The Tampa Bay Buccaneers blew a 13-point lead in an overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, and they did it in front of a crowd that felt more like a Steelers home game as Pittsburgh fans packed Raymond James Stadium and helped fuel the comeback.
It would understandably be frustrating for players to have to deal with that environment at home, but Buccaneers star offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs seems to think that the team deserves more of the blame for that than the fans do.
Tampa Bay took a 13-0 lead into halftime and led 16-3 in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Steelers. But Pittsburgh rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime, and then won it on a touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to rookie Germie Bernard.
The loss dropped the Bucs to 1-5, putting them alone in last place in the NFC South. The Bucs are also just 3-12 since starting the 2025 season 6-2.
To make matters worse, the Steelers fans were loud enough that Tampa Bay was dealing with crowd noise on its own home field, as Wirfs admitted that the team was nearly in a silent count as a result of the crowd noise.
Wirfs was asked about the lack of support from the home crowd after the game, but he wasn't willing to pass the blame on to the fans.
"Can you blame them?" Wirfs said, via JoeBucsFan.com . "You know, we're 1-4 and haven't really given them much to cheer about."
"So, yeah, it sucks. It sucks when you're going damn near silent count at home. But you've got to give [fans] something to cheer for," Wirfs continued.
Wirf's did not have an answer when he as asked why the team has been struggling, whether those struggles are physical or mental.
"You know, I don't really know, to be honest," Wirfs said. "We're up by 13 and, I don't know. I don't have anything. I'm not going to say anything right now. I don't know what it is. It's insanely frustrating. You know, to be up 13 at home. We haven't won a [freaking] home game yet. And to not be able to finish out the game is really frustrating."
Things don't get any easier for Tampa Bay, either. The Bucs visit the Carolina Panthers next week before hosting the Atlanta Falcons, and then they head to Chicago for a Sunday night game against the Bears.
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