Chris Simms: Blame Todd Bowles
November 5th, 2019
Yes, Todd Bowles is responsible for this garbage Tampa Bay defense; he’s the defensive coordinator.
Fun fact: Bowles’ defense in New York last season allowed an average of 30 points over the past 10 games of 2018.
Sound familiar?
Bucs fans were told Bowles is one of the great defensive minds in the game. He knows how to get the most out of players, Bucs officials said. Still buying that? Perhaps you do — even though the Bucs defense is getting worse.
Joe has seen no evidence of Bowles’ genius as a whole through half a season (and likely an offseason that gave him a heavy hand in choosing players.)
Joe has found a kindred spirit in former Bucs QB Chris Simms, who blasted Bowles this week on his “Unbuttoned” podcast for being too-old-school minded about stopping the run.
“The travesty” of the Seahawks game, Simms said, was Bowles not trusting his talented defensive linemen enough to stop the run and, subsequently, leaving rookie cornerback Jamel Dean on “Revis Island” against possibly the best deep-ball thrower in the NFL.
Endless Bucs blitzing was a terrible idea, Simms said, “stupidly playing too much man-to-man was the biggest issue” and unfair to Dean, who Simms said was the cornerback under the most pressure in the NFL on Sunday.
It was the wrong game plan in general, Simms said. See the graphic below that illustrates how no team has blitzed like the Bucs did Sunday in at least 3 1/2 years.
“I don’t even blame the secondary players for the Buccaneers. I blame Todd Bowles for that defense and what he did,” Simms said. “Always put the pressure on the money of your defense. And their money is they have Suh, and Vita Vea who’s 340 pounds, and [Jason Pierre-Paul] and Shaq Barrett, and they have these guys. That’s the strength of their team. How bout you like let them see if they can stop the run, first. Ok. And you have two middle linebackers that are good, too. What are we like worried about? Call their bluff, at first.”
Simms estimated the Bucs ran a man-to-man defense on 63 of 68 offensive plays against the Seahawks, which led to Russell Wilson not having to think when he broke the huddle.
The Buccaneers blitzed Russell Wilson on 76% of dropbacks, the highest blitz rate in a game in the NGS era (since 2016).
Wilson finished 19/32 for 221 yards & 3 TD against the blitz, having been pressured 5 times on 35 blitz dropbacks (14% pressure rate).#TBvsSEA | #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/f9DdxCtwkL
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 4, 2019
November 5th, 2019 at 2:28 pm
Simms podcast is a great listen.
Smart fans and analyst are all coming to the same conclusion the coaching on this team is not improved from the last few years
November 5th, 2019 at 2:29 pm
Yup. He’s gotta do some reflection and a little self scouting.. see what’s working and what isn’t.. I’m not a believer until I see results
November 5th, 2019 at 2:32 pm
He’s completely correct.
The blitzed simply haven’t been getting there. And we’ve seen this for several weeks in a row. So why not rush 4 and double some of their WRs and leave a spy on Wilson?
There were a few plays where we were rushing 6 guys and still couldn’t get there. Six!! Thought I even saw us rush 7 at one point but that was prob my eyes deceiving me.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:32 pm
It’s all fixed
November 5th, 2019 at 2:45 pm
We have been too predictable in years past to be in off coverage zone and now every offense can count on man coverage this year. Unless we start mixing up coverages and disguising a little every team will score 30+ on us.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:49 pm
Too predictable. Been saying that since the Giants game. Also you need a spy on a mobile QB if you are going to be in man coverage. Derrick Brooks would spy Vick all the time. He was the great equalizer. Figure it out or get out Bowles.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:49 pm
Biggest problem is Jason Licht. All of these secondary players drafted and they’re 31st in passing defense. Face it, these secondary players are garbage. One leads the league in pass interference for first downs. Vh3 straight sucks. Stewart can’t even dress on game day. One is a special teams player only. So many valuable resources wasted on these horrible players. I don’t expect much from this team as long as Licht is the gm.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:51 pm
The 14% pressure rate on the blitz is a bigger issue than man to man. Teams are dictating who blitzes and we are not fancy at all or creative. Almost every Seattle blitz got to Jameis but there were only 3.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:56 pm
Hire Chris Simms as GM and build a winner.
November 5th, 2019 at 2:58 pm
Watch the highlights…..Dean got burnt a couple of times but he was better than most think.
I agree that the blitzes aren’t working…..and haven’t worked.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:00 pm
We’ve got to get to some semblance of balance. Leaving these young inexperienced corners on an island by themselves time and again, is a recipe for disaster. Don’t blitz so much and drop more guys in coverage. At least until we can get them accustomed to the game.
Everyone wanted press-man. Well, we got it. And guess what? We can’t cover!
