“We’ve Got To Crack That Code”
April 3rd, 2025
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
A tale of two NFL head coaches …
There they were Tuesday morning, holding court at separate tables only a few feet apart at the owners meetings at The Breakers in Palm Beach. Todd Bowles, 61, and 48-year-old Raheem Morris took on questions from the media for more than 30 minutes before the league announced its rule changes for the 2025 season.
Raheem Morris knows he’s chasing Tampa and his old friend.
Morris had the tougher assignment, trying to explain how the Falcons went from apparent NFC South kingpins to paupers in a late-season collapse that coincided with a thrilling surge by the Buccaneers.
On Nov. 3, Atlanta improved to 6-3 by beating Dallas. The following evening, Tampa Bay suffered a 30-24 OT loss at Kansas City to drop to 4-5. That two-game bulge was in actuality a three-game lead for the Falcons, who had already swept the Bucs to own the tie-breaker advantage.
Then Kirk Cousins went south as Atlanta suffered through a 4-game losing streak and eventually ended at 8-9. The Bucs would go 6-1 down the stretch to finish 10-7, winning the division for the fourth consecutive year.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” Morris said in Palm Beach. “We’ve got to crack that code. Obviously, they’ve done a masterful job of winning the division the last couple of years. We’re still trying to run them down.”
Morris and Bowles were each given a second chance to succeed on the NFL sidelines, opportunities not afforded to minority coaches very often. Bowles was fired by the Jets after four seasons and the Glazers moved on from Morris after three years at One Buc Place.
Bowles has solidified his tenure in Tampa, advancing to the playoffs in each of his three years at the helm after succeeding Bruce Arians.
Morris has much to prove to Atlanta owner Arthur Blank this fall and he expects a second-year quarterback to lead the charge.
“Michael Penix is our quarterback and Michael Penix will continue to be our quarterback,” Morris said at the NFL Combine. “I’ve got so much confidence in Michael Penix leading us into the future and I believe our whole building does. I believe our fan base does and I believe our owner does.”
Penix started the final three games in 2024 and although the Falcons went 1-2, they averaged 32 points during that span. It’s a short sample size, but Penix has Atlanta fans excited.
One thing’s for sure — Penix isn’t going to shred the Bucs more than Cousins did last season. In a 36-30 OT victory at Atlanta, Cousins threw for 509 yards and four touchdowns. In the rematch at Raymond James Stadium, Cousins led the Falcons to a 31-26 win with another four TD passes.
Atlanta study has made Todd Bowles ill, writes Ira Kaufman.
Bowles has spent the past three months reviewing every defensive snap by the Bucs last year. When he got to the two games against Atlanta, he was sick to his stomach. Cousins had way too much time to scan the field and Bowles was shocked by how poorly the Bucs tackled and communicated.
While Morris is counting on Penix to blossom in Year 2, Bowles has a sure thing under center in Baker Mayfield. Guess who loves Mayfield’s leadership skills as much as Bowles?
“You guys might have been surprised by Baker, but I was with Baker in L.A.,” Morris said at The Breakers. “I told you about the competitor and who he is. He’s an absolute dog and he’s a fun person to go compete against.
“He’s fun in the most competitive ways you can think about and he’s always been that way. He’s always dangerous. We got lucky enough to find ways to win against them last year.”
Two defensive-minded coaches are looking forward to the 2025 draft, hoping to find instant contributors. An improved pass rush is critical for both franchises.
“The emphasis in the draft will certainly be on the defensive side of the ball,” Blank says. “I think that’s pretty obvious to everybody.”
The Bucs have made the postseason in each of the past five seasons. For the 82-year-old Blank, these are desperate times because the Falcons haven’t posted a winning record since 2017.
That’s called a 7-year itch, one that Morris is determined to cure.
April 3rd, 2025 at 10:25 am
Joe, with the Bucs freeing up cap space by restructuring contracts do you think we would potentially trade our 1st round pick to the Bengals for Trey Hendrickson? I’m not sure how that would affect Reddick, assuming he thinks was told he would be the main guy, but to have both of those guys would probably get us to the Superbowl.
