Super Bowl LV was two seasons ago, but it sounds like some Buccaneers players remaining from that team are still riding high off a championship victory.
Despite the combination of Mitchell Trubisky and Kenny Pickett under center, Tampa Bay struggled and lost, 20-18, to the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. The "pep talk" Tom Brady gave to the Bucs offensive line had a small effect, but Pittsburgh linebacker Devin Bush made a key play to stop a two-point conversion to tie the game with 4:38 left in the fourth quarter. The Steelers hung on to the ball to finish the game and secure the win.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles did not outright say his team played bad, but he did hint at a longer hangover than what is traditionally seen in the NFL.
"We didn't take them lightly, number one," Bowles told reporters on how Tampa Bay approached its game against Pittsburgh, per team-provided video. "Number two, I think guys that are living off the Super Bowl are living in a fantasy land, and you got to get your hands dirty and go to work like everyone else. And we've been working hard, we got to work harder. Nobody's going to give us anything or feel sorry. So, we got to go back as coaches, as players, and time for talking is over. You either got to put up or shut up."
Brady reiterated his coach's point, saying in his postgame news conference, "We all got to do a better job."
It's merely speculation on who Bowles is referring to since the Bucs brought back many players from that Super Bowl win, though the head coach's intention may have been to merely say the team should be playing better with a more focused approach.
Luckily for Tampa Bay, it gets the lowly Carolina Panthers in Week 7 for a chance to turn things around. However, that was the same idea for Week 6 against Pittsburgh.
