After Monday night’s game, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles offered up multiple reasons for the decision to have receiver Chris Godwin still on the field during the final minute of a seemingly lost cause. The best — and, really, only — explanation should be this: Crazier things have happened.
The Bucs were down by 10 points. A touchdown, a successful onside kick, and a long completion could have set the stage for overtime.
Was it likely? No. It would have been a lightning-in-a-milk-bottle scenario.
But lightning can’t strike the milk bottle unless the milk bottle is in the street.
And it’s no surprise that the Buccaneers would refuse to cry “uncle.” During a divisional-round loss to cap the 2023 season, the Lions grossly mismanaged the clock, opening the door for the Bucs to use remaining timeouts, to hope for a missed field goal attempt (the drive started on Tampa’s 28, after an interception), to potentially score a touchdown, and to perhaps force overtime with a two-point conversion.
Then, the Bucs committed malpractice by not putting the milk bottle in the street. Last night, a truck ran over the milk bottle, courtesy of the Godwin injury.
But that’s the real question, one that needs to be answered game by game, team by team. When should a game be conceded? When (if ever) should key players be removed from a game that hasn’t been fully conceded?
In January against the Lions, the Bucs were too passive. Last night, they were too aggressive. Still, it’s far easier to defend last night’s decision making.
