TAMPA, Fla. — The sample size is modest, perhaps too modest to develop a sound hypothesis for Sunday.
It involves only two games on the Bucs' 2020 slate, the most recent being nearly a month ago. If this were medical research, the data would be woefully insufficient to merit FDA approval.
But we're talking victories here, not vaccines. And in the wake of the season's most disastrous performance, Tampa Bay fans are pining for any and all encouraging prognoses for the immediate future.
So here's one: The Bucs (6-3) are 2-0 this season when coming off a loss. In their last bounce-back game, a 38-10 rout of the Packers at home, they were darn near unblemished.
And if ever this team needed a positive trend to perpetuate, it's now.
"I think we have great leadership," said coach Bruce Arians, whose team plays Sunday at Carolina (3-6) in a critical NFC South matchup. "And when you have real good leadership, very seldom will you ever lose two in a row, and we've always preached that to our guys."
Of course, the most prominent leader inside the AdventHealth Training Center has earned a comfortable living rebounding briskly from defeat.
During his two-decade tenure with the Patriots, Tom Brady suffered only eight losses of 20 or more points. In the games immediately after those defeats, he went 7-1, totaling 19 touchdowns and three interceptions, according to The Athletic.
"I probably don't remember all the wins, but I definitely remember all the losses," said Brady, 49-15 for his career in games following a loss.
"I think they all stick with you because you're competitive and you want to go out there and play your best every week. And you realize you're not a movie actor where you get six takes when it doesn't go right like, 'Oh, let me do that one over again, I messed that up. Let's run that one back.' "
In his two bounce-back games this season, including a 31-17 victory against the Panthers in Week 2, Brady has gone a collective 40 for 62 for 383 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
In neither game was he sacked. In that win against the Packers, which followed an unsightly Thursday night loss in Chicago, the Bucs had no penalty yards.
"I think that comes with leadership and coaching," defensive lineman Will Gholston said. "Having us being able to focus on the next game plan, and the leaders showing us that, 'Keep your head up. Keep moving, keep pushing forward.' Time to let it go."
All the sound bites that have surfaced this week suggest the Bucs filed away Sunday's loss some time Monday. They also betray a team disgusted by its performance and bent on a degree of atonement.
"This week of practice has been outstanding, just as if we won the last ball game," Arians said. "The one thing I can never complain about our guys (is) work ethic. The attention to detail has been outstanding. So yeah, I would anticipate them to bounce back pretty good."
