TAMPA, Fla. – For once in a long time in Week 10, it looked like things were finally going to go the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ way.

Winless since October 13, they lost 20-17 to the San Francisco 49ers and got the ball back at their own 34-yard line with 3:09 left after the Niners’ kicker. Jake Moody missed his third basket of the game.

The Bucs (4-6) were able to advance the ball to the San Francisco 5-yard line after being aided by four 49ers penalties.

“On that last drive, we finally got some calls,” the Bucs quarterback said. Mayfield Baker said. “It took until the fourth quarter and the last drive to get it, but yeah, I thought we had it.”

On second and goal, Niners defensive tackle EvanAnderson made his way beyond the center Graham Barton I did a stunt and ran Rachaad White back for a loss of 3 yards. Then a third and goal from the 8 yard line, pass from Mayfield to wide receiver Rakim Jarrett was overturned, forcing the Bucs to settle for a field goal Chase McLaughlin to make 20-20.

Mayfield and coach Todd Bowles said going for it on fourth-and-9 wasn’t even a consideration with that type of down and distance. But the game got away from them seconds later, just as it did six days earlier on “Monday Night Football” in overtime against the Kansas City Chiefs and in Week 5 in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons .

The Niners got the ball back with 41 seconds left and with the starting cornerback Zyon McCollum leave the game with a hamstring injury (the Bucs were already without their other starter Jamel Doyen since week 7), Brock Purdy completed four straight passes before Moody kicked a 44-yard field goal to seal the victory, handing the Bucs their fourth straight loss.

“It feels like shit,” inside linebacker and team captain David Lavonte said. “You know what I’m saying? It’s in our hands. As the defensive captain of this football team, I’m out there – I’m not doing enough, everyone’s not doing enough. So whatever it is, we have to dig deep and find it… whatever it is, we have to fix it as soon as possible.

The Bucs are the only team to have three losses this season while tied or trailing in the final 15 seconds, according to ESPN Research.

“(We) have to finish games,” Bowles said. “(When) guys get a chance to play, they have to come in, play and execute. We can’t play hard and not play smart at the end. We have to play smarter football. There’s nothing It’s hard for us to show intensity. “We play and we play hard, but we have to finish games. We have to find a way to finish games (we make) too many mistakes at the end.”

But it wasn’t just Barton who allowed too much penetration on this tackle for a loss, for which he took responsibility. These are things like Josh Hayes‘ illegal training penalty in the final minute, and him celebrating a pass breakup on John Jennings before giving up an 11-yard touchdown to George Kittle during the very next play. It’s that no one in the middle of the field seems capable of making a tackle, whether it’s the linebackers. KJ Britt Or JJ Russellor security Jordan Whitehead Or Antoine Winfield Jr..

There is no downside passing game threat without the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. Mike Evanswho hopes to be back after his Week 11 bye. The Bucs have capable weapons Sterling Shepard, Trey Palmer, Ryan Miller and Jarrett, and the tight end Cade Otton was a positive point, but it was not enough.

It’s also the Bucs sticking around at the trade deadline when they could have used help at receiver, cornerback, inside linebacker and passer, knowing Mayfield is having the best statistical year of his career. It’s that they stocked up on nickelbacks and made them backup safeties, but rolled the dice with their kids at outside corner this offseason, and those kids are learning difficult and painful lessons that cost them games – like Hayes giving up two crucial touchdowns against the Chiefs.

“We don’t need any new players,” Bowles said. “There’s no doubt about it. If we stop making the mistakes we’re making, we’ll be there in every game in the end. We need to turn things around and turn those losses into wins.”

But as head coach, what else can he say?

However, they have been here before and it is not insurmountable. Tampa was 4-7 last year before winning five of six to get above .500. They were even 6-8 in Tom Brady’s final year – 2022 – in Week 15. Yet the Bucs needed a tiebreaker to win the division last season against the Saints of New Orleans, and no team in the division had a winning record in 2022.

But this year it’s different. The Falcons (6-5) have already swept the Bucs in their head-to-head matchups, so Tampa may have to rely on fighting for a wild card spot instead of an automatic playoff berth in winning the conference – a first since 2020.

“Maybe we changed who we were,” Bowles said when asked what happened at the end of last season. “We (started) making fewer mistakes. … That’s really all there is to it.”

Along with Evans, Dean could be back for Week 12. The hope regarding McCollum’s hamstring injury is that it’s just an adjustment and he’ll be fine after the bye. And there is Tristan Wirfs. The All-Pro left tackle sprained the MCL in his right knee against the 49ers, and the team is hoping he misses minimal time.

It’s going to be all hands on deck, or as Mayfield said, “We’re going to be at full throttle” and “these guys need to be ready to roll.”

Things should be easier for the Bucs, however. They have the easiest remaining schedule, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.

They can also benefit from what ESPN Research said is the NFL’s schedule. simplest remaining schedulewhere they only have one opponent with a winning record after the bye week in the Los Angeles Chargers (6-3), and the first one will be the New York Giants (2-8) Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox). The only downside to the schedule is that the Falcons have the second-easiest remaining schedule.

“We’ll need everything we can get going forward, one day at a time, in practice and then in games,” David said. “We just have to put it together.”

Bowles used the word “recalibrate” several times when asked how they would spend the week, outside of league-mandated days off. He stressed that it’s not “catastrophic,” but that they have a litany of injured players who need rest. Coaches will do research themselves and, as Bowles says, “make better plans” and “do some things to prepare for the stretch run.”

Bowles also plans to meet with the team’s owners. Like last year, the team is expected to bounce back this second half of the season. The staff has shown it can evolve, between things like moving the offense toward a heavily loaded look without Evans and Godwin and finding a way to get McCollum on the field when the starters Carlton Davis and Dean returned from injury due to how well he played in their absence last season.

Whatever changes the coaches propose – if any – David said it’s up to the players to correct them.

“Look in the mirror and ask yourself what type of player you want to be,” David said. “This team needs it – we need elite players at the end of the day. We need players who play and do it consistently and that’s what we don’t do, especially on the defensive side of the ball. No matter who’s out there, we’re not making enough plays, and we need to be better at that.”