November 5th, 2019 at 3:17 pm
@Ghost of Darrell Henderson
There may be something to that. Former players turned coaches/gm’s do tend to have some success. Grant it, that’s not always the case, but really….it wouldn’t take much to be more successful than the crappy GM we currently have.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:25 pm
Teams seem to be isolating members of our young secondary. No experience back there whatsoever. And we are paying dearly.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:29 pm
Might help is any-freakin’-one could actually get home on a blitz!!!!
November 5th, 2019 at 3:36 pm
Defense Rules
It’s almost like I don’t know wtf I’m talking about huh? 🤣🤣😘🤣🤣
November 5th, 2019 at 3:36 pm
Worst part is you drafted a blitzing LB at #5 overall who has NOT gotten past a guard all season.
Btw the long run for Carson was NOT a blitz. The #5 overall pick missed his gap per usual bc he doesn’t know how to read offensive lineman. Carson did break a tackle from Suh and Allen to go for the long run.
November 5th, 2019 at 3:49 pm
Here I am again hoping this defensive coordinator saves us by getting a head coach job this offseason. Hopefully the Glazers wont be foolish enough to offer this one more money to stay.
November 5th, 2019 at 4:11 pm
Thank you Bucsfanman … “some semblance of balance” is the key. Bucs had a total of 3 sacks on Wilson but blitzed on 78% of the passing downs. The RESULTS in this case don’t justify the means.
Funny thing though is that when Smitty was here, this same JBF.com was the one bitchin that he didn’t blitz enough and gave way too much cushion to the receivers. And on the year the Bucs allowed opposing QBs to complete 72.5% of their passes in 2018. This year the Bucs are apparently blitzing much more, thus leaving ROOKIE defenders on an ‘island’ much more, but we’re allowing opposing QBs to complete 64.1% of their passes, a DECREASE of almost 12%. And the Net Yards Gained Per Pass Attempt is down from 7.3 YPA in 2018 to 6.8 YPA this year.
A funny thing seems to have happened on the way to the Forum: opposing teams are passing MUCH MORE this season against the Bucs. As in MUCH MORE. Teams have 326 pass attempts thus far in 2019; on-track for 652 this season. In 2018 opponents had 534 passing attempts. That’d be an increase of 118 pass attempts … over a 22% increase in just 1 year. Personally think there are 3 reasons:
1 – Bucs DLine is MUCH BETTER this year against the run.
2 – Bucs pass rush, to include blitzes, hasn’t been all that effective.
3 – Bucs Secondary is composed of a bunch of rookies and 1st year players.
Opposing OCs are doing EXACTLY what anyone in their right mind would expect them to do: TAKE ADVANTAGE of what the Bucs weaknesses are. And they’re mostly doing it through short passing, with a periodic deep pass thrown in to keep us honest. Duh!
So yes, TB needs to dial back the blitzing some, but more than that, this DLine needs to start getting more pressure on opposing QBs with less blitzing. Watching them Sunday, they were getting stone-walled too much by the Seahawks’ Oline. The Secondary will improve with experience, but TB has to find a better BALANCE when it comes to blitzing until they do.
November 5th, 2019 at 4:11 pm
DB55 … Your words, not mine.
November 5th, 2019 at 4:18 pm
I was on one of those who begged for us to blitz. When “me” arm chair QB at home can see our secondary is just gassed, I was begging for Bowles to run some zone coverage’s to prevent a big play something is just wrong with our Defensive play calling. Why would Seattle stop calling crossing routes when we are not stopping them or refuse to at least mix in some zone plays to stop or slow down that play. I like an aggressive blitz defense, but disguise our coverage and mix it up.
November 5th, 2019 at 4:50 pm
He’s better then Smith was, he’s doing what he can with Lichts players.
November 5th, 2019 at 5:15 pm
lol DB55. You’re going to blame White for supposedly missing his gap and not the 4 other guys that either got trucked over or missed tackles. Your takes are rich.
November 5th, 2019 at 5:15 pm
A “good” day of running the football gets you what — 175 yards? A good day of passing the football gets you 450. Which would you rather stop?
November 5th, 2019 at 5:39 pm
“Too many heads backed up in their arses
Todd BOWLS obstruction and blockage symptom”
Kobe Faker
November 5th, 2019 at 6:52 pm
They decided to go young and probably knew this would be the result. Might as well let the young guys get the experience and come back better next year. Doesnt make sense to sign some stiff off the street just because he’s a veteran and a backup. The brent grimes signing worked so well for our top passing defense under Dirk koetter oh wait he didnt make a bit of difference. Roll with the young guys now the season is over
November 5th, 2019 at 6:59 pm
I’m fine with the blitzing…
The issue is NOBODY is teaching these guys to JAM receivers at the line of scrimmage to throw off timing or to force them to re-route.
That is blatant stupidity on how to play physical press coverage.
What’s sad is we have big corners that seem to play physical.
WHY IN THE F_CK IS NOBODY JAMMING WR’S at the line??
