Todd Bowles Hints Dominating Bucs Defense May Not Last
October 1st, 2022
Talkin’ defense.
Few things in the early 2020 season have gotten Joe fired up as much has how damn strong the defense has been.Joe thought months ago that with Lavonte David getting another year older and battling a bad wheel, with Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul gone the defense might take a step back.
Instead, the defense has jumped forward.
Joe isn’t expecting the defense to continue to dominate through 17 weeks by averaging allowing one touchdown a game. In an age where the rules overwhelmingly favor the passing attack, this kind of suffocating defense is unreasonable to expect for a full season.
Sooner or later dudes will get hurt (not counting Akiem Hicks) and when you play backups, well, backups are backups for a reason.
Yesterday, Todd Bowles sort of suggested sooner the defense will slowly regress to the mean, but it won’t be injuries that make the defense more mortal. It will be opposing offenses.
“Early on [the defense has] been very disruptive while people are trying to find their footing,” Bowles said.
Joe never looked at it that way but it makes sense. With teams smartly keeping starters out of those worthless, unethical preseason slop games, teams are ironing out the wrinkles on offense the first month of the season.
More film of the Bucs defense will provide offensive coordinators more intel to devise an attack strategy. But how cool would it be if, by the time the Bucs take off for Munich in early November, the defense is still averaging a touchdown allowed per game?
October 1st, 2022 at 12:17 am
Allowing only 9ppg can not be maintained. In the good old days the D could just say to the offense ” Give us 17 points and we win”
That sure would be nice to see again.
October 1st, 2022 at 12:19 am
We have to start hitting2nd 3rd 4th and 5th round picks better, when TB 12 goes so do the free agent bargains
October 1st, 2022 at 12:26 am
If they start to slip a little, which is reasonable in today’s heavy passing attacks and high scoring, all they need to do is keep it at 20 or less. If they do that while the offense starts getting healthy that should be plenty enough.
Ideally the offense starts picking it up over the next few weeks and the defense keeps rolling. No reason they can’t as long as the pass rush keeps getting there. Plus they’re getting a lot of confidence right now which helps.
Everything they have going for them is, as Joe mentioned, offenses start slower but then The lines start gelling and they get rolling a little more and they start figuring defenses out. Bowle‘s defense is very difficult to figure out. They play a variety of zones, man and press, safeties 5 yards out to 15 yards back, and various pass rush schemes and blitzes. They disguise things as good or better than any team out there.
This is not the day when they just played the Tampa 2 70% of the time
Those factors along with the confidence they are building makes me think they can end the season giving up 15 points a game or less.
October 1st, 2022 at 12:28 am
Being a players friend has never EVER ( exception Pepper Johnson ) made a team better ………… Todd trend up or down ,,, learn from failure ,,,Trend Up !! Bowles is clearly exemplifying the Geraldina McCoy dumb jock disease !! Bowles you just said don’t expect us to dominate and if we suck it’s not us ,it’s adjustments and I am good with it !!! AND YYYOU R THE WEAK LINK !!!
October 1st, 2022 at 12:59 am
I swear JBF will literally twist the words of anyone to create a headline. Do better bro.
October 1st, 2022 at 1:00 am
I swear JBF will twist anything to get a headline. Come on man stop trying to twist what Bowles said.
October 1st, 2022 at 1:14 am
“Twist?” Explain in great detail how Bowles is misquoted. And Joe agrees with him! Spelled it out in the story. You really expect the Bucs to only give up only 17 touchdowns this season??? That would be an NFL record.
October 1st, 2022 at 1:29 am
the offense will get rolling soon
October 1st, 2022 at 1:56 am
the irony is the joe- “worthless” games that no starter would play but a full 25% of the season might as well be a mulligan- except it’s 25% of your year. maaaaybe preseason has a role. can’t trash preseason and explain away a month of football. those teams that start hot and stay hot win in february.
October 1st, 2022 at 4:48 am
Maybe Bowles struggles in New York were due to more than a dysfunctional scouting, player acquisition and development system. Putting it in the mind of every defender that they’ll soon become average as offenses become organized is not the type of motivation I would expect to be effective.
October 1st, 2022 at 5:56 am
Suh
October 1st, 2022 at 6:07 am
We need a very good draft this spring to replace all these old guys who are mostly injured. The Parcells quote is quite applicable to this team.
