Gerald Mccoy voiced spirited opinions about his former team in their recent loss to the Bills
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Gerald Mccoy voiced spirited opinions about his former team in their recent loss to the Bills
The Bucs were looking to avoid two straight losses following their bye week, but ultimately couldn’t get it done on the road against the Buffalo Bills. One area of concern that arose was the defense, as they gave up 40 points for the first time in the Todd Bowles era since 2019. While some of that can be chalked up to defensive absences, they allowed Josh Allen to score six touchdowns, three through the air and three on the ground. Needless to say, a lot of fans were frustrated, including former Buccaneers star Gerald Mccoy.
McCoy Calls Out Buccaneers After Rare Defensive Meltdown
Mccoy commented on X after the game with a simple message, pointing out the number of points the Bills had scored and putting a face-palm emoji next to it.
Gerald McCoy
44 points 🤦🏾♂️
It is clear why he was frustrated not just because of the lofty point total allowed, but because of how it happened. In fact, there were a lot of positives the Buccaneers took away from the game, including holding James Cook and the Bills’ rushing offense under 100 yards and a first career INT for rookie Jacob Parrish. But still, troubles in terms of coverage due to player absences reared its ugly head. With Jamel Dean out with a hip flexor strain, rookie Benjamin Morrison had to step in, delivering yet another poor performance. Talks of ramping up Benjamin Morrison’s playing time were discussed should Jamel Dean face an extended stay on the sideline, but he has not proven himself to be an apt replacement.
This is not the only time that Mccoy has voiced his opinions on the Buccaneers and the state of the franchise however. In 2024, when he was still a player, he commented that the team lacked “heart and pride” and that Bucs fans were “spoiled” to have a coach like Bowles. This is also not the first time he has made his opinions known about the current iteration of the team, complaining about many of coach Todd Bowles’ decisions as a playcaller. For example, he called out Bowles after the Week 10 loss to the Patriots, in which Bowles decided to go for a fourth-and-3 late in the game down 21-16 instead of kicking the field goal to close the lead to two.
Injuries Expose Secondary Issues as Tampa Bay Looks to Regroup
Overall, fans and former player pundits alike shouldn’t fret too much about the Bucs defense for now. After all, with the loss of Dean, they should have known there would be growing pains. They are still one of the best units in the entire league and are ranked fourth in run defense, as evidenced by their solid performance against Cook. Still, with a Week 12 game against the Rams upcoming, chances are they will need to regroup. If players like Jacob Parrish and Benjamin Morrison need to be brought up to speed, it must happen this week. They still have the upper hand in the NFC South, but with a feisty Carolina Panthers team behind them, nothing will be a given. For now, Gerald Mccoy has every right to feel annoyed and he may continue to be should the Bucs not find any answers to their defensive struggles.