“We Got To Stick To Our Script”
December 31st, 2024
Revealing comments emerged yesterday.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that he believes the Bucs “have gotten a lot better” overall since their 4-6 start. He included his defense.
Bowles said that while he was upset by the way Carolina scored its 14 points on Sunday, 14 was still a good defensive showing.
Then Bowles signaled to fans to not expect any adjustments to how the Bucs play. They’re going all-in on their style.
“We got to stick to our script and keep doing what we’re doing,” Bowles said.
Asked what he’s stressing to coaches, not players, Bowles said it’s about simplicity.
“Keep teaching [players] and try not to make them do nothing that they haven’t been doing,” Bowles said. “Don’t try to put more on the plate; keep it on their plate and make it as simple as possible so they can go out and play fast.”
Joe heard that and thought about what appeared on the pay-per-view site TheAthletic.com yesterday.
Longtime NFL writer Mike Sando caught up with three team executives and asked the unnamed trio to weigh in on the state of the NFC playoffs.
Interesingly, one exec said if the Lions play defense like the Bucs do, they’ll lose to Minnesota.
The feeling is that Detroit now lacks the personnel to defend Minnesota’s top wideouts with man coverage.
“That becomes tricky,” the exec said. “If Detroit is going to live in the Tampa world (of split-safety zone coverage), which they do a good job with, the Minnesota skill, with Aaron Jones and those guys, will be enough, especially with Kevin (O’Connell) doing a good job keeping the game safe for Sam (Darnold). Because on the other side, I think Minnesota can create a turnover or two with Jared (Goff) and those guys (on the Lions’ offense).”
Can Tampa Bay’s defense hang with the Vikings or Lions in the playoffs?
Well, it’s unlikely if Bowles “sticks to our script” with the Bucs’ current personnel. Perhaps he’ll make changes when the time comes.
Joe doesn’t recall ever seeing receivers consistently wide open like the Vikings have had this season. Their separation seems incredible, and Joe highly doubts the Bucs have the defensive firepower to keep 30 points off the board.
December 31st, 2024 at 8:15 am
TBBF asks again….When is the last time we tipped or batted a ball down “?
December 31st, 2024 at 8:17 am
Maybe, but Detroit only scored 17 earlier this year.
Without Winfield.
This defense CAN play good, but confidence matters.
Especially in the playoffs.
The offense CAN keep pace with anybody.
Will they force it to Mike or let it come naturally?
December 31st, 2024 at 8:25 am
The D has definitely benefited from having a top 5 offense scoring consistently enough to keep pressure on the opposing O by making them one dimensional, or at least stay aggressive to keep up. Hard time seeing Bowles & this defense stopping anyone enough if our offense is contained by a good DC game plan.
December 31st, 2024 at 8:28 am
Script?????
You mean “play soft zone while hope the D-Line & LBs get to the QB in time in hopes of not making our secondary look worse than it really is”???
You gotta love sports political talk…….too bad the players cannot say what they truly feel about Bowles defense.
December 31st, 2024 at 8:33 am
Sir or Ma’m, you used the word “political” in your last post. That’s a word that gets flagged, as fans and Joe don’t want politics here. If that’s ruined your experience, so be it. That has nothing to do with all the things you speculate. This is not a free speech forum. Joe is not sitting here moderating football comments.–Joe
December 31st, 2024 at 9:15 am
Thank You for it JOE!!!!
December 31st, 2024 at 9:33 am
Joe are you sure it’s sir OR ma’am???? You’re not woke!!!!!
(For the perpetually offended, this is a joke to point out that for some, everything involves the P word).
December 31st, 2024 at 9:42 am
Both Minnesota and Det have super offenses but det has a weaker defense. But any given Sunday. This buc team rises to the occasion when we play good teams
December 31st, 2024 at 10:26 am
This whole ‘woke’ scenario is a bunch of pure BS! I have several degrees in English, am a Yank Leftie, and a woman. Thank you, Joes for keeping this site focused on my Bucs!! Kudos to Bowles and company for keeping the locker room calm through all the d###ed Buc Luck. Vikings aren’t just good; they’re lucky. Detroit is a juggernaut even with the injuries. Bowles isn’t getting fired. Both Coen and CG14 will be back next year. Please, don’t retire, Chris!! I will be just fine with 10-7. Go Bucs!!
December 31st, 2024 at 10:28 am
The guy that expects the big uglies up front to play in coverage is “keeping it simple”? The same guy who has a “system” that his own guys can’t figure out, but is SIMPLE for most QB’s to figure out?
December 31st, 2024 at 11:22 am
Any chance Dennis and Godwin make it back for the playoffs? I keep thinking if we are healthy we can play with anyone. It’s been a tough year to stay healthy though.
December 31st, 2024 at 11:55 am
i want minnesota, not detroit…
we aren’t beating detroit twice this year…
and minnesota has traditionally been early round playoff choke artists…
also sam darnold was a scrub before this year…
bowles job for one game and one game only is to turn darnold back into his old scrubby self…
give me minnesota all day at ray jay
December 31st, 2024 at 12:13 pm
Detroit has no D.
December 31st, 2024 at 12:37 pm
Losing hall early, plus Winfield injuries detracted greatly from our secondary. Many what-ifs … I’ve always felt Todd crafts a defense based on their abilities. A couple defensive additions, tweaks, and next year could be a monster year.
