As if the ongoing conversation about going for two points down 14 wasn’t enough of a debate about Todd Bowles and the Bucs, the waning seconds Tampa Bay’s playoff loss has added more.

Following what seemed like a season-ending interception by Baker Mayfield as the Bucs tried to come back down 31-23, the Bucs and Lions both made a late mistake.

Detroit took their last kneel-down in victory formation on a 3rd & 12 with 34 seconds to go, but should’ve waited much longer to do it considering Tampa Bay had one last timeout. Todd Bowles did not use his last timeout on the first or second kneel-down, but could have called it on that last one, at least forcing a field goal from the Bucs’ 31-yard line.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

Although the likelihood of coming back was very, very slim, at least forcing the Lions to go up 11 would have been important. If Bowles calls a timeout, the Lions are forced to either kick a field goal or punt it. If they connect on the field goal, the game is essentially over.

But… You never know what could happen. What if the kick is no good and the Bucs got the ball with around 30 seconds remaining? What if the there’s a bad snap or hold and the Lions lost a couple more yards on the play? Sure, in both scenarios, the odds are still low that the Bucs would score a touchdown in under 30 seconds, needing to drive 69 yards and get a 2-point conversion.

What you’d probably see is a Hail Mary throw from Baker Mayfield. But didn’t we see the Bucs come close on Hail Mary during their Thursday night game against the Bills earlier this season? Had Chris Godwin looked in the other direction, he tracks the ball and the Bucs win that game.

How many of us saw the highlight of the Miami Hurricanes blowing a late lead to Georgia Tech after Miami fumbled the ball running it when they should have been in victory formation — then allowed a deep shot on defense after to lose it?

Those moments are not probable, but aren’t impossible.

Todd Bowles Responds To The End Of Game Moment

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles was asked about the end-of-game scenario and essentially said by that point, the game was over

“It’s not a gentleman’s agreement,” Bowles said about letting the clock run out. “They were in field goal range. We’d have had 12 seconds, calculated, after using that timeout to come back from it. Then we’d have been down 11 points, so it’s kind of pointless. You kind of know when the game is over. The game was over.”

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

Todd Bowles is far off with this estimation. Detroit would’ve had to kick a field goal with 34 seconds remaining. The average kick of over 30-yards takes about three seconds, and the clock will go for about another two after it’s through or wide of the uprights. Bowles is just assuming the kick would be good, which is a bit odd since it was a 47-yarder and he saw his own automatic kicker missed from a similar range earlier in the game.

So, a missed kick gives you about 29 to 28 seconds to try and tie the game up. There’s not much of a chance, but it gives you a possibility. For a team that has talked all about fighting together, staying together and going through adversity, it sounds like a group that would’ve loved to have one last round to keep swinging.

“I don’t know what good using a timeout is if you can’t take advantage of it,” Bowles said to finish up his Monday press conference.

However, as it was just detailed, the Bucs could’ve taken advantage of it.

The late game gaffe by each side hasn’t gone unnoticed. It has sparked widespread discussion about the moment and has drawn a lot of criticism for Bowles because of it. The good people at Good Morning Football spent an entire segment on it, saying that “Bucs fans should be pissed.”

It’s hard to blame them when the fate of the season was one the line.