Tuesday, 4 a.m.

5 Thoughts

1. I finally figured out where I saw this Bucs' seasons before. It was the movie Titanic. Starring Todd Bowles as the iceberg.

2. Do you think that Baker Mayfield is going to try to win the Comeback Player of the Year award this time?

3. Who knew that if Haason Reddick was going to play like a Super Hero, it would be the Invisible Woman?

4. In their latest in-depth evaluations over whether to keep Bowles or fire him, remember that Joel likes "rock," Brian likes "scissors" and Av likes the "hook 'em horns" sign.

5. If they expanded the playoffs, I would pick the Raiders to blow out the Bucs.

5 Comments

(From Todd Bowles' season-ending press conference)

(On his assessment of the 2005 season): "It's disappointing we didn't get in. It's very disappointing. It's the first time in five years, so you kind of get used to it a little bit. But, we did it to ourselves. We've got to take a deep evaluation, starting with myself. We did it to ourselves. We've got to take a deep evaluation, starting with myself. Once I do that, I'll evaluate the coaches and players and we'll go accordingly."

(On his early thoughts as to what we wrong during the bye week and why the team struggled afterward.): "I don't have any early thought right now. It’s still fresh, not getting into the playoffs. We've been doing exit interviews all day, so you don't have time to sit down and evaluate a bunch of things until probably mid-week. We know we lost some close games and we didn't make plays to finish the game."

(On how much he needs to change about the defense): "We need to make some changes. Whether it's schematically or whether it's physically, we probably need to make some changes going forward. We'll evaluate that in the next coming days."

(On the Bucs having their lowest sack total in several years): "I thought it was a tough year defensively. It starts with me, because I'm the coordinator. We've got to rush better and we've got to cover better."

(On the extent of Mayfield's injuries during the season): "I mean, he got banged up, Whether it was the knee, shoulder, hand, elbow ... like everybody else out there at other positions, everyone gets banged up during the year. He's tough. He's going to play through injuries."

Game Balls

Offense: Tight end Cade Otton had a career day.

Defense: Lavonte David tied for the Bucs’ lead in career tackles.

Special teams: Riley Dixon punted three times, and nailed all three inside the 20.

Grades

Quarterback: Baker Mayfield's horrible second half continued. Grade: C.

Running back: Bucky Irving carried the ball 36 times. Grade: B.

Offensive line: The Bucs ran for 140 yards. Grade: B.

Receiver: No one besides Otton had more than two catches. Grade: B-.

Defensive line: It smothered the Panthers' running game. Grade: B.

Linebackers: David led the team in tackles and had a fumble recovery: Grade: A-.

Secondary: Spies should be made to watch these guys. Grade: F.

5 Worst Games

1. New Orleans (home)

2. Atlanta (home)

3. Carolina (road)

4. Dolphins (road)

5. Rams (road)

Power Ratings

1. New England

2. Philadelphia

3. Denver

4. Jacksonville

5. Buffalo

20. Tampa Bay

Bottom 5

32. Las Vegas

31. Tennessee

30. N.Y. Jets

29. Arizona

28. N.Y. Giants

Rookie receivers

1. Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina 70 1014 7

2. Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay 63 938 6

3. Luther Burden III, Chicago 47 652 2

4. Jaden Higgins, Houston 41 525 6

5. Elic Ayomanor, Tennessee 41 515 4

Monday, 4 a.m.

The season of the Tampa Bay Bucs is over. The final disappointment came Sunday, but the footsteps have been going on for a while.

The Bucs have so many places to assign blame for their collapse after a 5-1 start. The Bucs lost to Atlanta, and to Carolina, and to New Orleans, and to Miami in the closing weeks.

Down the stretch, Baker Mayfield's play dipped, and Emeka Egbuka's play fell off. The defense closed out well, but for most of the second half of the season, it played poorly.

It remains to be seen which direction the Bucs will go in the off-season at head coach, general manager and players.

The Falcons beat the Saints Sunday to force a tiebreaker. The Bucs lost.

The Bucs' post-season streak ends at five seasons.

Sunday, 4 a.m.

You can argue all week about whether the Tampa Bay Bucs deserve to make the NFL playoffs.

But as the regular season approaches its final day, the Bucs still have a chance.

The Bucs beat the Carolina Panthers, 16-14, at Raymond James Stadium Saturday afternoon. Like much of the season, it wasn't a thing of beauty. Still, there is a chance.

"It (waiting) is all we can do," Bucs' coach Todd Bowles said. "We can't wait til tomorrow if we don't win today, so it was a gutsy performance. This guys fought hard. It was a tough game on both sides. We came out with one. We gave ourselves a chance. That's all we fan ask for."

Tampa Bay scored only one touchdown against the Panthers, and quarterback Baker Mayfield had another crucial interception. But the Bucs ran the ball, and they got a good day from their defense. And, in a driving rainstorm, the Bucs at least purchased a lottery ticket.

Oh, the Falcons are favored. They're at home, and the Saints are missing receiver Chris Olave. If Atlanta was to win, it would gift the playoff spot to Carolina.

The Bucs, 2-6 in their second-half, lost enough winnable games to have clinched long ago.

Tight end Cade Otton caught seven passes for 94 yards and is first touchdown of the year. Bucky Irvins ran 26 times for 84 yards.

"He did a great job," Bowles said. "With the conditions .... it was that type of game. You really couldn't get outside much. He did a heck of a job on the boots andd made some key catches for us."

The defense gave up two touchdowns -- one after an interception by Mayfield, and the second when Tetairoa McMillian got behind the Bucs' secondary for a 40-yard catch.

But the defense gave up just 19 yards rushing to Carolina -- both Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdell had 10 yards each.

"They did a very good job controlling the line of scrimmage," Bowles said. "(Antonio) Winfield had a lot to do with that, pushing the ball one way. Those guys did a really good job of playing gap control. It was the first time in a long time that we just played the way we were supposed to play without giving up a big play in the run game."

The Bucs -- who rarely ran the ball last week against Miami -- ran it 42 times. Mayfield threw just 22 times.

Linebacker Lavonte David had six tackles, tying Derrick Brooks' franchise record.

"He tied Derrick Brooks' most tackles of all-time," Bowles said. "That's really saying something. Healways comes up with a big play when you needit most. , whether it's a big hit or an interception. If this was it for him, he went out in true Lavonte David fashion. I can't say enough good things about him. His work speaks for itself."