Todd Bowles: Bucs Have Right Travel Formula
November 12th, 2022
Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
The Seahawks landed in Munich on Thursday. The Bucs landed here on Friday. Both coaches, Pete Caroll and Todd Bowles, are relying on experience playing in Europe and intel from their respective front offices.
If there were a specific time teams to come to Europe and play with a minimal amount of jet lag and body clock issues, Joe is sure every NFL team would use the same method.
So who will have the travel advantage? There may not be one. With Seattle being in the Pacific Northwest and Tampa on the west coast of the east coast, the Bucs should have a major advantage, right?
Not so fast. The creator, curator and overall guru of Pro Football Talk, the great Mike Florio, noted the paths the teams’ planes took to Munich are similar in miles and time.
It’s 8,503 kilometers (5,283 miles) from Seattle, and it’s 8,040 kilometers (4,995 miles) from Tampa.
The flight time directly to Munich is only 30 minutes longer; eight hours, 55 minutes from Tampa, and nine hours, 25 minutes from Seattle.
Bowles believes he knows the trick for the Bucs.
“It’s sleep – you’ve got to get your rest,” Bowles said yesterday from the Bayern FC campus where the Bucs practiced. “We’re all professionals here – it’d be no different than flying out to the West Coast if we had to play in Seattle.
“That’s a long flight in itself, as well. We understand that – coming over two days hopefully helps us get our sleep and [get] mentally focused. We should be fine.”
Bowles also believed that the key was keeping the same schedule in Munich as the Bucs do in Tampa. The Bucs normally begin practice in the late morning. Yesterday, they began practice at 3:30 p.m. Munich time, or 9:30 a.m. Tampa time.
The 3:30 p.m. local practice time also matches the kickoff time on Sunday.
German beer? Pffft.
We got Big Storm at home!
Watch Bucs-Seahawks Sunday @BigStormBrewing Clearwater taproom, 12707 49th St. N.
9 a.m. breakfast w/ Blood Brothers Bloody Mary bar.
Kickoff at 9:30.
And plenty of legendary beers.
Ira Kaufman, Joe & Bucs fans.
(Lunch at 11) 🙂 pic.twitter.com/2rn4WsucnM— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) November 11, 2022
November 12th, 2022 at 8:06 am
Yawn…
November 12th, 2022 at 8:23 am
Bowles knows a thing or two about sleep.
November 12th, 2022 at 8:24 am
If we’re going to pick the coach who will have his team most prepared I’m rolling with Pete Carroll. After trading away franchise QB Wilson all Pete has done is win. I’ve seen this Bucs team sleep walk through enough games this year giving me zero faith in Bowles ability to beat Carroll Sunday. I believe if the teams were the same, but we had Carroll, and his staff, and the Seahawks had our staff, we’d be the ones with the winning record. Hope I’m wrong, but I think we get beat bad tomorrow.
November 12th, 2022 at 8:25 am
Who do you believe is right in this case? Pete Carroll, who has taken a weak, QB deficient team and made it go to 6-3? Or Todd Bowles, who as defensive coordinator likely cost us another superbowl last season; whose stud laden roster is 4-5 and keeps an unimaginative OC around?
November 12th, 2022 at 8:43 am
Holy crap, how much will this be dissected? Unless it’s a tie, one team is going to win.
— However, maybe they can investigate further and see if Pete Carroll is singing lullabies to his players tonight and rocking them to sleep in order to gain an advantage.
November 12th, 2022 at 8:47 am
SKBucsfan: I guess we will know around 1PM on Sunday dude. Chances are Bowles will bugger it up but you never know… Bucs favored by 3 is certainly a trap, I know that for certain so my advice to you is go and bet Seattle +130 and make coin if you think Bowels and Leftwich will grab their ankles and sink the team as expected, might as well profit off of their incompetence!
November 12th, 2022 at 9:12 am
Maybe the flight times between the 2 teams isn’t so
drastic but at kickoff Seattle will seem like kickoff is 06:30 am to our 09:30am.
That’s got to be some advantage I would think.
