It was an exciting comeback victory, certainly.
But Bruce Arians wasn't thrilled by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers having to claw out of a 17-point deficit and drop 31 second-half points to defeat the Atlanta Falcons.
A win in the division is a win in the division, but the Buccaneers coach would have much rather see his team go out and play to that level from the get-go.
“It’s the way we’re capable (of playing) -- that’s the way we should be playing. My comments to the team after the game (were), ‘If we can play 30 minutes like that, why can’t we play 60?’ It’s frustrating," Arians said after the Buccaneers 31-27 win on Sunday in Week 15.
"The first third down, we’re off the field (but) we miss a tackle on a check down to a back and the whole game changes. We get blown up on a screen pass, lose 15 yards on a screen pass that we catch, which kills the first drive. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys. We talked about it at halftime -- we got the ball, go make something happen. I was not really happy that they went back, scored and answered it. Then, we were able to score every time we touched it in the second half – I think – until the end and finish it off. The defense came alive, we kind of figured them out and the pass rush started getting home.”
In the end, the Buccaneers were able to get where they wanted to go.
Arians just wishes they would have made it easier on him.
