Can The Defense Keep Todd Bowles Safe?
July 18th, 2023
Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
Joe is on record saying if the Bucs finish with a losing season, Bucs coach Todd Bowles likely will be on very thin ice.
Bowles took over one of the NFL’s best teams with the greatest quarterback who ever lived and oversaw one of the most disjointed offenses that led to Tom Brady’s lone losing season in his storybook career. This ultimately chased Brady from the game.
Now “this Joe” has been consistent in giving Bowles a pass because he was hired so late he couldn’t handpick his coaching staff. Bowles does not have such a shield this fall.
If the Bucs lose now it’s very likely because of the offense. More to the point, the quarterback play.
With so many good quarterbacks expected in the next NFL Draft, does Team Glazer want a coach on a five-year losing streak (if the Bucs finish with a losing record)? A guy who is 0-2 developing rookie quarterbacks to groom the next Bucs’ signal-caller (0-3 if you count Kyle Trask)?
Last week, cornerback Carlton Davis was outspoken in a feature on GoLongTD.com saying anyone thinking the Bucs are going to faceplant with Kyler Traskfield, will rue the day. So that likely means the Bucs defense might have to put the team on its back, sorta like the Bucs in their glory years.
Will the defense rise to the occasion? Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com took a look.
It’s an upset the Bucs were able to keep Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean the last two offseasons. The secondary is versatile. Bowles has invested a lot in this defense, and it will be asked to carry the team, something the unit failed to do a year ago, when Tampa finished 13th in defensive efficiency.
Two issues that stand in the way of the Bucs defense being dominant.
The first is Devin White. Where is his head? And where is White’s heart? At times last year White’s play could be called “disinterested.” He loafed enough it moved a Bucs legend to call him out on social media. White followed that up by demanding a trade earlier this year.
If White wants to stay and play to his ability, name a better inside linebacker duo than Lavonte David and White?
The second element is an edge rush. The Bucs have all the pieces to have a strong defense except the most important. If Joe Tryon-Shoyinka can snap out of his Gaines Adams-like trance, this Bucs defense could be savage.
And it might save Bowles’ job along the way.
July 18th, 2023 at 4:34 am
And the bucs are 0-50 as a franchise when it comes to developing a quarterback!!
July 18th, 2023 at 4:40 am
And next year when they draft a quarterback that guy will be added to the list just like Kyle Trask, Jamies Winston, Josh Freeman, Trent Dilfer, Shaun King, Venny Trestaverdey, Steve Young was bless to go to the 49ers . This franchise is a young quarterback killa. Why not just focus on building a great defense and be more of a defense led team with a good running game ?
July 18th, 2023 at 6:01 am
TRUE JOE TRYON IS NOT PLAYING UP TO HIS #1 PICK STATUS..I LOOK FOR LOGAN HALL TO POSSIBLY PUSH TRYON INTO A ROTATIONAL ROLE (BACKING UP HALL ) IF WE HAD A NOW HEALTHY “JPP” IN THE HOUSE ON A CHEAP DEAL,WE WOULD HAVE ONE STARTING CALIBER END, NO QUESTION..NOW THAT HE’S HEALTHY HE WOULD ONCE AGAIN COLLAPSE THE POCKET & BAT DOWN PASSES LIKE HE DID OUR SUPER BOWL VICTORY YEAR !
July 18th, 2023 at 6:05 am
Josh Freeman was a head case, Trent Doofus never developed and Jameis apparently has developed as much as he ever will. Vinny and Steve just needed better teams. It is odd, though, that they’ve never signed a drafted QB to a second contract.
July 18th, 2023 at 6:12 am
THE OFFENSE IS GOING TO BE JUST FINE, THE DEFENSE IS GOING TO CONTINUALLY FORCE TURNOVERS & GIVE OUR OFFENSE A SHORTER FIELD TO START ON,(MUCH DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR !(FIELD POSITION, FIELD POSITION, WE STARTED MOST DRIVES WAY BACK IN OUR OWN TERRITORY, THAT IS GOING TO CHANGE ! ( JUST ASK CARLTON DAVIS III ! ) MAYFIELD & TRASK ARE GOING TO HAVE A GREAT COMPETITION..NO MATTER WHO WINS WE’LL HAVE 2 STARTING QUARTERBACK’S ON THE ROSTER HEADED INTO THE SEASON !
