Did Baker Mayfield agree with Todd Bowles' fiery comments?

Shortly after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers squandered a 14-point fourth-quarter lead en route to suffering an upset 29-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles put the defeat on his players during an expletive-laden rant. 

Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield was later asked about Bowles' fiery comments.

Todd Bowles "hit the nail on the head" with comments about the Buccaneers

"He hit the nail on the head, saying and questioning, does it mean anything to the guys?" Mayfield said about Bowles, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "Like, 'Does this hurt enough for you to actually make changes? To come in, do the work that you need to do, to do the things that we need to do as a team to get better, fix these things and win ball games?' And he repeated it, and it really is as simple as that. We have talent. Talent doesn’t get you s--- though. Doing the work and executing on game days does, and that’s — we didn’t do that today." 

The loss that Bowles referred to as "inexcusable" on multiple occasions happened against a Falcons (5-9) team that had already been eliminated from postseason contention. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay fell to 7-7 and to second place in the NFC South standings. The 7-6 Carolina Panthers now lead the division, and they will play at the 3-10 New Orleans Saints this coming Sunday.

Against the Falcons, Mayfield threw a costly interception with under 8:30 to play in the fourth quarter. On the game's final drive, the Buccaneers' defense gave up a first down after the Falcons faced 3rd-and-28 and 4th-and-14 situations.

For the third straight year, the Buccaneers are enduring an in-season swoon under Bowles. What was once a 6-2 Tampa Bay side has now lost five of six contests. 

As Florio mentioned in a different piece, Tampa Bay fans chanted for the club to "fire Bowles" after Thursday's game. 

Baker Mayfield challenges Buccaneers to fight

"We have to win out, and we know that," Mayfield added during his postgame comments. "It’s — that’s as plain and simple as it is. We put ourselves in a position to have to do that. So if guys don’t handle that the right way, then we have a much deeper issue. But I don’t believe that we have a culture issue. We’ve just got to be able to translate the stuff that we prepare, we talk about, and do on a consistent basis. We’ve got to translate it to game day." 

The Buccaneers next play at the Panthers on Dec. 21. It remains to be seen if Carolina will be 8-6 on that Sunday.