Todd Bowles And The 2-Man Rush
November 16th, 2020
Most Bucs fans wanted a steady diet of blitzing yesterday against the Panthers, but that wasn’t always the case, especially in short passing situations.
Joe watches all the Bucs film but doesn’t do much writing about it here. Film chatter isn’t nearly as exciting as some media types think it is. Plus, there’s the variable of not knowing the actual players’ assignments. Joe doesn’t pretend to know what those are like other media and stat-site “graders.”
But some things are obvious. Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles was loving him some unique zone-type schemes in short-yardage situations yesterday.
Take the picture above. When’s the last time you saw a two-man pass rush?
Joe thought it was odd that Bowles, in the first half, favored letting accurate Teddy Bridgewater get comfortable and pick apart his defense in short passing downs. This play was complete over the middle as the pass went past a flailing Will Gholston in coverage.
Overall, the Bucs had a strong defensive day after their rough first quarter. Bowles certainly keeps things interesting and unpredictable.
November 16th, 2020 at 11:16 am
faster starts from the defense would be nice….
great win!!!!..
lets not over look the rams…
GO BUCS!!!!
November 16th, 2020 at 11:29 am
I except better defensive scheming going forward. Just no excuse for what happened with NO.
November 16th, 2020 at 11:29 am
He had to figure out how to cover for the secondary somehow. Glad the one ball did hit the ground when they fell asleep. The win is great. Feels great to be 7-3 but Bowles better keep covering for them. They are the weak link.
November 16th, 2020 at 11:48 am
Changing, unpredictable schemes. I like it.
November 16th, 2020 at 11:51 am
Speaking of the D, Joe – what’s the story with McClendon? Don’t hear his name much at all anymore.
November 16th, 2020 at 12:40 pm
That’s right , 2 man rush is something you pull against a statue like Tom Brady and not against a mobile QB like Teddy.
November 16th, 2020 at 1:29 pm
Casual Observer … I was wondering the same thing about McLendon (never seem to hear his name during the games). He did pretty decent in the Raiders game (3 solo, 2 asst tackles & 1 TFL), but has dropped off the face of the earth since (2 solo/5 asst tackles & 1 TFL total in past 3 games). Getting a decent number of def snaps (averaging 40-50% actually) but one thing’s fairly obvious: he’s not Vita Vea. Still, he’s giving Suh some breaks & that’s much-needed.
November 16th, 2020 at 1:41 pm
813bucboi … “faster starts from the defense would be nice….”
LMAO bucboi; that’s cherry. Maybe per chance IF the Bucs’ OFFENSE started faster & held onto the ball longer … AND didn’t turn the ball over with crappy field position … then maybe the Bucs’ DEFENSE might not be so worn out so quickly in the ballgame. Our defense doesn’t have a tremendous amount of depth like our offense does in case you didn’t notice.
Yesterday’s game started with a good example. Bucs DEFENSE held the Panthers to a 3-and-out then punt (first 2:02 of ballgame), then Bucs OFFENSE coughed it up on the Tampa 33-yd line after TWO PLAYS & 39 SECONDS. Panthers then took it in with a 7 plays covering 33 yds in 4:00 mins. So in the first 7 mins the Bucs DEFENSE was on the field for over 6 mins of that.
Kind of a bad way to start a game because it puts the defense in a hole from the git-go. Just a thought …
November 16th, 2020 at 1:51 pm
Patriots used a 2 man rush at times against Lamar Jackson last night.
November 16th, 2020 at 2:06 pm
DRules – Thanks. Nice summary.
November 16th, 2020 at 2:09 pm
the offense started fast sunday….
teddy was 10-10 at 1point….defense let him get into a groove which gave the panthers confidence….
and after the panther scored, offense came right back and put up 7….
the only bad thing about the bucs early start was the miss throw to AB in the 1st quarter…
thats fact…
GO BUCS!!!!
November 16th, 2020 at 2:36 pm
Actually bucboi, Teddy was 13-for-13 at one point. And me thinks that what gave the Panthers ‘confidence’ was the offense’s fumble on their 2nd play from scrimmage putting the Panthers on the Bucs 33 yd line.
But let’s not quibble about facts …
November 16th, 2020 at 2:44 pm
13 for 13 is unforgivable if you’re trying to tell us your defense is “back.”
you ain’t back. you’re not close to back. you’re not even “Front.”
November 16th, 2020 at 3:20 pm
Bucs D gave up just under 200 yds of offense yesterday. A Bucs turnover and a short field plus a 90+ yds kick return set up 2 scores. Don’t turnover the ball and somebody cover a kick and the Panthers may have scored 10 on Sunday.
November 16th, 2020 at 3:20 pm
fact is, BL continues to make you look foolish….
GO BUCS!!!!
November 16th, 2020 at 3:27 pm
Bowles is as predictable on 3rd down as Leftwich is predictable on 1st down, both guys need to break out of their slumps, which would just be as easy as mixing things up. Bowles is going to play a soft zone on 3rd down and Leftwich is going to come out under center and run it up the gut on 1st down. If either decide to change it up they telegraph it, which ruins the entire idea of someone saying they’re so predictable because there’s a master plan at work where they’re suckering the other team.
Just mix it up. Leftwich can still run it up the middle, but do it on 2nd down, it doesn’t always have to be on 1st down. If Arians was calling plays instead of Leftwich, I think this offense would be averaging probably 35 points a game instead of 29. For the morons out there, yes, 29 is good, but 35 is better.
November 16th, 2020 at 5:32 pm
“This play was complete over the middle as the pass went past a flailing Will Gholston in coverage”
……
That is the play I was referring too this morning Joe when I said I almost lost my sh!t
November 16th, 2020 at 10:43 pm
Playing too much zone and teams eat 10 to 20 yard first downs. This is a good man defense. That’s what these DBs are good at. Slow up the obvious blitzing from the outside cus there’s an audible to connect to whoever Devin White will be covering. Leftwich first down run is classic Koetter. Put Fournette in I-fofmation for once when he’s on the field.
November 17th, 2020 at 7:45 am
This 2-man pass rush is a perfect example of a coach getting cutesy and outsmarting himself. You see it all the time in all sports. The origin of this kind of play starts with a big bowl of wacky-tabaccy. Half way thru the bowl, the coach says “wow man, I think I have a play no one has ever tried; this will show everyone how friggin smart I am”. Yeah, there is a reason no one ever tried it coach…