll get the rest of the week off after Tuesday. We’ll get some guys healthy, hopefully. Some guys that are playing are banged up, hopefully they get healthy, get to recalibrate, step back and look at everything. Coaches will self-scout, we’ll come up with better plans and we’ll do some things to get ready for the stretch run.”

On the surface, Bowles’ decision – like others in recent weeks – is questionable. One can rationalize giving a team that has won recently a break, but not a squad that has been reeling for the past month. With the defense’s pronounced struggles up to this point, having extra days to work on fixing the unit in walkthrough practices and getting everyone on the same page in team meetings could have benefited them.

One could go down the list of the issues that have plagued the defense as of late. From communication issues, coverage lapses, missed assignments, and tackling, to the defensive scheme itself, there is doubt that time away will fix many – if any – of these problems. Perhaps the coach knows best, and that guys will come back well-rested and better equipped to play sound football.

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

“The guys have to take care of themselves – that’s the biggest thing,” Bowles said about what would be a point of emphasis during the bye week. “When we come back… we’ve seen every offense and defense and special teams that’s going to happen, we just have to execute.”

The Bucs have gone through the gauntlet defeated, but they now have a prime opportunity to start stacking up victories. Upcoming games against the Giants, Panthers, and Raiders give them a chance to gain some confidence and even get back over .500, especially as each team has its own quarterback questions. Things look positive and there is some hope, but nothing will be given to them.

“We don’t have doom and gloom,” Bowles added. “We lost two tough games – three if you want to count them but the schedule doesn’t get easier. This is the NFL, you’re not playing anybody that’s soft on the schedule. Everybody has first-round picks and athletes and everybody is well coached so if we come back from the break thinking the schedule is easier, we’re going to lose every game. We’re going to lose every last game.

“We have to come back and take care of us and do the things we need to do to win regardless of the opponent and if we want to be one of the good teams, we have to beat the good teams and we knew that coming in. It’s understandable how we feel but it’s never doom and gloom.”

Baker Mayfield Believes In The Group, But They Have To “Put It Together”

Bucs OC Liam Coen and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Baker Mayfield has managed to keep the Bucs in games despite losing a lot of the offensive firepower around him. Mayfield will have to continue to do so after losing left tackle Tristan Wirfs for the next few weeks with an MCL sprain, but he still believes in the guys around him to step up and turn things around.

“We’ve got to get healthy,” Mayfield said. “Take the week [to] get healthy [and] get your mind ready to make this stretch [run.] Lavonte [David] hit on it perfectly that we’re going to need everything that we possibly have down the road – one day at a time, in practice and in games. We’ve just got to put it together. We keep saying we’re that close, but it’s got to be the message.

“You have to believe in it, and then we just have to go execute. We have the group – the fight in what we’re doing at the end of games, the effort is never a question. That’s something that, ‘Alright, we have that. Now, let’s go execute.’ Just plain and simple – do your job and we’ll turn this thing around quickly.”

Mayfield has garnered a reputation for being a fighter, and he should get the benefit of the doubt as he helped lead the team out of a similar situation last year. Now is a time to reflect on the problems and come back ready with a solution to solve them.

“With where we are at right now – yeah,” Mayfield said about the team needing a physical and mental break. “Physical, definitely, with where we are at on the team – just the injuries and stuff we’ve had so far. But, the mental break with the recent results in the games. We need to step away from it, but don’t forget what has cost us these games and come back ready to fix it.”