The Kind Of Defense That Got Lovie Smith Fired
November 10th, 2024
Team Glazer is lurking.
Consider that through this ugly Bucs four-game losing streak the Todd Bowles defense has allowed 15 touchdown passes against 0 interceptions — all while opposing quarterbacks have completed 99 of 131 passes, a 75.6 completion rate.
That should be an impossible reality against any club, let alone one with a defensive guru head coach.
Former defense-first Bucs head coach Lovie Smith, in his final four games before being fired after the 2015 season, saw his defense allow a 77 percent completion rate. But Joe will give Lovie a little credit. At least those teams only allowed 7 TDs against 0 interceptions in those final four games.
Today, Brock Purdy found his way to 353 yards passing, 2 touchdowns on 25-for-36 passing.
No surprise, it was Purdy’s biggest yardage day of the season.
Joe gets that the Bucs defense lost top cornerback Zyon McCollum late in the game, leaving the Bucs to roll with up-and-down Josh Hayes, their No. 4 cornerback to open the season and undrafted rookie Tyrek Funderburk, who has looked overmatched for weeks. Plus, playmaker starter rookie nickel cornerback Tykee Smith missed the game with a significant knee bruise.
Still, this is the NFL. Unacceptable. And it sure doesn’t help Todd Bowles’ status that Tom Brady was on the FOX broadcast talking about he doesn’t understand how the Bucs didn’t play tighter defense in the middle of the field because that’s how the 49ers attack defenses.
“That zone will have to tighten up at some point,” Brady said.
And Brady said it multiple times in various ways. Keep asking, Tommy!
Joe doesn’t know how Bowles survives this season if the defense can’t tighten up at least a little over the next seven games. It’s a reasonable request.
November 10th, 2024 at 4:51 pm
Soft ass zone defense, I hate it so much
November 10th, 2024 at 4:52 pm
He’s been doing it for years, even with defense at full force
November 10th, 2024 at 4:53 pm
Couldn’t even stop them for the last 41 seconds. Just like how they couldn’t stop LA in the playoffs with under a minute left also. Yeah Bowles needs to go.
November 10th, 2024 at 4:56 pm
Maybe the leprechauns will wake up at some point & realize Bowles needs to go. It’s ridiculous watching the same crap every week. Losing.
November 10th, 2024 at 4:58 pm
We knew Bowels was a horrible HC from his jets days and that he would suck for years here…. He is useless…. Move on from him already!
November 10th, 2024 at 5:00 pm
We’ve reached the point where continuing to lose is in this teams long term best interest
November 10th, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Think Tom had a good broadcast this time so there is that lol this defense is brutal to watch. It really seems fans and broadcasters see the same thing week in and week out and they still roll the same thing each week. Go bucs
November 10th, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Imagine at the end of the season Bowles is still here and Coen is gone. Let that sink in.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:05 pm
Joe it doesn’t make much sense to keep saying that Bowles need to tighten up his zone coverage and so on and so on, from Brady, Joe any many Bucs fan we say this every week and it’s the same thing every Sunday. I think every body’s getting tied of the same excuses every week. With 7 games left the Bucs need to go 7-0 to improve from the pass 2 years and I just don’t see that happening
November 10th, 2024 at 5:05 pm
Bowles has no guts. I’m sure OC Coen would have been fine to set up a play for the Bucs on 4th and goal but Todd said no, let’s tie and give our defense a chance to win. Fool me once, and all that …
November 10th, 2024 at 5:07 pm
How the Phark is bowles is still head coach?
DEI hire at its finest. Get that POS the FOH
Worst defensive coach over the last 3 years. Too much blitzing and too much soft ass zone.
Any retard from the street would coach better D than this idiot.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:07 pm
He shouldn’t survive the bye week
November 10th, 2024 at 5:07 pm
It’s the bye next week, if they’re going to get rid of Bowles during the season it needs to be now.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:09 pm
4-game winning streak Joe?
November 10th, 2024 at 5:09 pm
Bowles is a system coach and it does not evolve. It only compromises and those compromises make it vulnerable to explosive plays. Bucs need a change of philosophy on the defense. One where defensive lineman rush the passer and DB play press man.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:09 pm
I’ll say this, usually when a team keep losing games like the Bucs have in KC and at home this year especially today, some one else will be coaching the Bucs next season
November 10th, 2024 at 5:10 pm
You know what else I absolutely can’t stand about Bowles. He refuses to take blame for the defense. Everyone knows bowles is the play caller. I’m really interested in how many times his Defense is on the field to win a game and choked. What’s that percentage? Because from what I remember it’s only a handful he’s had a walk off stop.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:10 pm
Wonder if the Glazers have a pair? This is the perfect time. Going into the bye.Pull the plug Glazers. What the hell you waitin on? Cut Bowles his last check..even let him keep a few mementos. The time is now.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:13 pm
I may not watch another Buc game this year as long as Bowles is allowed to keep his job… Not a threat just a fact… I am a life ling fan… I deserve better
November 10th, 2024 at 5:19 pm
I mean duh, we’ve been watching this Cover No One zone scheme for years and it gets worse and worse each season.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:23 pm
Todd Bowles is worse than lovie smith by far. Lovie had Jason licht a new gm and was trying to build a team from scratch and they failed miserably but Todd Bowles was given a Super Bowl roster literally given this roster so thanks for that BA
November 10th, 2024 at 5:27 pm
Sick of this, always seems like a newer QB carves this defense up.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:30 pm
Gronk on the Fox post game show said exactly the same thing as Brady only much more forceful. It is painfully obvious to everyone…..well not everyone.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:32 pm
It’s time for Bowles to walk the plank! His incompetence and stubbornness to play a zone coverage that does us no good clearly shows that his EGO is the reason this Bucs defense is trash at the moment. No excuses. Get him the hell outta here during the bye week make Coen the HC and find a coach in the defensive staff who isn’t scared to play MAN coverage!