December 31st, 2024 at 12:44 pm
I think we are screwed if we beat the saints and get the Vikings round 1. They will score at will on this sorry defense. Lions would be our best chance at winning a game in the playoffs. Vikings is the one team I don’t want to play because of their wide outs. We want to play a run oriented team not a team with weapons like Minny or Philly. Yes we beat Philly but they didn’t have their 2 stud receivers playing that game which changes things entirely.
December 31st, 2024 at 1:04 pm
Since the bye (last 6 games).
16.33 total points per game allowed.
3.8 points allowed in 2nd half/s.
FYI 👍🏼
December 31st, 2024 at 1:19 pm
@TBBF: Football 101. A player must be near the ball to either tip it or batt it down.
@Joe: way to shoot down the political BS. Kudos!
December 31st, 2024 at 2:31 pm
gotta love a coach who has no problem telling the world in advance how he’s gonna defend you. if only there was a chance this was some kind of trick haha
December 31st, 2024 at 2:33 pm
man do we miss SirVocea Denis. he could turn this soft defensive approach into a successful one. our offense is protecting out defense’s stats. imagine how bad the defense would look if we had a middling or poor offense
December 31st, 2024 at 2:52 pm
Interesting to hear Bowles say that after the world-wide, critically-acclaimed Joe Kaufman uttered that a certain NBC McCourtey character was off-base for suggesting Bowles’ D to be a “this is what we do” scheme. Seems to back up what the TV analyst suggested? Totally agreed with Mr. Kaufman’s take on that being exactly what Dungy’s D was.
December 31st, 2024 at 4:17 pm
@adam from ny
There is nobody on this team that can stop Justin Jefferson. Our guys couldn’t even stop a one-armed CD. There is no way I want to see Minnesota. I’d rather have Detroit and their HC who makes questionable decisions. But, I’d rather not see either one of them if that was possible.
December 31st, 2024 at 7:42 pm
no one in the league can stop justin jefferson…but we all know that already…
you gotta stop darnold…turn him into the scrub he’s always been…
then maybe just maybe jefferson goes like 5 for 70 yards…and that would be shutting him down, or at least containing him…
i want minnesota all day…at ray jay…
gritty detroit with anzalone back…nah i gotta pass…y’all thinking we take 2 from detroit this year are not thinking straight…that team is no joke…
detroit = no joke
minn = playoff frauds (as usual)
December 31st, 2024 at 8:48 pm
We haven’t made the playoffs yet so why worry about Detroit of Minnesota. Hope the team is staying focused on the Saints unlike Joe and his followers.
December 31st, 2024 at 9:45 pm
When they stuck to the script, the Bucs defense was pitching a shutout despite some deficient refereeing.
The Bucs defense effectively eliminated the Panthers run offense.
The Bucs defense effectively eliminated the Panthers passing offense except for three passes to Thielen.
Thielen was credited with a 31 yard reception that should have been penalized as Pass Interference. McCollum had tight man coverage on Thielen. But, with the ball in the air, Thielen fully extended his left arm hitting McCollum in the helmet so hard that McCollum’s head was bent backwards.
The Bucs left the script on Thielen’s first touchdown. At the Bucs 17, Thielen and LeGette lined up on the Panthers left side. Those two receivers were covered by three Bucs defenders playing quarters deep zone defense: Smith at the line of scrimmage, Dean 7 yards deep outside the numbers, and Edwards 12 yards deep inside the numbers. Legette ran four yards down field and parked with Smith in his pocket. Thielen took off hard down the numbers and blew past Legette. At that point, Dean should have stopped playing the grass and started playing the players, and the only player left for Dean to play was Thielen. Dean should have backpedaled and committed to preventing Thielen from getting past him. Instead, Dean kept his spot and pivoted to face Thielen. Once Thielen was as far downfield as Dean, Thielen broke hard across the field for two steps which triggered Dean to start chasing Thielen across the field and which triggered Edwards to drive hard upfield. Having maneuvered the defenders into a vulnerable position, Thielen then broke back upfield while already deeper than Dean and running right past Edwards who was going in the opposite direction. Edwards the Ball Hawk broke too hard on the inside fake. But, he should have had help deep from Dean who let Theilen get past him. Two veterans who know better got off the script.
The Bucs also got off script on Thielen’s second touchdown in man coverage. The Bucs had four defenders covering three Panthers receivers. Whitehead was lined up at safety. Dean covered Sanders on a crossing route. David covered LeGette on a down and out. And, Smith covered Thielen on a Go route. Smith trailed Thielen, and Whitehead was supposed to help with any deep routes. Whitehead was taking some baby steps backwards when he should have been in a determined backpedal. Thielen took advantage of Whitehead’s hesitation and ran right past him for another wide open touchdown.
Why did the defenders get off script? Whitehead looked either lost or as if he thought that something was going to happen underneath, but Smith really needs help over the top when trying to cover Thielen. What Edwards did would we praiseworthy if he had done it with Dean in the proper position, but it was disastrous without Dean in the proper position. As to why Dean was not in position, I can’t say. Except for Smith, the defenders were all veterans who surely know the scheme by now. But, everyday, some very experienced drivers have car crashes. At least the Bucs ran away from these slips with a commanding lead while otherwise shutting out the Panthers.
January 1st, 2025 at 10:54 am
Newsflash: Bowles’ defense can not stop any of the NFC offenses, unless those teams make early mistakes on their and we get out to a decent early lead.
That’s the only scenario in which our defense plays okay. Otherwise it has been utter trash all season, with and without injuries.