Angry Bucs are Sick of Losing
After dropping 55 points on the defending NFC champs in Week 4, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were sitting at 2-2, and coming off a huge road win in which few gave them a chance.
Four weeks (and a lot of miles) later, the Bucs have lost three straight games, including a 27-23 defeat to the Tennessee Titans coming out of their bye week.
The losing streak isn't sitting well with the team's leaders, who set the tone as soon as last week's game was over.
"I think Lavonte (David) set that tone, about it not being acceptable, and having the game and giving it away," Arians said Wednesday of his team's response to Sunday's loss. "Forget the referees, just having the game and giving it away. It's time to stop. I think they all feel that. It's a very good feeling, as a coach, to come back on a plane that's angrier about losing."
Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston also made it clear Wednesday that he and his teammates should be getting tired of letting games slip away.
"We want to win, bad," Winston said. "And that's just it. You lose three in a row, you get sick of it, so you want to win really bad."
Winston paused before adding, "At least you should be. You should be sick of it."
The Bucs have let late leads slip away in multiple games this year, unable to take advantage of big performances by Mike Evans, big plays in key moments from the defense and special teams, and many other positive factors that are easily forgotten when they don't equal victories.
Heading into the final game of a brutal seven-week stretch without a true home game, the Bucs will have to face one of the league's best teams, in one of the league's most hostile environments, when they travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks in Week 9.
