The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked a bad night to have a bad night in Dallas, wrote Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.
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After riding a four-game winning streak into first place in the NFC South, the Bucs had the postseason in their sights. But Sunday night's 26-24 loss to the Cowboys wiped away any cushion they had, and now they're tied with the Falcons for the division lead.
Unfortunately for the Bucs, their two losses to Atlanta this season mean they no longer control their NFL playoff destiny with just two weeks remaining in the regular season.
On Monday, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles addressed the setback, emphasizing the need for his team to focus solely on their own performance moving forward.
"It won't be difficult," Bowles said, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. "We've got to win a ballgame. If we don't win a ballgame, we don't give ourselves a chance. We've got to focus on ourselves like we've been doing and we've got to correct our mistakes and we've got to go out and win Sunday and we've got to win the next week and we'll see what happens after that."
For the Buccaneers, missing the playoffs after a strong start to the season would be a crushing blow. They've already proven they can beat top teams, with wins over the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, but the chance to replicate that success in January is now in jeopardy.
As Bowles pointed out, all they can do is focus on the task at hand: winning out and hoping for the best.
"We just have to focus on ourselves," Bowles added, "and take care of business."
The Bucs now need to do just that if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive.
