The Tampa Bay Buccaneers keep talking about fixing things. The problem is, nothing ever seems to stay fixed.

A week after head coach Todd Bowles called the Week 15 loss to the Falcons “inexcusable” and insisted his team got the message, the Bucs delivered another variation of the same frustrating script in a 23-20 home loss to the Carolina Panthers.

It was their sixth loss in seven games, and it felt like all the familiar issues showed up on cue.

Tampa Bay actually held a late first-half lead before everything tilted. With seven seconds left in the second quarter, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young beat a Bucs blitz and found wide receiver Tet McMillan behind Jamel Dean for a back-breaking touchdown. Instead of taking momentum to the locker room, the Bucs watched it sail over their heads and into the end zone.

The Bucs did briefly reclaim the lead in the third quarter, but once again couldn’t close. Young escaped pressure late and hit tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for another Panthers touchdown, putting Carolina up 23–20 with 2:20 remaining. That set the stage for what should have been Baker Mayfield’s shot at redemption.

Instead, it turned into the final gut punch.

On the potential game-winning drive, Mayfield and Mike Evans weren’t on the same page. A miscommunication on a route turned into an easy interception for Panthers safety Lathan Ransom, effectively sealing another crushing loss.

Add in eight penalties on the day and you have the exact kind of “self-inflicted wounds” Bowles keeps lamenting.

“The biggest thing is our confidence is good, camaraderie is good and that’s high but that’s not enough right now,” Bowles said afterward. “It’s the execution that we’re lacking and missing a few things here or there. We shot ourselves in the foot enough today to lose this ballgame by three.”

Bowles emphasized accountability from both players and coaches and pointed toward a possible rematch with Carolina in two weeks with the NFC South still potentially on the line. The Bucs face the Dolphins next, while the Panthers get the Seahawks, and the math says Tampa Bay could still stumble into a division title.

But outside belief is evaporating fast.

The Bucs keep promising change. What they keep delivering are new ways to lose close games, the same postgame quotes, and a season that increasingly feels like it’s slipping away in slow motion.