For much of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' NFL Divisional Round clash against the favored Detroit Lions, the Buccaneers kept in stride. After three periods, the score was tied, and at that point, it remained anyone's ballgame. Alas, the game went away from Baker Mayfield and company in the end, with Mayfield essentially sealing the Buccaneers' 31-23 defeat with a crucial interception with 1:33 remaining in the contest.

But even with a flurry of kneeldowns on the way from Jared Goff and the Lions to put the game away for good, the Buccaneers were still mathematically in the game if they called a timeout to stop the clock. This, however, did not look like an opportunity that was worth bothering with, if Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles' explanation after the game not to use his timeout is any indication.

“They already had the field goal lined up, and there would’ve been about 12 seconds left on the clock to end the ball game. We weren’t going to come back from that,” Bowles said, per River Wells of USA Today's The Bucs Wire via Grey Papke of Larry Brown Sports.

Indeed, with how little time was left on the clock, it was rather unlikely for the Buccaneers to mount a comeback. The stars had to align; the Lions had to miss on the field goal, and Baker Mayfield would have had to throw a Hail Mary just to give Tampa Bay a chance at a two-point conversion to send the game to overtime.

But in the playoffs where a loss means the end of one's season, it remains baffling that Todd Bowles did not choose to give the Buccaneers one last chance, even if it meant a less than one percent chance of winning. A one percent chance to advance in the playoffs is better than zero percent, which is what Tampa Bay had in the aftermath of Bowles' decision.

Just to rub more salt on the wound, the Lions had a bit of clock-management blunder as well, which could have given the Buccaneers even more time to try their luck. Nonetheless, what's done is done, and now, the Buccaneers get to watch the Lions take on the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game on Sunday, January 28 from the confines of their homes.