October 1st, 2022 at 6:25 am
Best in the league last year was Buffalo at 17 per game
October 1st, 2022 at 6:35 am
We’re only 3 games into the season; the cat-and-mouse games have only begun. Todd Bowles knows that opposing offenses will find the chinks in our defensive armor and exploit it soon enough.
Green Bay gave opponents a whiff of how to beat defeat the Bucs’ defense in their first 3 drives, then they took their foot off the accelerator. It’ll be interesting to see how many try to duplicate that in the future. Packers had 28 plays in those 3 drives (10, 12 & 6). Of those, 13 were runs & 15 were short passes (no deep passes). Packers literally ran all over the field & passed all over the field, mixing it up and keeping us off-balance. Had it not been for Jones’ fumble right on the goal line, they would’ve been up 21-3 with only 2 minutes left in the 1st half. Using their relatively balanced attack, they controlled the clock in the 1st half 17:23 (running 31 plays) to our 12:37 (running 23 plays).
Important to note I think that Rodgers was 5-for-5 passing on that 1st drive; 7-for-8 on that 2nd drive; and 2-for-2 on that 3rd drive. That’s 14 completions in his 1st 15 passes … all short (but for 163 passing yards … 60, 60, 43 on those 3 drives). IOW, the Packers had us for lunch on those 1st 3 drives & we had no answer … UNTIL that fumble.
Not that many NFL teams could duplicate that level of passing & rushing performance, but most will try I have a feeling.
October 1st, 2022 at 7:30 am
When the O gets rolling it will only make the defenses job easier. When we go up 14, 21 points it will make the other team 1 dimensional. which will make it easier on the D
October 1st, 2022 at 7:31 am
SUH
October 1st, 2022 at 7:45 am
We are in good shape going into next year’s draft…….again, we are in a position to choose the best player….regardless of position.
We have a very young defense…..will probably need a CB since we can’t keep all three… Dean, Edwards & SMB
We will have Hainsey sitting with Jensen coming back….set at RB……WR…..maybe draft a top WR…
The only hole is at QB. Perhaps we trade for a starter…..
October 1st, 2022 at 7:47 am
A rod found out we just adjusted better but he found our weakness…. CARLTON DAVIS
October 1st, 2022 at 9:25 am
Nothing is ever as good or bad as it seems.
O’s will begin to figure out how to attack this D, and points will follow.
The same goes for the Buc O. They will also “get their footing” and put points on the board, especially playing D’s not as tough as the first three they have faced.
October 1st, 2022 at 9:53 am
Translation, those old legs will slow down as the season progress.
October 1st, 2022 at 11:07 am
Pack only beat the Bucs by 2 last week. Reason was cos the O was crippled plus missing ME13. Hopefully, Buc Luck will lay off the D aka injuries. Not sure of Bowles’ reasoning here. His D knows they will be playing a 24K O. Plus Bucs ST has improved. The weak link is the Bucs O yet again. I will always root for my Bucs but not holding my breath cos of the state of the O.
October 1st, 2022 at 11:21 am
Saw JPP tore his rotator cuff, biceps, and muscle in his back last year. What a warrior. Wonder why we did sign him back now.
October 1st, 2022 at 12:59 pm
Orlbucfan, the reason the Bucs lost against Green Bay were the two fumbles by receivers, one was in definite scoring position. In a tight game like that you can’t turn the ball over. Our O-line played well considering all of the t changes In personnel. The story of the Chiefs game will probably be turnovers as well. If the Bucs don’t turn the ball over and the Chiefs do we should win the ball game.
October 1st, 2022 at 5:06 pm
The offense being on the field longer than they were against Green Bay will always help the defense. So will scoring, which seems stupid to say but that goes with the offense being on the field & CAPITALISING by scoring. And not field goals. They will get it going soon enough & I think against the Chief’s they will this week. Now watch it be a shoot out, LOL. Bowles was being realistic with the media, which I’m sure he is with the team first, especially letting the offense know that they need to help. Kind of a subtle way of vetting the offense to the press, if they get it. With the schedule they had coming out, not scoring on offense so far and being 2-1, I can’t complain unless the offense lay’s an egg again this week.