ClutchPoints
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers stretched their season to Sunday, literally. All after holding off the Carolina Panthers in rain soaked fashion Saturday. But don’t expect head coach Todd Bowles to jump for joy soon in this NFC South race.
Bowles has guided consecutive NFC South titles since succeeding Bruce Arians after the 2022 season. Chasing division titles is nothing new for the Super Bowl winner. He has this team positioned for another NFL Playoffs appearance dependent on Sunday.
But he shared why he’s not ready to celebrate this 16-14 victory via Greg Auman of Fox Sports.
“What’s disappointing today [for the Panthers] could be jubilation tomorrow,” Bowles began.
Most fans would view those words as a head scratcher. But there’s another reason behind Bowles’ words: Carolina can still win the division from Tampa Bay.
“If tomorrow doesn’t happen [for us], that will be disappointing,” Bowles said.
The normally tranquil coach has shown an honest side in recent weeks for his team. Bowles even dropped multiple F-bombs in an epic postgame rant after losing to the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 11.
He delivered new honesty even in victory.
“We put ourselves in this situation,” Bowles bluntly said. “We’re all grown men about it. We can’t look back and dwell on it, we just got to move forward.”
Still for Bowles: “They showed fight tonight, they showed grit tonight, so we’ll see what happens.”
Tampa Bay fans are bracing for Sunday after 1 p.m. ET. They’ll be monitoring the Falcons and New Orleans Saints game. An Atlanta victory hands the divisional tiebreaker edge for Carolina — hence why Bowles is bottling his celebratory emotions. But a Saints victory awards the Bucs their fifth straight NFC South title.
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