Just wants to win.
The Bucs got swept last year by the Dixie Chicks. The first loss was downright galling and it is still stuck in Joe’s craw — not craw, craw!
The second loss wasn’t quite as annoying but Joe still has acid reflux about it.
So yesterday, when the Bucs found a way to steal a win on the road against the Dixie Chicks, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was asked if it was redemption for last year’s sweep.
Mayfield wasn’t buying it.
> “Not really,” Mayfield said. “We remember the fact that they beat us twice, but this is the new season, 1-0.
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> “\[Winning\] — that’s what the goal was coming in here. Trying to do that against a divisional opponent on the road. Any way we can do it is great.
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> “Some of these close ball games last year, we weren’t on the right side of it, so it’s good to see that we can find a way to win.”
One of the reasons the Bucs were on the wrong side of close losses was the Bucs were just fine with playing for overtime, especially on the road. That backfired big time. Likely cost the Bucs at least two wins.
Yesterday, Bucs coach Todd Bowles, Emeka Egbuka and Mayfield made it clear they had zero desire to go to overtime. And look at the result of having that killer mentality?
Joe wonders if we are watching the transformation of a coach before our very eyes. Bowles was always a defense-first, play-it-safe coach.
Within a few months, he fully embraced drafting a receiver with the No. 19 overall pick and pushed the Bucs to win games and not be content with overtime games.