TAMPA, Fla. — About a month ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 4-6 and there was panic outside the locker room.
However, due to the Week 11 bye, the Bucks have won four straight and maintain a one-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South.
Tampa Bay garnered national attention with its 40-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and quarterback Baker Mayfield was named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week.
Head coach Todd Bowles has a unique way of keeping his team humble.
“I didn’t listen when we were losing, and I don’t listen now when we’re winning,” Bowles said. “We have sarcastic coaches and cynical players who insult people to keep everyone calm.”
“They talked a lot about my mustache,” rookie receiver Jalen McMillan said. “It’s okay. I’ll take it with a grain of salt.”
“You have to have thick skin to approach our group,” Mayfield added. “It’s available to anyone, anytime, anywhere. It doesn’t matter who it is. That’s the best thing about this group.”
The group will look to continue its “traveling warrior” spirit Sunday night in Dallas. The Bucks are 5-2 on the road, with their only loss coming in overtime.
“Honestly, it’s what we practice,” McMillan said of the road success. “Practices are stepped up during the week. We’ve done a really good job of that, and that carries over into games.”
“We know we’re entering ‘Jerry’s world,'” defensive back Zion McCollum said. “There’s going to be a lot of talk in the media, there’s going to be a lot of bright lights. We’re going to swarm and throw the first punch and we’ll go from there.”
It could just be a coincidence, but the Bucks were a combined 0-5 in prime-time games the past two seasons.
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