Todd Bowles Praises Team For Mental Toughness
October 13th, 2026
The 1-4 Buccaneers went from from playing soft and too often mentally weak through four games to pulling off a stunning upset Thursday night in Dallas.
Is that inconsistency the sign of a mentally tough team?
Todd Bowles sure thinks so.
“Our team is very resilient. They’re very tough. They’re mentally tough,” Bowles told Jeff Dubrof of WFLA-TV this week. “And they play for each other. So we’re going to give ourselves a fighter’s chance every week.”
The Bucs under Bowles have always been and up-and-down type of team within seasons. That’s what every Bucs fan has come to expect. But some might call that mentally weak.
If the Bucs are the mentally tough team Bowles thinks they are, they’ll scratch their way to a 4-5 record at the bye week. Joe can’t set the bar much lower.
October 13th, 2026 at 3:25 pm
Yes, they are mentally tough to not go insane trying to get up each week for their inept coach. Either that or they are experiencing Stockholm syndrome.
October 13th, 2026 at 3:26 pm
The key phrase is “And they play for each other. ”
They sure as hell can’t say they do it for the great tampa fans. A shame really.
Keep fighting guys 💪🏼🏈
October 13th, 2026 at 3:34 pm
LOL
October 13th, 2026 at 3:38 pm
The Bucs (again) played solid on defense.
Dallas lost their best offensive player after the half.
Our QB didn’t fumble 3 times nor did he throw a pick.
The Cowboys had 3 turnovers.
The Bucs had 0 turnovers.
It’s really not that complex.
October 13th, 2026 at 3:51 pm
Let’s roll with it ,and get those mental mistakes behind them
October 13th, 2026 at 3:54 pm
Joe … ‘The Bucs under Bowles have always been and up-and-down type of team within seasons. That’s what every Bucs fan has come to expect.’
Lest we forget what Bucs’ fans have been through for the past 24 years since winning the 2002 Super Bowl, we’ve had a grand total of 9 winning seasons in all those years … 3 by Chucky, 1 by Raheem, 1 by Dirk, 2 by BA & 2 by Todd. And during that timespan, we’ve lost far more than we’ve won. And several of those winning seasons (3 of them) were by the skin of our teeth, and didn’t get us to the playoffs.
So yes, long-time Bucs’ fans especially have gotten used to an up-and-down type of team, but not JUST under Todd Bowles. That’s kinda been our heritage, and maybe that’s why so many Bucs’ fans are (shall we say) ‘wary’.
October 13th, 2026 at 4:03 pm
OK then, Lost to the Bengals was not that complex, 0-3 turnovers. Buccaneers or the sixth highest rated team in dvoa history? That is 1-4. When that happens, it means that the team has been unusually unlucky. The stats are much better than the record. Currently #5 in Defense and # 18 on defense. #12 Overall.
October 13th, 2026 at 4:07 pm
BTW Joe, your bottom line of ‘scratching our way to a 4-5 record at the bye week’ is actually setting the bar quite high. As in ‘We need to win 3 of the next 4 games’, playing the Steelers, Panthers, Falcons & Bears. Oh my.
But realistically we have no choice. If we only go 2-2 in our next 4 games, and have a 3-6 record at the BYE, our chances of winning the NFC South (so that we could make the playoffs) would be very slim. If we are 3-6 at the BYE, we’d probably have to win 6 out of the remaining 8 games (a .750 clip) to win the division. Seriously doubt that anything less than a 9-8 will get us to the playoffs.
So yes, HOPEFULLY we’ve turned a corner. If our defense holds up, and our OLine keeps letting us pound-the-rock, and IF Baker plays solid football when he comes back, we might have a chance to still salvage the season.
October 13th, 2026 at 4:14 pm
If you really look, the losses were kinda handed over by mistakes. Were they really beat in any of the games.I know i know a loss is a loss for all the captains of obvious here
October 13th, 2026 at 4:15 pm
Buddha … ‘When that happens, it means that the team has been unusually unlucky.’
Respectfully disagree Buddha. We started 0-4 for a reason. Turnovers have been an issue. So have (ill-timed) penalties, (very) poor blocking, (unfortunate) defensive breakdowns, etc. We shot OURSELVES in the foot too many times.
Even still, we were ‘in the game’ to the end in each of those first 4 losses, but we couldn’t pull any of them out (like we did in 2025 to start the year). IMO luck plays a part in every game to an extent, but I’ve long believed that it kinda balances out over the season. We certainly had good luck at the start of last season; maybe this is the counter-balance?
October 13th, 2026 at 4:15 pm
If if if
If it’s and butts were candy and nuts it would be Christmas every day
October 13th, 2026 at 5:15 pm
Super Bowl baby!!!!
October 13th, 2026 at 6:35 pm
“Our team is very resilient. They’re very tough. They’re mentally tough,”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Todd says the stupidest sh!t. They lost to the friggin Browns. The Browns!! Watson completed 75% of his passes! The last thing this team is is mentally tough.
Im proud of them winning in Dallas on a short week, so I don’t want to take anything away from that. But Todd, you are what your record says you are . . . 1-4