TAMPA, Fla. — No Chris Godwin, no Mike Evans — and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still had a big day offensively.
Instead, a normally reliable defense that seems to be getting worse as the season progresses cost the Bucs (4-4) in a 31-26 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
“It starts with me. It starts with the defensive coaches, and it starts with the players. We've got to play better,” Bowles said, reflecting on a stretch in which the Bucs — a top-10 scoring defense a year ago when the Bucs won a third straight NFC South title — have yielded 27 or more points in four consecutive games.
“We have to fix it. Nobody is coming to save us,” Bowles added. “We have to do a hell of a lot better job than we're doing, and that starts with me.”
In their first game since losing Godwin to season-ending ankle surgery and Evans with a hamstring injury for at least three games, the Bucs still amassed 394 yards total offense. They've gained 1,469 yards over the past three weeks, yet have lost two of those games to fall out of first place in the division.
The Falcons finished with 432 yards total offense, with Kirk Cousins throwing for 276 yards and four touchdowns without an interception to beat the Bucs for the second time in less than a month. On Oct. 3 in Atlanta, he passed for a career-high 509 yards with four TDs to top Tampa Bay 36-30 in overtime.
The Bucs have lost four of six following a 2-0 start. Sunday's loss dropped them to 2-3 at home.
Bowles was asked what he told his players after the game.
“I said we've got to fix our problems. The problems are in the locker room, but the answers are in the locker room,” Bowles said. “From coaches to players, we've got to stay together. We've got to fix us, and we've got to get moving.”
It won't be easy, especially without their two top playmakers on offense.
The Bucs travel to Kansas City to face the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs next Monday night. Then they return home the following to face last season's Super Bowl runners-up, the San Francisco 49ers.
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