Tom Brady takes on blame for Buccaneers mind-numbing collapse to Bengals

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held a 14-point lead over the defending AFC champions, the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday before completely collapsing in the second half. The Bengals scored 31 unanswered to win 34-23 with relative ease.

The Carolina Panthers lost on the day, as did the Atlanta Falcons (to division rival New Orleans Saints), so it was a prime opportunity to put a bit of space in the division race.

Unfortunately, the loss keeps everyone alive. The Buccaneers hold a slim one-game lead over all three other teams. This makes the collapse hurt even more, and Brady understands that better than anyone.

Brady admitted his fault in the collapse on Let's Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray podcast:

“Rough day and, man, losing sucks. It’s just the reality. There’s not a lot of explanation. Unfortunately, I’ve had to do too much of that this year. So just learning from it and trying to be better."

He continued:

"And obviously woke up at 3:00 a.m. (Monday) morning just trying to figure out, you know, I just had some real sh***y plays [Sunday] at the end of the day. So you can’t win when the quarterback turns it over four times. And that’s on me. So that’s how I feel.”

The Buccaneers are still in the driver's seat in the NFC South, but the others, especially the Panthers who visit Tampa in Week 17, are breathing down their necks.

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Will Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the NFC South?

Right now, even though everyone has a chance at the division title, the Buccaneers have the easiest road. They'd have to lose a game in the standings to the Panthers and two games to everyone else.

Can Tom Brady keep the Carolina Panthers at arm's length?

Winning the remaining three games would put them at 9-8. If they lose some, it gets a little precarious, but the win would still be possible.

The Buccaneers have a 73% chance of winning the division based on FiveThirtyEight's projections model. The Panthers have a 22% chance and the other two teams have a 3% chance, so the odds are still in Tom Brady and Tampa Bay's favor.