The Tampa Bay Buccaneers really wanted to keep Liam Coen, and they almost did something drastic to prevent him from leaving for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And does that excuse the ex-offensive coordinator ghosting his former team for more than 24 hours after saying he’d stay in Tampa Bay?

Buccaneers fans were livid after a report suggested Liam Coen called Todd Bowles late Thursday and said he was at a doctor appointment for his son.

As one person said about the two-day saga that saw the Jaguars lose their GM, the Buccaneers lose their OC and Coen accept two jobs – one that made him the NFL’s highest-paid coordinator, and another to become Jacksonville’s HC: “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

Bowles’ choices didn’t ultimately doom the Buccaneers since they scored a touchdown on that final first half sequence and Washington could have bled the clock dry on the final drive regardless of timeouts, but Bowles did not put his team in the best position to succeed by letting clock run.

The first came at the end of the first half when Bowles let over 10 seconds run off the clock after the Buccaneers reached the red zone. With just 17 seconds, the Buccaneers essentially had to be perfect execution-wise. Fortunately, for Tampa Bay, it ended up scoring a touchdown to knot proceedings up at 10-10 at the break.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles isn't even thinking about coaching changes for the time being after the loss to the Commanders.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a successful 2024 regular season, even if it was a little up-and-down. They finished with double-digit wins at 10-7 and won the NFC South for the third year in a row, but they weren't able to extend their season after dropping their Wild Card playoff game 23-20 to the Washington Commanders.