For the second straight week, the Bucs found themselves in a game where they were down by a lopsided score in the first half, only to rally back in the second before coming up short. Head coach Dirk Koetter went to the podium to discuss the Bucs second straight loss.

(On the pattern and trends that the team has played)
“We tried to take the ball first to try to change it up, they deferred so we got it anyway. We put our defense in two holes with the interception and the fake punt, but you’re exactly right, we’re in this pattern of where we go out, we get behind, we get killed in the second quarter then we rally like hell in the third quarter, then everyone thinks we’re back in it and we fade out at the end. It’s definitely the pattern we’re in, if I knew one thing to fix it I would do it right now, but I don’t know what that is.”

(On if the mishaps by the defense in the first half was execution by the Panthers or missed tackles)
“Well, they had a couple of really nice double reverse plays that they threw in there and got us on two 30 yard runs, but our tackling was very poor in the first half. We did much beter int he second half, but that first half, we just looked like a bad tackling football team in the first half.

(On the decision to do a fake punt)
“We felt like since we hadn’t been getting any turnovers that we had to steal a possession the way Carolina was playing. I think it was there, we had a breakdown in protections and that’s the risk you take when you try a fake punt like that, you’re either going to look real smart or you’re going to look dumb if it doesn’t work, so that’s on me.”

(On how hard is it to win when the offense keeps turning the ball over and the defense hasn’t had a turnover in five straight games)

“It’s hard. If you’re not getting any help, you better not be turning it over on offense.”

(On the interceptions by Ryan Fitzpatrick and who will be the starting QB next week)
“Ryan will be our starter next week. Ryan had one (interception) there in the first half, the overthrow on the interception that he’d like to have back, and then did a good job of getting us back in it. That second interception he was trying to get a big play to DeSean there, but Ryan did some good things today, we need to play better across the board.”

(On the touchdowns and big plays by Adam Humphries)
“Well Humph, he’s a good football player, he’s kind of down the line in the pecking order for us as far as a guy that gets targets. They did a good job on Mike (Evans) today, and it was more about Humph was the guy. They were doubling Mike some, they were pressing Mike a lot, Fitz found him, and Humph made a couple of nice runs after the catch on his own.”

(On working with the young secondary players like Carlton Davis and the taunting penalty he got)
“I didn’t actually see the taunting. When he made the tackle I was headed to the other end, obviously it must have been. That penalty didn’t really hurt us because we went down and scored on the next drive, but. We know we were going to have some growing pains, but I think Carlton Davis is going to be a real good player, but, he didn’t have a great overall day tackling today. But on the play where he got the taunting, he had a nice open field tackle on that play.”

(On where the team is now, and if they can use the past of coming back from 3-5 as they move forward)
“I don’t think the past equals the future. We got to play better football, play more consistent football, we have to get off to better starts, we got to be in the hunt in the turnover battle, you got to be a stalemate or better and we’re just not doing that right now. Obviously I’m not getting my point across.”

(On the defensive preparation for Carolina)
“We know in play-option football, you have to play assigned football. So you’re worried about Cam and what he can do with it, you’re worried about McCaffrey. They don’t send you a text message and let you know they’re going to run a reverse on the next run, so, that’s just another added dimension, and they’re doing a good job at that, but we couldn’t get it defended today.”

(On not having a lot of running plays because they were down by a lot)
“Yeah, we’re down four scores, you get behind so fast you just run out of possessions. We’ve been able to run it a little bit more efficiently on these guys in the past, but today we just couldn’t get it going.”

(On what he says to his guys with half a season left to still get back in the division)
“Yeah, we’re actually 1-2 in the division, so I’d say we got three left, we got to win them all.”