Following the Bucs’ 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons Thursday night, their second defeat to a team eliminated from contention in four days, coach Todd Bowles unloaded on his club with a profanity-laced assessment that questioned how much some players cared about the way they’re going about their jobs.

“It’s inexcusable. We don’t make excuses,” Bowles said. “You’ve got to f--king care enough where this s--t hurts. It’s got to f--king mean something. It’s more than a job, it’s your f--king livelihood. How well do you know your job, how well can you do your job? You can’t sugarcoat that s--t. It was in-f--king-excusable. There is no f--king answer for it.

“That’s what you tell them in the locker room. Look in the f--king mirror.”

Leading 28-14 in the fourth quarter, the Bucs couldn’t finish the game, and now their season may be ending soon as well.

The offense had a chance to run the final 3:29 seconds off the clock but managed only one first down.

Then they had the lead but not the football. The Bucs defense had the Falcons and Kurt Cousins facing third and 28 and fourth and 14.

Haason Reddick even sacked Cousins and forced a fumble that he appeared to recover, but officials ruled simultaneous possession and the ball remained with the Falcons.

The veteran quarterback led Atlanta on a nine-play, 45-yard drive capped by Zane Gonzalez’s game-winning 43-yard field goal as time expired.

The defeat dropped the Bucs to 7-7 and forfeited their season-long lead in the NFC South to the Carolina Panthers (7-6), who play New Orleans on Sunday.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield took the blame for the loss, particularly handing the ball back to Atlanta when he threw a fourth-quarter interception trying to hit Emeka Egbuka while leading by eight points.

“Disappointing, obviously, but falls on my shoulders,” Mayfield said. “Can’t turn the ball over. Can’t have that interception. Got to hit Mek in stride on that third down.

“Listen, you can say what you want about being up two scores and the defense right there. We have to be better on offense. It comes down to how I play. This one is going to be hard on me. It falls on my shoulders.”

Unbelievably, the Bucs still have a chance to win the NFC South if they just beat the Carolina Panthers twice in the next three weeks.

But nobody felt like talking about that after dropping back-to-back games to New Orleans and Atlanta in four days.

The Bucs lost because the defense had no answers for Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts and running back Bijan Robinson.

Pitts had 11 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns. Robinson rushed for 93 yards and a score and caught eight passes for 82 yards.

The Bucs lost despite Atlanta doing everything they could to give the game away. They had 19 accepted penalties for 125 yards. They fumbled three times, losing one.

But Cousins passed for 373 yards and three touchdowns and was only sacked once.

The loss spoiled terrific returns to the lineup by Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan.

It was impossible to remember just how much the Bucs missed Mike Evans — not truly, not completely — until he returned Thursday to remind us all.

Fifty-two days after breaking his collarbone in Detroit, the greatest offensive player in club history stepped back onto the field and lifted his team as only he can. He turned routine throws into first downs, back-shoulder throws into momentum and turned the Bucs back into themselves.

Evans’ first three catches resulted in first downs. But it was his grab of a 45-yard bomb in which he leaped over defensive back Cobee Bryant that set up the Bucs’ go-ahead touchdown — a 6-yard pass to tight end Devin Culp, his first catch of the season.

When Jacob Parish recovered a fumble by Bijan Robinson at the Atlanta 25-yard line, it was Evans who drew a pass-interference penalty to lead the Bucs to Chris Godwin’s TD and two-point conversion.

Evans finished with six catches for 132 yards.

The Bucs had an eight-point and the ball near midfield when Mayfield was intercepted by Dee Alford with 8:22 remaining.

Cousins drove the Falcons 67 yards in 10 plays, hitting Pitts in the corner of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion pass attempt failed.

The Bucs managed to get one first down on the ensuing drive, but Bucky Irving was dropped for a 4-yard loss on first down, and Mayfield threw incomplete to Egbuka before he was sacked on third down.

It looked as though Reddick ended the game when he sacked Cousins and forced a fumble. But officials ruled the ball belonged to the Falcons.

Even so, there was no excuse for not ending the game on defense when the Falcons were faced with third and 28 and fourth-and-14. But Cousins hit David Sills for 21 yards and a first down.

That basically put the Falcons within range of Gonzalez’s game-winner.

Up next

at Panthers, 1 p.m. Dec. 21 TV/radio: Fox; 97.9-FM

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