An Atlanta Falcons' primetime victory is sweet enough, but the fact it came against a bitter NFC South rival is even sweeter. The Falcons managed to put a massive hole in the Bucs' playoff hopes with their 29-28 victory, and it prompted multiple extreme reactions at Raymond James Stadium.
Zane Gonzalez' go-ahead field goal saw Mike Evans leave the field prematurely, but Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles' reaction was far worse. While addressing the postgame media, Bowles went on an expletive-laced postgame rant where he practically threw his entire locker room under the bus.
After a last-second loss like this, emotions are always bound to run high, but there has to be some level of rationale behind your thoughts. For as annoying as Raheem Morris' coach-speak was amid the Falcons' losing streak, at least he was never openly or publicly bashing his players to the media.
Todd Bowles' postgame rant reminds Falcons fans they could do worse than Raheem Morris
Following the loss, the Panthers are in the driver's seat to win the NFC South, while the Bucs are now on the wrong side of the playoff bubble. That was a game they very well could've won, but when your secondary gets torched by an offense mostly led by backups, you don't deserve to win that game.
The Falcons might be eliminated from playoff contention, but seeing their resilience for a come-from-behind victory like that was incredibly promising. Like Morris was (and still is), Bowles is clearly on the hot seat, as Tampa Bay has lost six of their last seven games dating back to Week 10 vs. the Patriots.
And making matters even worse is the fact that Bucs' offense was at full strength for the first time this season. Mike Evans dazzled in his return to the lineup and Jalen McMillan impressed in his season debut, yet Bowles' squad were unable to overcome a career game from fifth-year tight end Kyle Pitts.
37-year-old Kirk Cousins and a former draft bust traveled to Tampa and diced up the Tampa Bay defense, which is sad. With that said, Bowles has every right to be upset, but conducting yourself with that much unprofessionalism is digging your own grave to the point the Bucs almost have to find a new head coach this offseason.
Morris is not perfect and certainly comes with many flaws, but nobody can deny he out-coached a fellow Super Bowl-winning coordinator in Bowles on Thursday night. His own coaching future is still murky, but at least he's handling everything with class the way an NFL head coach should.