Brady: Struggling Bucs need to look in mirror, play better October 17 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Its not difficult to see why the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off to a disappointing 3-3 start.Tom Brady and a talented but struggling offense have not performed at a consistently high level, particularly in the red zone.A normally reliable defense hasnt played well, either, during a stretch in which the Bucs have lost three of four games.Its a game of earning it, and its a game of playing well, and were just not doing a good job of that, Brady said after Sundays 20-18 lo s to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who stopped a four-game skid despite playing without several key players on defense.Were all playing le s than were capable of, the seven-time Super Bowl champion added, and weve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and figure out why.Coach Todd Bowles echoed that sentiment, reiterating Antoine Bethea Jersey the team has to play better in all phases if it expects to emerge from a puzzling funk.Youve got to get your hands dirty and go to work just like everybody else. Weve been working hard. Weve got to work harder. Nobodys going to feel sorry. Weve got to go back as coaches, as players, and the time for talking is over, Bowles said. Youve either got to put up or shut up.Bowles once again on Monday rejected the notion that Friday night in New York affected the quarterback's performance against the Steelers. Brady mi sed Saturday's walk-through and team meetings in Tampa.Bowles said Brady works as hard as anybody and is as locked in as ever.Theres been a few guys mi s some meetings and some practices for some special things that dont get publicized because theyre not him, Bowles said. It kind of comes with the territory. You dont worry about it too much.The Bucs Will Hernandez Jersey are averaging 20.2 points per game this year after averaging 30.8 on the way to winning the Super Bowl two seasons ago and 30.1 in 2021.Bowles was asked if hes satisfied with offensive coordinator Byron Leftwichs play-calling.Im di satisfied with a lot of things. Winning is No. 1. Its not about the play-calling. Its all inclusive. Players have to execute what the coaches call. The coaches have to make sure players are in position to call them, the coach said.We dont throw blame anywhere. It's all inclusive, Bowles repeated. Its offense, defense and special teams when we have a bad game.WHATS WORKINGWith the offense continuing to struggle in the red zone, kicker Ryan Succop has done his job to keep the Bucs in games. He booted four more field goals against the Steelers, extending his streak of consecutive succe sful attempts to 13. Hes 15 of B.J. Hill Jersey 16 on the season.WHAT NEEDS HELPRed-zone woes continue to undermine the offense, which didnt get into the end New York Giants Jersey zone Sunday until Brady to sed an 11-yard TD pa s to Leonard Fournette more than 10 minutes into the fourth quarter. Three of four drives inside the Pittsburgh 20 ended with Succop kicking field goals.STOCK UPIt wasnt easy to identify a bright spot in the lo s to the Steelers. Fournette, however, delivered another solid if not spectacular performance with 63 yards rushing on 21 attempts and six catches on six targets for 38 yards receiving and the teams lone TD.STOCK DOWNThe defense, dominant through three games, has not been nearly as good the past three weeks, especially at critical moments. The Steelers were 3 of 11 on third downs before going 4-for-4 down the stretch on Sunday. The Bucs pulled within two points with 4:38 to go, but never got the ball back as the Steelers ran out the clock with help from Mitch Trubisky, who converted on third-and-15 and third-and 11.INJURIESTE Cameron Brate, who was carted off on a stretcher in Pittsburgh, returned home with the team and has a sprained neck. He has all his extremities moving well, and hes resting, Bowles said Monday. ... Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting (quad) and safeties Mike Edwards and Logan Ryan (foot) were inactive against the Steelers. Bowles said it was too early to speculate on their status for this week.KEY NUMBERSundays Oshane Ximines Jersey lo s snapped a franchise-record six-game road winning streak. The Bucs hadnt lost away from home since last Nov. 14 at Washington.UP NEXTDespite losing three of their past four games, the Bucs remain atop the NFC South and can improve to 3-0 within the division by defeating Carolina on the road this week.___More AP NFL: hub/nfl and AP_NFL in this topic Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League Tom Brady Logan Ryan Sean Murphy-Bunting Cameron Brate Ryan Succop Pittsburgh Steelers New England Patriots Tampa Bay Buccaneers Spain or Morocco? 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