What Will Todd Bowles’ Bucs Look Like?
July 22nd, 2022
Todd Bowles
Joe’s biggest question about the 2022 Bucs really isn’t if any tight end can replace foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski or if the defensive line can survive and thrive without Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh.
No, Joe’s biggest question about this year’s Bucs probably won’t be answered until October. And that is, what will the Bucs be like under first-year coach Todd Bowles?
Patrik Walker of CBS Sports takes a stab at the anwer.
Will Todd Bowles rebuild his brand as an NFL head coach?
… … Bowles is no stranger to what it takes to win as an NFL head coach, and he is roundly respected as one of the best defensive minds in the sport, but his exit from the New York Jets left tarnish on his silvery reputation that he’s now in position to wipe clean. Despite changes to the roster, the Bucs still have Brady and are still favorites to take the NFC South and potentially more, which inherently puts that much more pressure on Bowles to deliver as early as Year 1, seeing as there’s no guarantee Brady is around for Year 2.
Joe hopes Bowles is smart enough not to fix something that is not broken. Last year the Bucs offense hummed like never before, even with several injuries to skill position players.
Yeah, Joe gets it: You probably don’t want a 45-year old quarterback throwing 40 times a game. But at 44, Brady threw an average of 42 times a game and led the NFL in passing. Unless or until Brady starts showing his age, let him be Brady. Let him throw.
What may be more intriguing to Joe is how the revamped defense plays with Bowles now stepping up as head coach. Bowles said he’ll continue to call the defense, but how much might his hand be out of the mix and involved in other duties? And will the new-look defense raise its level from last season?
Stay tuned.
July 22nd, 2022 at 12:23 am
I hope Todd looks like a Super Bowl winner. He leaves the offense to Tom and Byron. He has all the time to fix his mediocre defense. Blown assignments, the worst tackling since Richard Williamson. Cooper Kupp. Blitzing Stafford. Taylor’s Heineken.
Guess what.
Anyone should question the wisdom of letting BA step down and anointing Bowles.
July 22nd, 2022 at 2:51 am
From whether or not Devin’s play at the end of 2020 was a fluke, to whether or not our secondary can stay healthy and consistent, to our suddenly youngish front seven producing, there are so many scary questions on defense, that I’m almost scared to see the answers. My guess is that we’ll flirt with being a top ten defense for the majorty of the year, but that our secondary will get vaporized by every star quarterback that we face and even a couple of bad ones. I don’t trust our corners as far as I can throw Vita, so hopefully they prove me wrong.
July 22nd, 2022 at 7:29 am
Healthier on both sides of the ball than 2021 would be great for starters. Not really expecting a big drop off, coaches Rodgers & Foote will oversee the back end & front 7. Thinking that plays a bigger role in-game, where Bowles used to have to focus soley on the defense, now as a head coach he’ll be communicating with coach Leftwich more, situational management in all 3 phases, delegating challenges, and just doing a lot more as far as running the entire team instead of just one of three units’ on the team.
100% agree on leaving the offense to Leftwich & Brady, but where I think Bowles’ defensive mind comes in handy is that he can see just as well what an opposing defense is doing as well as anybody on the sideline. I wonder now with Bowles having to communicate more with our QB & OC how that’ll eventually play into our plan of attack on a given drive or against given looks. I’m excited to see Bowles in action, and the first test of that would be joint practices to get a feel of how disciplined and efficient will this team be under his control.
July 22nd, 2022 at 8:20 am
Two Co defensive coordinators plus Todd ( 3 def generals) calling the plays , just seems overly redundant and communicationally hazardous!!
Hope it Works and that it does as previously stated ; looks like Super Bowl Champs !!!
July 22nd, 2022 at 8:54 am
Bowles will do just fine. I suspect we’ll dedicate more plays to running the ball this season, especially early on with Godwin recovering. But this team is made to air it out early and often. Bowles knows that. I for one wouldn’t mind a more balanced approach as long as we’re still effective. Go Bucs!!
July 22nd, 2022 at 9:39 am
Love the Todd Bowles pick as HC, but have never been a big fan of HCs wearing dual-hats as either an OC or a DC. Worked for Chucky for a couple years, mostly because he had Monte (and Chucky knew to leave the defense alone), but after that I wasn’t impressed. Didn’t work out all that well for Raheem or for Lovie when he did it or for Dirk.
It takes a certain type of coach (and individual) to effectively be the HC AND the DC (or OC). Have to be really good at delegating and at juggling. HOPEFULLY Todd learned from his past Jets’ experience where his strengths (and weaknesses) lie. BA did him a solid IMO by leaving when he did, with an excellent coaching staff in-place. Again HOPEFULLY that all translates into winning the division AND winning the Super Bowl this year. Next year is gonna be a ball-buster.
July 22nd, 2022 at 9:51 am
I can’t find the exact article Joe posted here with BA discussing the timing of his exit. I’ll paraphrase a quote from him that basically said, “Tom (Brady) was for it.” The way he presented that line has me reading between the lines and I’m still of the opinion that Brady only came back if BA wasnt HC. Just my read on the situation.
Whatever it was that Brady didn’t like, I think Bowles will do the opposite. So, if we conclude (from previous articles and comments) that Brady wanted a tighter ship, then Bowles will keep it tighter than BA. And I hope he doubles Kupp on the next go around with the Rams.
July 22nd, 2022 at 10:05 am
He deserves the benefit of the doubt but defensive guru??? His D couldn’t get off the field on 3rd down the last two seasons I followed the Bucs. 95% of the time the O needed to score 30+ points to win and the Rams playoff game was a debacle. One ok season as the Jets HC doesn’t make him elite by any means. The combination of his game plan and player motivation for the SB was second to none but that’s one game how about 2021 Rams (twice) Saints first game, Jets, Indy, Bill’s, Eagles(regular season), Dallas, Commanders, where was the D domination in those games? Please don’t use injuries as the excuse, EVERY team has injured players, backups should be prepared.
July 22nd, 2022 at 10:52 am
Good one, Joe.
#FreeBrady.
#LetHimThrow
July 22nd, 2022 at 11:30 am
I just read an article that Sean Peyton might be interested in becoming the Bucs head coach next year!
Seriously!
Sean is under contract to the Saints until 2024, so that means we would have to trade the Saints a draft pick or so for his services.
So, if Todd Bowles does not deliver a super bowl, he may be one and done here in Tampa.
Peyton is also rumored to go to Seattle next year, to oversee the rebuild out there with 4 first round draft picks!
July 22nd, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Not much confidence Bowles is going up against good offenses. We were shredded by good offenses and feasted against lesser competition. His pass defense scheme is just sad and easily exposed.
July 22nd, 2022 at 4:21 pm
I think, this year, we will still see (thankfully) a bunch of BA in team decisions. Bruce always said he wasn’t a “play caller” and I believe that, but I am certain that Bowles will rely on his experience in many situations. That said, I will miss BA’s character and wish Todd the best. Combining both of their talents should be a win-win. Also, isn’t Goodwin remaining as Asst. HC?