April 3rd, 2025 at 10:29 am
Ira, did Blank call you Irv? By the way, I remember last year there was some hope the Bucs would grab Penix. Atlanta got their man! I hope one day the Bucs actually draft a franchise quarterback.
April 3rd, 2025 at 10:33 am
Any rumors as to who the Falcons are thinking about drafting?
April 3rd, 2025 at 10:57 am
“…how poorly the Bucs tackled and communicated.”
Anyone else SICK of that excuse? If the guys on the field still can not communicate, then what language is being spoken by the coaching staff…Mandarin?
April 3rd, 2025 at 10:59 am
Yeah Atlanta got their man! Good call OrlandoBucFan. Sat his butt over half his college career. Both knees torn up. Has him a 1 and 2 record so far so for the Falcons maybe they do have their man.
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:00 am
I have a feeling, Bowles is going to fix our defensive woes, particularly against the pass, and particularly against Atlanta. He’s doing an awful lot of film study and seems to have identified the problem. He needs better play from his secondary, tighter coverage and better tackling. Fingers crossed, Licht has another good draft and we get a decent CB, a decent ILB, and a decent Edge Rusher. LFG!
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:04 am
“Hes an absolute dawg”
“He’s always dangerous”
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:24 am
Letting Kirk Cousins look like Dan Marino twice was disgraceful. Communication was poor, eh? Where have we heard that before, Mike Smith?
Poor communication is the primary indicator that players don’t know who is supposed to be doing what. Another reason to play more press man…..which the Bucs did more of in the second halves of games towards the end of the season, to positive effect. And even though Todd said he didn’t know why that was the case, we all saw it. And he did too……and if he really meant he didn’t know why then he shouldn’t be the defensive coordinator anymore.
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:28 am
Watching the two ATL games summed up the problem with the entire defensive scheme last year. The human statue, Cousins, had 5-6 seconds in the pocket to find wide open receivers last year. If that doesn’t suggest more upfront pass pressure, nothing will. Kind of surprised that Todd Bowles had to recently watch those two games to identify a problem? The first game was bad enough but the second was unconscionable. If Cousins could play the Bucs each week his season stats would be the best in the history of NFL quarterbacking.
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:34 am
Lt. Dan Says:
April 3rd, 2025 at 10:57 am
“…how poorly the Bucs tackled and communicated.”
Anyone else SICK of that excuse?
—–
It just never ends. It is that same thing season after season. Is he expecting the tackling and communication fairy to come down and magically fix it. Surely he recognizes this is his responsibility and every time it gets mentioned, it only serves to remind everyone that the failing rests entirely upon him.
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:41 am
Last season Atlanta used second-, third- and fourth-round picks on defensive players in 2024 but got only a combined 167 snaps from those players last season.
Tier 1 are players The Athletic thinks could be drafted at #15
Jahdae Barron, cornerback, Texas
Jihaad Campbell, linebacker, Alabama
Mike Green, edge, Marshall
Will Johnson, cornerback, Michigan
Shemar Stewart, defensive lineman, Texas A&M
Jalon Walker, edge, Georgia
Mykel Williams, defensive end, Georgia
None are offensive players.
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:47 am
It’s not just minority coaches who rarely get a second chance, it’s any and all coaches. Color of the skin has absolutely nothing to do with it. I think Bowles will be the first one to tell you that.
I think we as Bucs fans should be very grateful and excited for where we sit as a franchise. We have stability and track record. We have a culture where players are willing to play at a discount. We have a calm cool collected head coach who is not infallible but works his a$$ off to get better. Be positive Bucs fans, we are a top tier team and with a solid draft like last year we are up there in the championship games.
April 3rd, 2025 at 11:52 am
oh man First Last… what a dreamy idea. he’d make too much I think though. you never know we could always find another restructure (maybe)
April 3rd, 2025 at 12:04 pm
Getting to where the top dogs at NFL HQ are really pissing me off. Raheem Morris simultaneous and next to Bowles? couple that with the crazy stuff about 18 games More foreign games and McKay’s annual rules changes crap and I am hoping that some higher authority steps in and puts a stop to the Roger and Richie show. The owners don’t care as long as it puts more obscene money in their pockets. The NFLPA is a very bad joke to top it all off.
