Historic Rotten Defense Against Kirk Cousins

October 29th, 2024

Freefalling defense.

There is no way to spin it:

The Bucs defense, Todd Bowles’ defense, made Kirk Cousins look like an all-time great quarterback this season.

Bad enough Bowles’ defense coughed up 509 yards to Cousins three weeks ago. But while Cousins did not stain Bowles’ defense again Sunday for 500 yards, Cousins did rack up 276 yards. That was good enough to put up numbers like a Hall of Fame quarterback, types Marc Raimondi of BSPN.

Cousins is just the fourth quarterback in NFL history with 750 passing yards and eight passing touchdowns against a single opponent in a season, joining Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Y.A. Tittle.

That is equal parts galling, absurd and disgusting. Bowles has to find a remedy and find one soon or Pat Mahomes and Brock Purdy are going to send the Bucs reeling into the bye week.

Joe stated a lot will be learned about Bucs defensive coaches in the coming month. Can they find ways to stop the bleeding?

If not, it could be a long winter for some people currently at One Buc Palace. Did anyone in their right mind expect the Bucs defense to crater like this after suffocating the Lions on the road?

22 Responses to “Historic Rotten Defense Against Kirk Cousins”

  1. T. Says:

    It maybe started with Sean In Denver exposing our defense and teams are following his gameplan…We have no answers … yet. Go Bucs!

  2. Hodad Says:

    We scoffed at Atlanta getting Cousins. We said Baker is better, we’re better. They all picked Atlanta to win the division. Vegas had us winning 7.5 games, we scoffed, we were the champs. Jason Licht is keeping receipts. They were right, we were wrong. I thought this team had 11 wins in them, I was wrong. I thought YaYa would become our double digit sacker, I was wrong. I’ve been wrong all along. The blinders have been ripped off my eyes. I see the Bucs for the .500 ball club they are. Winning half I guess is better then what Carolina is doing, what if we lose to them? Anyway, I plan on enjoying the four more wins I hope we get this year, and hope next year brings change. Maybe bringing it all back isn’t all good.

  3. Paul Says:

    Hmm…how about giving credit where credit is due?? (to Kirk Cousins that is). He also carved up the 49ers’ defense (a Super Bowl team) last season without Justin Jefferson…in primetime.

  4. Kenton Smith Says:

    Before the first half of the season is over we’ve beaten Detroit, Washington, and Philly. Except for Cousins having our number our team is poised to finish strong and still win the division. Atlanta has been better against us than what they are. I think Monday night is a must win game and the team is treating it as such. For those who think KC will smoke us – No Way – we’ve got a good chance to beat them. Shaping up to be the best game of the season so far, and I don’t mean maybe!!

  5. JustOneGame Says:

    Giving up 452 yards and 33 minutes time of possession is far from suffocating an offense. Yes, the D made opportunistic plays and showed heart against the Lions but they were far from “suffocating”.

    Maybe it’s time to start looking at that a game as an outlier because more often than not we see 450+ yards and 30+ points given up than a “suffocating defense”.

    Expect Kelce & Kittle to set TE records against this defense. Probably go for 400 yards and 4 TDs between the two of them over the next two games.

  6. Paul Says:

    This website stinks. How about posting comments even if they don’t fit the “bash Kirk Cousins” narrative? So disappointing.

  7. adam from ny Says:

    cousin kirk owns us….so does denver’s coach 🙁

  8. Bojim Says:

    Agree Adam

  9. RVATom Says:

    I feel like I have been so negative the last few weeks. But damn. Here we go again.

    One interesting by-product of a return to the run game is that opposing QBs only need 3 or 4 tds and 270yds a game to beat us. So there’s that. A better Bucs game makes Bowles’s defense look better.

    The more dynamic our Offense is the more chances Kirk the Statue Cousins has to hang 500yds on the D. You better believe the run game will be the focus the next few weeks so that the HC can say, well, Mahomes only had 3 tds etc… Coen and Mayfield putting on an airshow make Bowles look bad LOL.

  10. Lt. Dan Says:

    Defensive genius or guru? How bout if we drop the flattering monikers and just call Bowles “coach”.

  11. MJ Says:

    at the beginning of the season ALL the pundits gave Atlanta the division and we were so shocked and appalled but look!! it all came true thank sto our crappy defense, you have to put some blame on the personnel and JLicht… if we were truly going to make a SB run we needed someone like Suh or JPP, thats how we got there last time… we need (not that anyone can do it) but Sapp, Brooks, Barber and Lynch, this crappy d can never compete for a SB

  12. Jeff Says:

    Clueless Todd! Duh-yup!

  13. BA’s Red Pen Says:

    Cousins had 4 TD’s a game when playing the Bucs, he has one TD a game vs everyone else. The Falcons will lose plenty more games we will probably lose the next two games but after the bye and we get Mike back we should be good.

  14. Mike Johnson Says:

    I can hear Cousins in that locker room. You like that Bucs? I..We ..own you. We have whipped you twice this year. Call’em the dixie chicks all you like. But they will;; win the division this year.

  15. Joe Says:

    Defensive genius or guru? How bout if we drop the flattering monikers and just call Bowles “coach”.

    Joe gave that up after the first Atlanta game.

  16. FortMyersDave Says:

    Man if one just looks at the numbers Cousins has put up versus the Bucs he has HOF numbers, like 8 TDs and 1 pick along with about 900 yards through the air. In his other 6 starts he is 3-3 with 6 TDs and 6 picks, extremely mediocre with no more than about 230 yards in the air against any opponent that is not Tampa. I would not be surprised if even a bad Dallas D does a better job of containing the ATL then the Bucs D. Hopefully the Cowboys beat them as they do play well on the road, Jones’ boys only lose at home.

    Plus Joe, the D getting boat-raced is not an aberration or something that started after the Detroit game as we did see some of this last season in places like Houston and Indy during the losing streak last year. Lack of adjustments by the coaching staff and no accountability by anyone associated with the D has led to this debacle……

  17. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    From the moment the Falcons signed Cousins, Joe unmercifully trashed him….and he ate our lunch twice….time to give him his due….

  18. Crickett Baker Says:

    I don’t get it. Wasn’t Bowles our DC when we won the SB holding KC to 3 field goals and no touchdowns? Wasn’t Bowles our DC when we followed that with 3 division wins? What is going on??

  19. Bartow Buc Says:

    Coach Bowles will pull this defense together! It’s all about execution and communication!

    Go Bucs !!

  20. JustVisiting Says:

    Who the heck is YA Tittle?

  21. Ol' Boy Says:

    Kirk had a really good time playing us. Both games.

    I want to see the Bucks put up a good game on Monday night. I really do. But that’s a pipe dream because they have the defense we would trade our grandmother for. And we aren’t going deep. And mahomes still has a mannequin in his home dress in a bucks uniform that he karate chops everyday since 2020.

  22. Ol' Boy Says:

    Bucs uniform*