THAT IS THE QUESTION!!
Playing physical press coverage is not freaken rocket-science!!!
November 5th, 2019 at 7:24 pm
Bowles being highly regarded for his past defensive expertise seems to be the story on him. I guess the Jets experiment puts that opinion to questions. BA has faith in him for what it’s worth with this Bucs defense in present form. Seems the type of coach this team will keep around.
November 5th, 2019 at 7:59 pm
Ya know, Nick Saban’s 1st year at Alabama they went 7-6 and won a bowl game
There’s 8 games left- Let it play out
November 5th, 2019 at 8:05 pm
Dean gave up 3tds.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:14 pm
We can all cry and complain all we want about the coaching. Right now we are 2-6 so it’s fair.
But there is way too much overreacting going on and absolutely no patience in this fanbase. I understand quick turnarounds happen and even Bruce has been part of one but to hold him to the standard of instant turn around or bust is completely unreasonable.
Hearing all this crap about tearing down and rebuilding. All because Bruce didn’t instantly fix our mess of a team? How bout yall go look at what other great coaches do in their first years? Maybe then you see it’s a kneejerk reaction.
Bill Walsh was a laughing joke in his first years. Jimmy Johnson won one freaking game. Andy Ried struggled and Shula had one of the most pitiful records of all time to start his career. The Big Tuna himself had a bad start. Heck even our own great Tony Dungy struggled at first.
Why aren’t yall just enjoy the second half and see if this team can really start to figure it out? Freaking idiots talking about two draft slots. They trying to build a winner here and y’all gonna miss out begging for losses and getting spitfaced on Gamedays.
Now freaking get to the game on Sunday cause this team could use a little extra fire. We all demand a strong team yet we aren’t do our part and our home crowd are weak as can be. Still plenty to play for with a winning home record and ending the den of depression being the top goal!!!!
GO BUCS!
November 5th, 2019 at 8:15 pm
END RANT***
November 5th, 2019 at 8:25 pm
There’s no denying Dean gave up three TD’s…but dude was gassed. You could see him heaving his chest trying to get wind. They ran him across and down field the whole game. I have to give him a pass this time since it was his first substantive action this year.
November 5th, 2019 at 8:25 pm
And remember Bowles inherited a last place defense. Progress has already been made in the run stop. And we even have a decent little passrush.
Not saying it’s good enough but if we can see progression and development in the coverage units over the 2nd half we will have a defense we can really build on and work with.
You watch and see. This team will hit a turning point this year.
November 5th, 2019 at 9:00 pm
JJ
Stop with the logic! LMAO Could not agree more. All great points.
DB55
Respect most of your takes but not the one on White. He freaking caught an RB from behind saving the TD and stripping in the process. Obviously White is right handed…if that run had been to the right side of the field the stripped ball would have not gone out of bounds.
White was playing what…his 3rd or 4th NFL game. In just the past two he has THREE strip tackles…that’s three freaking game changing plays with one bounce and one less blown call on the fumble taking six away from us.
Devin White is not our problem! But as you like to say wtfdik
November 5th, 2019 at 10:53 pm
Look, Dean got beat a lot but he was not really in terrible position most of the time. I’m one of those guys yelling to blitz, play man to man etc, but what 1988 said above is absolutely correct- FSU has the same problem (amongst a litany of other problems) right now- we line up man and then don’t jam and the WRs get a free run of the line and we are immediately beaten and trailing. WR knows where he is going, DB has to trail and Russell Wilson was on fire. He was dropping the ball right over Dean’s hands all day. It did look like Dean was having a hard time knowing which way to turn to play the ball, but that will come. Also he did not look like a 4.3 guy to me, just sayin’
November 6th, 2019 at 4:10 am
JimmyJack … Quality rant. Preach on.
November 6th, 2019 at 4:43 am
Buc fan for years wanted an aggressive defense that goes after the QB. Well, wish granted.
November 6th, 2019 at 4:49 am
JimmyJack, the real reason why people are justly upset is because all off-season the fans were sold a bill of goods. Nonsense about this being a reload not a rebuild and that the turnaround here would be easier than in Arizona. That’s all talk to get fans to commit to season tickets.
I’ve predicted 6-10 from the get go but I was hoping this team would prove me wrong. Year after year they prove me right.
November 6th, 2019 at 6:56 am
And he is supposedly to be groomed to be our next head coach when BA leaves?
November 6th, 2019 at 11:21 am
I AM STAYING WITH 4-12 AND HOPE THAT I AM WRONG.BA–time to help your offense and defense become less predictable.Football is a game of chess—not hop scotch.Change defenses during the game and use RJ in more creative ways.
November 6th, 2019 at 12:59 pm
I keep waiting but I don’t see much difference between White & Bowles who was to be the defenses savior. I also think Koetter’s OC was better than Leftwitch.