November 12th, 2022 at 9:13 am
Either you believe in your team or you don’t ….I believe we go across the pond and do damage! …now get in position to Draft SS396!!
November 12th, 2022 at 9:22 am
Seahawks had almonds on their plane. Bucs had pecans. Hmm 🤔 tough call on that one.
November 12th, 2022 at 9:42 am
Hodad … ‘Hope I’m wrong, but I think we get beat bad tomorrow.’
HOPE will reign supreme Hodad; Bucs are gonna win. Seattle’s worse loss came against the 49ers, and it was driven by the 49ers DEFENSE. Seahawks scored only 7 points, and that came when Seattle’s defense blocked a FG attempt & ran it back for a TD. Their offense got skunked.
49ers defense has been doing roughly the same as ours. It’s ranked #6 (we’re #5). They limited the Seahawks to 9 drives, 49 plays & intercepted Smith twice. The 49er offense ran the ball 45 times for 189 yards (a respectable 4.2 YPC), but only 2 of those were explosive runs (1 left for 20 yards; 1 right for 51 yards). Take away those 2 & the 49ers only averaged 2.7 YPC on the remaining 43 rushes. 49ers passing attack was nothing exceptional either; 15-of-25 for 184 yards with 1 sack (60%). BUT … their rushing attack & passing attack complemented each other beautifully.
So why did the 49ers trounce them 27-7? Easy … (1) Seattle made 3 turnovers; (2) Seattle only had the ball for 21:40 minutes; (3) 49er defense skunked them. Seattle also only ran the ball 14 times for 36 yards. They threw it 31 times (plus 2 sacks), completing 24 for 197 yards (72.7% completion rate).
That sounds eerily like the approach the Bucs have kept on trying to use AFTER the Dallas game. I agree with Derrick Brooks that we HAVE TO RUN THE BALL. We’ve got to get our rushing attack back on-track so that we can become more ‘unpredictable’. If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll keep getting the same results. That’s not being crazy; that’s being stupid.
November 12th, 2022 at 9:55 am
LOL DD 🥱
November 12th, 2022 at 10:20 am
I think Coach Bowles forgot what he was hired to do. WIN GAMES. Forget the travel formula and remember the how to win formula..
November 12th, 2022 at 10:22 am
Hey friends, for those in Munich, does anyone know where Bucs fans are gathering for the game tonight and tomorrow before and after the game?
Thank you.
November 12th, 2022 at 10:47 am
I’ve been as critical as anyone but I’m done with it. This board is toxic. Just bitching, moaning and complaining. Notice the number of posts have diminished. People getting tired of the negativity.
November 12th, 2022 at 10:54 am
Are Bucs fans meeting anywhere tonight (Sat) and before or after the game here in Munich? Thanks.
November 12th, 2022 at 10:55 am
DR
I like your takes, agree with most, and try not to miss any because you take your time to analyze before you make a statement. I appreciate that.
There was a discussion on “balance” in an earlier line that I think could use some additional words because some seem fixated on one aspect or another, causing them to miss some of the picture.
“Balance” can be attributed to team performance as a whole, or can be broken down to offense (run v pass) or defense (same run v pass but in reverse) or even individual groups such as the secondary, D-line, O-line, etc.
Balance in re team performance would be Offense keeping control for at least 3-4 first downs which almost guarantees points on the board (40 yards from the 25 puts you on the opposing 35 which is FG range).
Defense does their part by limiting the other team to 3 first downs or less (30 yards from the 25 equals the opposing 45 which is a very long FG)
In this scenario, the offense gives the defense time to rest while wearing out the oppositions D. Gametime balance almost always mirrors the win/lose outcome.
Offense gameplan balance is usually measured in run v pass numbers. The supposed ideal would be a 50/50 mix or very close to that. Unfortunately, the opposing defense has a little to say about that too. If their strength is in the secondary and yours is in the run then the ideal is 60/40 or greater. The reverse is obviously also true.
BTW, to have the ideal balance, the O-line must also be balanced between run blocking or pass protection. A weak line blows all balance options out the door.
