Bruce Arians on Bucs: “They don’t accept losing anymore”

[Captain Fear]

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The Buccaneers have missed the playoffs 11 years in a row. That streak will reach 12 this year.

But there is a sense that things are changing, after they’ve won three straight and four of their last five.

Via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Bucs coach Bruce Arians said he saw comparisons to his 2013 Cardinals team, which started 3-4, before winning seven of the last nine games.

The Cardinals made the playoffs the following season.

“Oh, I think this will be a huge one for us,’’ Arians said. “When we finished that season [in Arizona] beating Seattle, who were division champs, it led into a hell of an offseason. For us to possibly win four-in-a-row, then five-in-a-row against a real good Houston team, and then it’s going to be a struggle in Detroit this week with the number of injuries we’ve got, but that’s building blocks.

“The culture is set because the other guys aren’t accepting it anymore. They don’t accept losing anymore. That’s kind of what the guys stood up and said in the locker room. I didn’t have to say much, we ain’t accepting this [stuff] anymore. You know it’s getting across.”

That was embodied Sunday by linebacker Lavonte David, who let his teammates have it at halftime, and the Bucs came back from a 14-point deficit to win.

“I told them basically, everything that happened during the week is showing up,’’ David said. “Playing dumb football. You know, we’re over those days. All that shouldn’t have been happening. This should have been a football game where we focus on what we should be focused on and dominate. That’s what we try to do is dominate and we weren’t dominating at all and it showed. Me personally, I was very disappointed going into halftime and not satisfied with our play. And guys got the message.’’

Of course, the Bucs have some big decisions to make this offseason before they can build on this year’s momentum, and the future of quarterback Jameis Winston is central to the plans.