November 10th, 2024 at 5:38 pm
Incompetent, same old mistakes, same old excuses and the Cigar Store Indian stare on the sideline. That’s Toad in a nutshell.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:45 pm
Coen HC. Saleh DC. Fixes defense and gives Coen somebody with HC experience to bounce ideas off of.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:53 pm
Insanity. Let keep doing the same thing. It will eventually work.
November 10th, 2024 at 5:55 pm
Fire him today!!!! Why wait? When Carolina beats us will that be enough?
November 10th, 2024 at 5:57 pm
Fire Bowels tonight!
November 10th, 2024 at 6:08 pm
BRING BACK GRUDOG
November 10th, 2024 at 6:35 pm
I don’t know how Lovie the Sexond survives the night.
November 10th, 2024 at 7:29 pm
BRING BACK EITHER LOVIE KOETTER OR SCHIANO. 🤦♂️🤬💩🧻 If we wanna deal with losing just bring them back. When will all of them wake up & realize? Do they seem to care? Seems like the rest of us care more. The D has the talent on it but they need somebody else in there running it.
November 10th, 2024 at 7:34 pm
Maybe we can get an AI version of Monte Kiffin to run the D?
November 10th, 2024 at 7:40 pm
@BucsWin?
Bowles: “IF IT AIN’T BROKE DON’T FIX IT. IT AIN’T BROKE.”
November 10th, 2024 at 8:14 pm
Every team in the NFL is dealing with injuries…..Bowles issue is he’s out coached consistently by playoff caliber teams
November 10th, 2024 at 8:49 pm
I thinks Bucs owners and Management are already having replacement discussions right now. Probably with Belichick and other candidates. January 2025 is only 3 months away
November 10th, 2024 at 9:00 pm
Id like to reiterate that Jon Gruden was at today’s game. And him back as HC here one day would be interesting. I doubt that will happen but you never know what the future holds.
November 10th, 2024 at 10:21 pm
49er O line was pushing out D line around line children. I didn’t see anything that impressed me. I also don’t understand the middle of the field hasn’t been covered for weeks. Same old song, 1st quarter QB looks for weakness in secondary than start of 2nd quarter they go to town for the rest of the game. Sad.
November 11th, 2024 at 9:54 am
it’s not bad defensive play calling. todd bowles will blame it in the players.
November 11th, 2024 at 10:10 am
They aren’t firing Bowles during the season. Yeah, I’ve been saying/thinking for weeks now, that the Cohen-HC/Saleh-DC move is a ‘no-brainer’ move for this off-season. IF, the Bucs can pry him away from his best buddy in Green Bay!!!! Cohen isn’t 💯’ready’ to be a NFL HC yet, BUT who really is though, as a ‘first-time’ HC. Saleh does give him someone to turn to and lean on, who does have HC experience (guy has prob seen it ALL by now, after being at the JETS LoL), & he’d also have BA and Todd Bowles (after moving to FO in an ambassador role). The one given though, is that they canNOT allow Cohen to walk… It is THE most important position in the League right now, “PLAY-CALLER.” Way too hard to replace. When you ‘find-it’ (the perfect fit), you BETTER do everything in your power to KEEP-IT.
November 11th, 2024 at 10:14 am
But, wow… What a very young and ‘energetic’ duo though, for the modern day NFL, AND for the Bucs future… Cohen-HC, Saleh-DC. He can coach up some Defense, & would be an extremely ‘fiery’ guy in that position!!!! 💯
November 14th, 2024 at 12:46 pm
Lovie got fired because they didn’t want to lose Dirk Koetter, who was on many HC lists at the time. I really feel sorry for Koetter, he was tasked with Jameis, and Jameis is a coach killer. Koetter’s offense put up good numbers but because of Jameis’s interceptions, couldn’t make the playoffs. Proof is Super Bowl after Jameis leaves. The team was roughly built in those years, just needed some key pieces and a real QB.
November 15th, 2024 at 9:07 pm
The train wreck staring catatonically at another losing scoreboard will find a way to lose this Sunday even though they’re on the bye. Incompetent and oblivious.