July 18th, 2023 at 6:20 am
WE AS A TEAM CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER BRADY COMEBACK, HE’D BE TOO EXPENSIVE & HE OWNS A PART OF ANOTHER NFL TEAM..THE RAIDERS, A TEAM WE EMBARRASSED IN THE 2002 SUPER BOWL WITHOUT BRADY..BAH,HUM BUG ON HIM..WE’VE GOT THE QUARTERBACK’S TO WIN WITH NOW,WE NO LONGER NEED HIS SERVICES…
July 18th, 2023 at 7:07 am
Bucs’ defense seems to be the more ‘veteran’ of the 2 sides of the ball this year. We’ve lost some starters, but we have 8 starters returning on defense (Vea, Shaq, JTS, LVD, White, Davis, Dean, Winfield) and we’ve added 2 veterans to that (Gaines & Neal). We’ve also got Delaney, McCollum & Hall returning as guys who got some pretty good experience last year, AND we’ve added several rookies (Kancey, Dennis, Diaby & others) who show promise. It’s our DEPTH that’s concerning, but this isn’t the first year that’s been the case by any means.
What gives me hope is the way this defense started off last season. Bucs defense gave up 3 points to the Cowboys, 10 points to the Saints & 14 points to the Packers … 27 points TOTAL in 3 games to 3 good teams … before getting drummed by the Chiefs in Game 4 (who ran the ball down our throats). That opened the floodgates & most other opponents ran a lot against us. We didn’t fare all that well against the run last year.
How’d we limit Dallas, New Orleans & Green Bay to 9 points average in our first 3 games with this defense (mostly the same starters we’ll have this season)? Well, we played the Secondary starters & our 2 ILBs pretty much 100% snaps for one. Vea averaged over 60% snaps, and Hicks was healthy for the first 2 games. Shaq was still healthy too. IOW, what we’ll most likely be starting this season with SHOULD be about as good as what we fielded for the start of last season … MAYBE BETTER.
Two keys: keep everyone healthy AND develop these youngsters. If Bowles can do that, this defense has excellent POTENTIAL. If he can’t, it’ll be a long season. And oh BTW, it’d be real nice if we added another starter to the mix (Logan Ryan) & another key rotational guy to the DLine (Will Gholston). They’re both still available it looks like.
July 18th, 2023 at 7:52 am
Please stop with the Gaines Adams type trance stuff. The poor guy was playing with cardiomyopathy and died as a result. Not good karma to make fun of the man at this point.
July 18th, 2023 at 8:14 am
The defense carried the offense last season and through their own action with help from our anemic offense, had the larger share of time spent on the field.
@Buc4evr
I said the same thing you’re saying now, weeks ago and as you can say Joe is still using it as if it’s a valid talking point to comp JTS to a former player that passed away 13 years ago. It’s a stretch at best and a weird flex on the authors’ part.
July 18th, 2023 at 8:28 am
Did not have time to hire his own staff? Give me a break. THAT staff won a SB and just missed out on another one because of Todd’s wonderful defense. That failure was on Bowles. Then he ruined the offensive game plans. If the Bucs do not finish with at least 9 wins, let him assemble his own staff elsewhere!!!!!
July 18th, 2023 at 8:59 am
“Bowles took over one of the NFL’s best teams with the greatest quarterback who ever lived and oversaw one of the most disjointed offenses that led to Tom Brady’s lone losing season in his storybook career. This ultimately chased Brady from the game.”
accurate! and a huge accomplishment by toilet bowl!
He went from being a loser jets HC to taking over a SB team with an assembled staff and team to limping to the playoffs in a horrible NFS south. If not for Brady we would have drafted much higher.
his track record is a consistent loser as HC….with and without his handpicked staff and a SB winning team. he should be unemployed. He cost us TWO superbowls!
July 18th, 2023 at 9:13 am
Maybe switch to Da’Quan Bowers from Gaines Adams?
I thought Bowers would be awesome! I was way more excited about DB than Adams coming into the league.
July 18th, 2023 at 9:43 am
Boss … ‘He cost us TWO superbowls!’
Seriously Boss? Do you honestly believe that the Bucs would’ve won the 2020 SB WITHOUT Todd Bowles’ #8-ranked defense? And do you honestly believe that Bucs would’ve even been in contention for the 2021 SB without Bowles’ #5-ranked defense?
And looking at last year’s team, REGARDLESS of who was HC, do you honestly believe they had the talent to compete for the 2022 SB? And particularly given all the factors (like injuries?) way beyond any HC’s ability to control.
July 18th, 2023 at 9:46 am
Boss … Oh I forgot, how exactly does a coach ‘chase’ the oldest starting QB (45-years old?) from the game? TB12 stayed 1 year too long, and he knows it. Father Time catches up with everyone.
July 18th, 2023 at 10:46 am
I’m as negative as they come with this team but I’m cautiously optimistic about this upcoming season. Lots of ifs with this team but I think they can be a very good team if just a couple of those ifs pan out.
July 18th, 2023 at 12:09 pm
You need to add a 3rd joe. Offense has to sustain drives. Can’t keep playing only defense all game an expect them to hold up. Yes are they professionals but there human too and the offense needs to help the defense out.
