NFL world reacts to Buccaneers head coach quitting

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked like one of the best teams in the NFL at the start of the season. In fact, not only was Tampa Bay dominant, getting off to a 5-1 start on the campaign, but quarterback Baker Mayfield had played his way into the MVP conversation.

Unfortunately for the Bucs, things since then have not exactly gone according to plan. Tampa Bay’s loss on Sunday to the Buffalo Bills dropped them to 6-4 on the season, and all the Mayfield MVP talks feel like a distant memory.

The Bill game marked a new low for the coaching staff as well.

Tampa Bay still had a chance to pull off the miraculous and make a comeback with 38 seconds left in the game, as Tampa had the ball and was only down 44-32. However, head coach Todd Bowles elected to quit, and rather than trying to win the game, he instead put backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and had him kneel the game out.

With 38 seconds left and the Buccaneers down by 12, Todd Bowles decided not to attempt a miraculous comeback and instead sent in backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to kneel down. https://t.co/1n3LqvqxI7

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 18, 2025

Fans reacted to the asinine decision on social media.

“I don’t like him as a coach but considering injuries especially the one Mayfield is obviously playing through and what happened to Daniels this one is atleast debatable. the punt down 5 on fourth and 2 was not and is the reason why he shouldn’t be anything but a D coordinater,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

“Baker wanted to finish the game, as most leaders do. Watch the video, he was mystified and irked when they changed to run final play. Course Baker will never admit. That’s the more interesting takeaway,” another fan wrote.

“This was the only good coaching decision he made on Sunday,” one fan added.

It’ll be interesting to see how Bowles acts if he finds himself in that situation again.