Dolphins 20, Buccaneers 17
Q. Did the team come out today with the energy and effort you were expecting early in the game?
TODD BOWLES: Came out with a ton of energy, a ton of effort, and a ton of mistakes.
Q. You are in this position where you control your destiny, but you don't have to pay for it. You're still alive each week. How do you get them to reset and take advantage of what should be one more opportunity to try and win this next week?
TODD BOWLES: I think we got to erase that from our heads, because we have to get ourselves together before we worry about anybody else. Carolina or anybody else.
We are just shooting ourselves in the foot at every chance. That starts with me. I got to coach them better. They got to play it better, and then we got to figure out how we can stop making our mistakes to move on.
So if we play and do the things we did today next week, we won't be going anywhere where.
Q. Is that even possible in one week, three days of practice when you haven't done it the last seven out of eight now?
TODD BOWLES: Everything is possible, and you always have a chance to play. We just need to put it together and play, and that takes work. We work hard. We do it right in practice.
Can't explain it in the game, but we definitely as coaches and as players got to look ourselves in the mirror, and we just need to work on the Bucs. Whatever Carolina does, they do. We got to work on the Bucs and stay working on the Bucs, and we got to figure that part out.
Q. You get a touchdown on the first drive. Only three points the rest of the way until the final minute. What changed to let them control the game defensively the way they did?
TODD BOWLES: It's unfortunate. We weren't making any plays. Obviously turning the ball over three times doesn't help either. So that's 3-0 in the turnover battle, they're going to win that battle every time.
Q. You guys had three interceptions now in the fourth quarter that have essentially ended games. What's happening in those clutch moments?
TODD BOWLES: That's tough. That's tough. It's very unfortunate. He's one of the leaders on our team. He's a captain. He played good ball the first half of the season. We got to take better care of the ball in the second half.
Q. You've been here before. You've been angry. What do you tell them in the locker room after a loss like this?
TODD BOWLES: Same thing I just said. Working on us, you know. Accountability and working on us. Not worrying about the opponent next week. Not worrying about we have one more game to win and we get another chance to play in the playoffs or whatever the case may be, because it's a hard feeling when you lose that many a row and the way you lose them coming down to the end with the things that we've done to lose these ball games is frustrating.
But we have to be grown men about this and look ourselves in the mirror, and success is a hard road, and right now we're taking the hard road.
Q. Do you feel like the leadership that you lack during the week is somehow failing on game day?
TODD BOWLES: It's not the leadership failing. It's the execution of certain times and doing certain things with certain guys. The leadership has been great. The message has been great by the leaders. We just got to execute at critical times. We talked about it before the game and after the game. Two-minute situations we got to be a lot better.
Q. The long touchdown pass for their first score, it looked like Darnell gave that receiver up almost right away. Was he expecting to have help that wasn't there behind him?
TODD BOWLES: Yes, he was.
Q. You have been kicking the ball out of the end zone the last couple of games for touchbacks and then the long return. Was that a mis-hit, or were you --
TODD BOWLES: That was a mis-hit.
Q. The intent was to (off microphone)?
TODD BOWLES: Yes.
Q. Do you have a preference for playing on Saturday or Sunday or -- I know it's not scheduled yet next week.
TODD BOWLES: No preference at all.
Q. Haason Reddick is being evaluated for a concussion at the very end of the game there. Do you have an update on that?
TODD BOWLES: I haven't gone in the training room yet, no.
Q. Do you know how Jamel Dean hurt his shoulder?
TODD BOWLES: I do not. He said it's been bothering him all year. It kind of gave out on him. I'll see what the details are after this.
Q. Is it remarkable to you that your team even has a chance to win the division with eight wins?
TODD BOWLES: It's a different way of going about it with the last three years, and this is definitely a different way of going about it, especially the way we've been playing and finishing and not making those plays.
Again, opportunity is there. There's a door of opportunity and a window of opportunity, and it's up to us as coaches and players, as a team, to take advantage of it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports