_“Bucky, we’re still in this.”_
The season is not over. The Bucs raised their record to 1-4. Far, far more often than not, that’s not good enough to get back in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Just don’t tell that to KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles and his Bucs. After the loss to the Packers, Bucs tight end Cade Otton told Joe in no uncertain terms the Bucs have three quarters still to play, and ground can be made up.
That was the message Bowles had after the game. Asked how he kept the team together after starting 0-4, Bowles also referenced the quarters system.
> “We lost the first quarter of the season,” Bowles began. “We didn’t lose the second, third, and the fourth \[quarter\]. We still got to play those.
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> “So we started the second quarter tonight. We got one win. We got to get three more to go to try to even this thing up.
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> “It’s a long way to climb out, but at the same time, we’re upbeat. And if we play this hard and and play this effective, we’ll be OK.”
Playing hard was the key for Bowles. He said his defense played hard. They didn’t play their best but by playing hard, they made key plays that helped seal the win, a trait the Bucs had been unable to pull off in the previous four games.
> “For the most part they played hard,” Bowles said. “They didn’t play perfect but they played hard. They stayed together and they got a win.”
Bowles indirectly gave credit to the defense-only meeting Vita Vea referenced on Amazon in the postgame show.
> “We got some good leaders,” Bowles said. “We got some good leaders from a coaching standpoint and a player standpoint.
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> “So they have a good grasp on the situation.”
Is this enough to still get back in the playoff hunt? Well, the Steelers aren’t the mighty Steelers of old. After the Steelers, the Bucs have two division games against the Stinking Panthers and the Dixie Chicks.
The next three weeks will tell us a lot about if the Bucs can rally back to get in the playoff race or not.