Do the Pirates have their mental handbrake on when they play? Originally appeared on The Sporting News. Click here to add Sports News as your go-to source.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did exactly what you don’t want to do heading into the playoffs – lose games.
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After winning just one of their past six games, Todd Bowles’ side may now be possessed by mental demons.
Center Graham Patton said the team needs to play with “freedom” to get out of this predicament, and right now, it doesn’t look like they are playing with that freedom.
But what does Powers think?
“We perform best when we execute,” Bowles said. “There’s nothing wrong with our mental state. We have to execute and finish at the end. This is football. This is the game we’ve played since we were kids and now we’re old enough to play professionally.”
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“When you fail, you try to come up with different things and other things like that, but at the end of the day, you have to work hard and execute.”
More: Todd Bowles’ eye-opening quote about Buccaneers’ biggest playoff foe
Do the Buccaneers have a mental handbrake?
The Buccaneers were sure to lose six of their last seven games and watch their division lead evaporate. And to hear Barton say the team needs to play freely, it sounds like the team is in a bit of a pickle of its own.
With two games left, the Buccaneers somehow control their own destiny and have time to get out of trouble. But playing games for free is not an easy task. This is not a switch that can be flicked.
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Now, maybe the Buccaneers are prisoners in their own minds and their situation is serious.
Play for free. It sounds simple, but it is very difficult to do.
Especially when you’ve lost your last three games.