Go Bucs!
April 3rd, 2025 at 1:16 pm
WGAS WGAF about Radio or the falcons
April 3rd, 2025 at 1:16 pm
The minority coach propaganda is just that.
Their skin tone or ethnicity mean absolutely nothing in regards to their ability to coach.
Had Raheem been a competent and successful HC in Tampa, he would have remained the coach.
Same for Bowles in New York with the Jets.
As it turned out neither were able to live up to that standard.
Looks like Raheem is still learning on the job to this point.
Bowles has had better success with a superior roster and a very weak division.
In the end though, both of these defensive minded coaches will not win a Superbowl as they currently operate.
The NFL is an offensive driven league and Tampa has only won titles with offensive minded coaches.
Here endeth the lesson.
April 3rd, 2025 at 1:18 pm
Lt Dan, I’ve got Both of my hands raised!
Durango, Right On! He’s NEVER taken responsibility for NOT ONE THING because he IS the cowardly lion… He don’t have the guts to take responsibility muchless to take a look in the mirror and realize that HE, HIMSELF IS THE PROBLEM!
Didn’t have the horses? You mean that even the back ups aren’t pro bowlers and require “proper” training and coaching in order to be competitive and to succeed? WOW Bowles! Now there’s a concept that you just can’t seem to grasp.
No communication?? Mr. You’re making many of us plain Mad repeating yourself EVERY YEAR you’ve been in charge and the self proclaimed defensive coordinator that Can Not communicate ~ “Communication”
OBVIOUSLY these guys DON’T know what’s going on because they HAVE NOT been coached properly. This IS the TRUTH! That line (no communication) is disturbingly Old “””coach”””
I have a theory about your lack of vision and here it is…. After All of these years, you Still don’t know what you’re doing and your far too stubborn to solidify the defensive coaching staff in order to properly train these men!
Everybody sees it clear as day… Why can’t you? ~ Everybody is to Blame Except You??
“You sir Can’t Get Past Yourself!” And until you do, you will Never be a Great head coach…
April 3rd, 2025 at 1:56 pm
I don’t know about some of the stuff Ira has been coming up with lately. I hear that he’s been advocating for a Bowles extension. What? A coach that has not even won 53% of the games he’s coached for this team. Now this gratuitous remark about minority coaches and 2nd chances. Add to that him giving Bowles credit for developing Shaq in to a 19 sack a year guy. In one training camp no less.! Something Bowels has never done before or since. Seriously.
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:24 pm
Morris and Bowles were each given a second chance to succeed on the NFL sidelines, opportunities not afforded to minority coaches very often
Mythical racism
April 3rd, 2025 at 3:49 pm
Obvious, it’s not obvious which Obvious we’re reading. The old Obvious or the new Obvious? Now I’m confused. But I’m not confused that at least one Obvious has real problems with the head coach. At least we’ve got some fans that like him. Like Me!
April 3rd, 2025 at 5:19 pm
OrlandoBucFan, what difference does it make if you draft a franchise QB or pick one up in free agency. The Bucs have done way better picking up QB’s in FA that drafting them and watching them flounder around for three or four years. Doug Williams, Vinny Testaverde, Trent Dilfer, Jameis Winston all have crashed and burned. We have only had three FA QB’s since the turn of the century and two have won SB’s and the other has won three division crowns. Who cares about drafting a “franchise” QB.
April 3rd, 2025 at 5:27 pm
Im listening to your latest episode on the podcast. Ira you said something about that Tuna Fish sandwich costing $29 whaaat!? What are they doing to that sandwich so much lol??
April 3rd, 2025 at 7:28 pm
Man, smh at some of these Bowles haters. I guarantee that if you spent a week in his shoes you’d be singing a different tune. I’ve noticed the least informed of us are the ones who screech the loudest about what we haven’t a clue. Bowles may not be an Andy Reid level coach but I think he’s improving and he has his team in position every year to make a run. Todd is too damn old to get out there and play himself so it is all up to the players on the field to win the game for the most part. Coaching is massively important yes, but we need to make fewer bonehead mistakes on the field, like fumble the ball at our own 22 yard line.