July 18th, 2023 at 12:57 pm
@dr
other can have opinions. you seem upset I don’t annoint toilet bowel. I never said he is not a decent DC. but he is clueless as a head coach, motivator and game manager. Yes we had a shot with Brady last year. He has won with much less. No I do not count the SB victory to toilet bowel. he get’s 1/3 credit………which he has MOOOOORE than cost us since then. I’m curious if you were a big jw supporter?
it seems you like specific people over winning. and don’t even go there about the GOAT. He earned far more than being singular after carrying teams on his back his entire career. You say he was washed up………more like fed up. He is in much better condition than favre was and he was older than the GOAT!
July 18th, 2023 at 1:28 pm
Boss … Contrary to what you ASSUME, I do value other’s opinions, except admittedly when an obvious bias shines through. Sorry, but words like ‘He cost us TWO Superbowls’ and ‘He chased Tom Brady away’ (paraphrased) are what I view as ‘an obvious bias’ especially when zero evidence is provided to support those contentions.
No coach is perfect. I’d venture to say that the Chiefs’ fan base was very happy with Andy Reid last year, because they won the Super Bowl. Just like Bucs fans were ready to anoint BA for President after we won the SB. But in both years the fans from 31 other teams probably weren’t nearly as happy with their coaching staffs. After all, THEY didn’t win the SB, and we all know that’s obviously the only meaningful goal in the NFL. Close apparently only counts in horseshoes & hand grenades.
The big question to me Boss isn’t ‘Can Todd Bowles win the SB this year?’ It’s more about ‘Can he play a substantial role in developing this transitioning team into a winner?’ I believe that he can, and that he will, even though there’s an excellent chance that he won’t be the one to win the SB with this team. It’s quite likely that the strength of this team going forward will transition BACK to being its’ defense, and I can’t think of any available DC who I’d want to run this defense more than Todd Bowles. Like everyone else, I’m HOPING that Dave Canales is the real deal & can get our offense squared away.
July 18th, 2023 at 2:18 pm
Marc Sessler of NFL.com had Brady ranked as the 10th best QB last season and that’s being generous giving TB the GOAT “bonus”. He apologized profusely for not ranking Brady higher. Why. Brady’s heart and old body were simply not in it last year as they had been for the rest of his GOAT career.
Same guy had Brady ranked #1 for 2021 and #2 for 2020.
This is not disrespectful to Brady. When the end comes for great players it’s hard to stop and the falloff can come VERY quickly. I’m just glad Brady didn’t tarnish his image by staying yet another season.
July 18th, 2023 at 3:17 pm
RIP Gaines Adam.
RIP Vincent Jackson.
God help Brian Price.
God help Carl Nicks.
God help Cecil Shorts.
God bless Mike James.
God bless Caddy Williams and Earnest Graham. (AU and UF)
God bless Roberto Aguaya. (He got crucified. Poor guy)
July 18th, 2023 at 3:59 pm
@Boss
You blame Bowles for last year’s disappointing finish but the main reason we lost was the ABSENCE of BA’s red pen. The ineptitude of Brady and Leftwich collaborating on the game plan caused our defense to be on the field much too much and it showed during the latter part of last season.
July 18th, 2023 at 4:44 pm
bowles Alone is the guy who cost us the Ram’s loss & a SB !!!
then he gets promoted to HC & he proudly changes the Offensive strategy from BA’s to his unwavering demand to slow the game down by running the ball –which didn’t go to well
He , alone , owns his record as HC
July 18th, 2023 at 6:30 pm
CaptivaJim … ‘he proudly changes the Offensive strategy from BA’s to his unwavering demand to slow the game down by running the ball’.
And yet the Bucs ran the ball LESS than than every other NFL team last year. Apparently his ‘unwavering demand to run the ball’ didn’t carry much weight with BL.
And Bowles running the ball 386 times in 2022 was pretty much in line with what BA had them run in 2021 (385 times), in 2020 (369 times in 16 games), but less than what BA had them run in 2019 with Jameis at the helm (409 times in 16 games). So if they weren’t running they must’ve been passing, meaning that overall the 2022 team ran less on average and passed more on average than in BA’s 3 years.
And if we were passing MORE (which we did), what happened to the biscuit? My guess is that the OLine ate it.
July 18th, 2023 at 8:20 pm
D.R.
I think you’ve nailed the keys to defensive success this season.
“Two keys: keep everyone healthy AND develop these youngsters.”
July 18th, 2023 at 9:06 pm
I just wanted to add another Buc QB we never developed who was horrible for us. Doug Williams.
July 19th, 2023 at 1:19 am
Bucfan Says:
“Did not have time to hire his own staff? Give me a break”
Agreed!
That is just one of Bowles excuses from last year. And does not wash with me. A good HC takes what he has and uses it to max all of his players/teams talents.
No one can covince me that Todd accomplished this last year.
Go Bucs!