Buccaneers' Todd Bowles discusses bouncing back from Saints letdown

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles believes his 8-8 club will put this past Sunday's disappointing 23-13 home loss to the New Orleans Saints in the rearview mirror ahead of this coming Sunday's must-win game at the lowly Carolina Panthers (2-14). 

"This [loss] will be easy to get out of [their minds]," Bowles told reporters during a news conference, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website. "We lost, what, three or four in a row and got out of that one. This one was hard because it was trying to clinch the division, but you got another chance to clinch it this week and we can’t worry about what happened [against the Saints]. We’ll correct it, move on, and get ready for Sunday."

The Buccaneers jumped out to a 3-1 record for the season, fell to 4-7 and then produced a four-game winning streak that put them in the driver's seat regarding the NFC South division title. Tampa Bay could've secured the division crown in Week 17 but instead fell into a 20-0 deficit versus New Orleans that it couldn't erase. Perhaps most worrisome is that quarterback Baker Mayfield will now seemingly have to play through an injury to his ribs against Carolina in what is essentially a playoff game for a Buccaneers side that holds the tiebreaker advantage over 8-8 New Orleans.

"Our thing is we can't beat ourselves," Bowles said about what his message to his players will be for the Panthers game, per the Buccaneers' website. "We don't care if they were 14-2. In the NFL, anybody can beat anybody any given week, and division games are always tough. We have to play our game, make less mistakes, and then we'll worry about the opponent on Sunday. If we can do that, we will have a chance to win."

As of early Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Buccaneers as five-point favorites against the Panthers. Bowles could find himself coaching for his job on the first Sunday of January considering Carolina possesses the league's worst overall record.