Buccaneers fans blast Todd Bowles for not going for two late in 30-24 loss to Chiefs on MNF - "He is the biggest coward"

The Buccaneers came the closest anyone has this season to defeat the still-perfect Chiefs, but Todd Bowles will rue a decision he made at the end of the fourth quarter. Kansas City had rode on some luck and brilliance on third downs and in the red zone to take a 24-17 lead in the fourth quarter.

However, Baker Mayfield, consistently under pressure by an aggressive Kansas City defense, refused to go down without a fight.

He led a perfect drive during the two-minute warning to throw a touchdown to make the score 24-23 with a conversion to come. With Tampa Bay trailing by only one point, Bowles could have elected for a two-point conversion that would have secured them victory in regulation time. The Buccaneers head coach chose the safe option, though. He elected to tie the game with a kick and force overtime.

It was pertinent because regular-season overtime rules do not guarantee possession to both teams. If the team that wins the toss chooses to receive first, they can go down the field and score a touchdown to end the game without their opposition ever touching the ball.

And that is what happened as Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs on a methodical drive that culminated in a walk-off touchdown to make the score 30-24 against the Buccaneers.

It did not sit well with Tampa Bay fans on social media who blasted their coach for his conservatism. The win preserved the Chiefs' perfect record and Todd Bowles' team fell two games behind the Falcons in the chase for the top seed in the NFC South. Disgruntled supporters took to X/Twitter to air their views, some of which are given below.

The negative comments continued with many blaming the head coach for the loss and the chance to end the Chiefs' perfect start to the season. Here are some more reactions.

"Congrats to Todd Bowles for being a coward" - vented one fan.

"Todd Bowles is a coward. There's no reason why he shouldn't have gone for 2. None. Hoping for OT against Mahomes is beyond stupid." - added another.

"Todd Bowles might be the most spineless coach in football history. Low energy. Coward." - concurred a third.

Todd Bowles takes a baffling timeout giving Chiefs chance for regulation win against Buccaneers on MNF

The loss in overtime will probably provide justification for Todd Bowles saying that it was a game of chance and they lost on a coin toss. After being slammed for being too aggressive in a blowout loss to the Ravens that led to wide receiver Chris Godwin's injury, one could understand his more measured approach.

However, Tampa Bay could have easily lost this game in regulation time. With more than 30 seconds remaining, they picked up a first-and-goal and the wide receiver ran back trying to get a play going quickly. Instead, the Bucs head coach called his final timeout.

Knowing that all attempts at that time would generally be passes into the endzone or out of bounds, this meant that even after they scored the touchdown and the conversion, 27 seconds were remaining for the Chiefs.

Patrick Mahomes failed to close the deal in regulation time, which would have made Todd Bowles look even worse. However, he did not need a second invitation when he got a second bite of the apple in overtime.