Todd Bowles isn't sugarcoating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' latest loss to the Chicago Bears.
The Buccaneers showed they can hang with one of the NFC's elite teams on the road, even if they weren't perfect. Tampa Bay committed two turnovers, including an interception returned for a touchdown. However, they fought back and managed to tie the game at 24-all despite trailing for the entire night late in the fourth quarter.
The Bears ultimately pulled out the win when Caleb Williams led the team on a game-winning field-goal drive as time expired. Chicago closed out Tampa Bay despite committing five turnovers, including four interceptions by Williams.
As Bowles said in the post-game presser, the Buccaneers need to "capitalize" on those turnovers.
"It's
a good question, we got to capitalize on them," Bowles told reporters after the game when asked how the team lost. "We got to capitalize on them. We got to score points, and we can't give them the ball back. Gotta be better on third down on both sides of the ball."
Before their loss to the Bears, the Buccaneers had won 22 straight games, including one in which they forced five turnovers.
While the loss hurts, the fact that the Buccaneers were within a possession of defeating the Bears after trailing the entire game should give Tampa Bay confidence heading into the bye week. Despite being 3-6, they're only a half-game behind the Carolina Panthers for the lead in the NFC South. They already beat the Panthers and will host Carolina in their second divisional game later this month.
"It's a setback because you know we're trying to take care of ourselves," Bowles said when asked how big a setback this loss is. "We're not worried about any other team in our division right now. We know if we take care of us, we're going to be fine, and we still feel that way, and we think that way. We've been playing some good football of late. We made too many errors today. We just got to hone in. We get a week off. A lot of people are sore. We got to hone in and come back, and we got to take it, and we got to finish this thing."
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Todd Bowles' blunt statement on Buccaneers losing despite forcing five turnovers