Defense needs to have balance in stopping the run and defending passing lanes as well. and much of this falls on the defensive line. If the line stops the run, it’s usually for little to no gain. If our safeties are making those tackles, it usually means we’ve been gashed.
The line also needs to “get home” on the QB to at least hurry throws, making them inaccurate. (sacks are gravy)
The secondary has to cover the receivers well enough to make the QB hold the ball long enough for the line to “get home”.
My point is, there are several ways to look at balance and the metrics change with each new opponent, and their different strengths and weaknesses.
To bring this in line with the story…
Balancing the players internal “clocks” with external influences can give a team an advantage. Being out of sync with the time will likely cause you to be out of sync with timing. Hope Bowles got it right this time!
November 12th, 2022 at 10:56 am
This coach is a CLOWN! Clueless Todd! Seattle 31 Bucs 17. Mark the tape.
November 12th, 2022 at 11:36 am
Sure, Todd. Just like you had the right formula for beating the Steelers, Panthers, or scoring a touchdown once in a while. Hopefully you’ve got a solid post-head coaching career plan. It’s coming real soon.
November 12th, 2022 at 12:18 pm
There is quite a temperature change they need to get used to. Was that taken into consideration?
November 12th, 2022 at 12:23 pm
I’m almost certain that this game is rigged for the BUCS to win.
Almost any seasoned, disinterested gambler is going to jump all over taking the Seahawks AND the points; seeing as the Seahawks are probably going to win straigh-up anyway.
Gambling is gonna be the death of the NFL.
November 12th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
An @sshole like Geno would gladly give up a couple of fumbles and interceptiong for a couple of million tax-free dollars seeing as he resents his back-up salary and feels he deserves Kaaron Rodgers money.
November 12th, 2022 at 1:59 pm
gp … I really like your detailed explanation of ‘balance’. Totally agree with you that ‘there are several ways to look at balance and the metrics change with each new opponent, and their different strengths and weaknesses.’
I’ve come to believe that it means different things to different commenters, and that it’s most often used in a very general perspective. Unfortunately JBFers oftentimes ‘talk past each other’ because folks can attribute different meanings in the same scenario.
November 12th, 2022 at 3:51 pm
The Bucs fans meet in the Haufbrouhous or however you spell it. It’s a famous bar so just pronounce it and a taxi driver should know it.
November 12th, 2022 at 4:04 pm
LVD who is a D team captain, and one of the most respected players on the Bucs, talked about a players only meeting before the Rams game. Look at the result. The D will now be at close to full strength minus Shaq Barrett—Buc Luck. Don’t discount STs. Camarda is a weapon, and he’s a rookie. Succop will be his solid self and so will Darden. We get up early here so I have Bucs Radio dialed in. The question is the O, but it will be a dog fight. Fun fact: both these towns were awarded NFL franchises the same year. 🙂🏈
November 12th, 2022 at 5:35 pm
Chances of Bowels right 0%
Chances of Carroll right 100%
Needed a Brady miracle last week
Need another
November 12th, 2022 at 7:47 pm
What a bunch of crap!!! From someone who has flown all over the world for years. The killer on the body isnt not so much flight hours as it is time zones and which way you are flying thru the time zones!!!!
Who will be better prepared? The team that comes closes to getting their clock closest to normal by game time, and rest is a major part of that! If you cant sleep, Ambien or a natural version of that baby!!!
November 13th, 2022 at 2:01 am
Bowelswich can foul up a tap in. Don’t be surprised to see the Bowelswich Bucs routed.
November 13th, 2022 at 8:01 am
based STRICTLY on what has transpired to the Bucs and how Gino Smith has been playing, Gino will have our secondary for Wienerschnitzel. The answer? get after him. problem? hat can be a catch 22. woops. I said “catch” didn’t mean to scare our receivers!!!!!!! Thank God I don’t get the NFL Network. I can watch gamecast on ESPN and hope i don’t hear the word “incomplete” 30 times. I was in Munich in 1972. A lot of good memories. Todd, PLEASE don’t “F” it up