Stretch Run Key For Todd Bowles
December 2nd, 2022
Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
The next six weeks will determine if Todd Bowles can lead a team with enough talent to make a Super Bowl run, or if his deeply held beliefs forged over decades of playing and coaching defense will get in the way.
That’s the way Kevin Patra of NFL.com sees it. Patra listed coaches who must demonstrate they belong as NFL head coaches as their potential playoff-bound teams enter the stretch run.
In short, Bowles needs to prove his mettle.
…, Bowles has come under heavy heat in Tampa for conservative game management and a club playing below its talent level. The offense has been an inconsistent mess, with the Tom Brady-Mike Evans connection looking lost in the Bermuda Triangle. The defense has been gashed and can’t get off the field in critical spots. Bowles’ club has lost to four opponents that currently have losing records, including a dismal 21-3 defeat at Carolina. Not trusting the G.O.A.T. to avoid a turnover late in Sunday’s overtime loss in Cleveland underscored the errors that have plagued Bowles in his return to the big chair. At 5-6, Tampa still leads the dismal NFC South. Bowles needs a strong December to silence the critics and have any chance to make noise in the postseason.
Well, Joe has to be fair here, the defense is not the problem. The defense has been playing well.
If the offense had its head out of its arse Sunday, no one would be whining about the defense. You hold an NFL team in its own crib to 17 points, you should win that game, especially if your quarterback is Tom Brady and he’s throwing to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Julio Jones.
Bowles inherited failing Bucs offensive coordinator Byron “Three-and-Out” Leftwich. Bowles didn’t pick him. And if Bowles is coaching the Bucs next year, it wouldn’t shock Joe if Leftwich isn’t on the staff, whether he finds some sap owner to give him a head coaching job or Leftwich makes a lateral move to another town.
Bowles is on record saying he had assistant coaches in mind to hire, but when he was promoted to replace Bucco Bruce Arians it was too late in the coaching cycle to hire new assistants. So it’s not a stretch to think Bowles may not want Leftwich next season. (This is simply Joe’s speculation.)
Here is the problem: Bowles is a defensive guy. He’s an aggressive guy — with his defense. He’s anything but aggressive on offense, and Joe is just about convinced that mentality has trickled down to Leftwich and the offense.
Just yesterday Bowles kept mentioning how if you win the turnover battle you win. This is 1960s football mentality. We’re in 2022 where scoring points is the name of the game. Just look at how many turnovers the Rams had last season.
The Bucs won the past two years because they scored points. And the bulk of those same players are still here.
Will Bowles learn from the “Mistake on the Lake” debacle and put the ball in Brady’s hands in crunch time? Or will he continue to rip the ball out of the hands of the greatest quarterback who ever lived?
If that’s really what Bowles wants, then there was no need to coax Brady out of retirement. Brady is on the team. He’s being paid. He’s healthy. You might as well use him. Brady has a knack for winning. Why wouldn’t you want to win?
Brady is like a turn signal in your rig. You wouldn’t buy the damn thing if it didn’t have a turn signal so you may as well use it.
December 2nd, 2022 at 12:20 am
Bowles needs to learn how to get out of his own way right now.
Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening.
December 2nd, 2022 at 12:38 am
I’m torn. I always want them to win, but the more they win, the better chance Todd has to return, which only delays the inevitable by an extra year. Next year will be ugly, and he’ll be fired. I don’t say this as a prognosticator, but we can all see who Todd is. He’s not cut out for the HC gig. He will not improve. He seemed just fine with his approach at the end of the game, and defended it. This is the mind of a loser. In the NFL, you have to attack. You must try to score on every possession. This is not Todd Bowles. He needs to go sooner rather than later… so, I’d just as soon see them lose the rest of the way. We’re not even a playoff team. We’re a joke.
December 2nd, 2022 at 12:48 am
Bowles is a terrible head coach, but a great defensive coach. How good a defensive coach is He? He’s the only defensive coach who has made Brady look average.
December 2nd, 2022 at 1:10 am
@Chris Apple Roofing” ; it was mentioned that Licht gave Bowleszo a FIVE yr contract …!!!! win or loose for the rest of the season–I don’t think bowleszo gets fired at the end of this -his 1st season ??? Plus his mentor BA is still in the back room .
December 2nd, 2022 at 1:18 am
But a bulk in losses as with with Marpet Suh, Whitehead gone and Jensen out. Fans will get what they want and Byron is gone after this year, but I guarantee Todd Bowles will still be Bucs head coach, so it’s just annoying about “fire Bowles” crying. Licht and BA scout a great OC. That was the plan thatByron would primarily run the offense.
Always have mad respect to Bowles. He was DC in Covid 2020 and shut down Mahomes in maybe the most historical SB ever. All we have are our memories. Much love Todd.
December 2nd, 2022 at 1:23 am
If you win the turnover battle you win? Yeah, it helps to win that battle, but, if the Bucs get a turnover, and it’s not ran back for a touchdown, then the offense comes on the field. We know how effective our offense is at scoring.A turnover usually means the kicker or punter gets another shot at a game ball.
December 2nd, 2022 at 1:26 am
And Gronkowski with AB crazy ass.
December 2nd, 2022 at 1:34 am
Todd is soft
December 2nd, 2022 at 2:59 am
Neither Bowles nor Leftwich should be heading this team. Please stop it with the “all he needs is his own chosen coordinators” excuse.
He is a poor head coach on every level. He doesn’t know offense. He is vastly overrated as a DC. Witness his play calling in the playoff loss vs. Rams. Inexcusable, still doing the same things.
We all want the Bucs to win, but the Arians coaching tree is not a great one. The SB season was a fortunate combination of numerous factors coming together at just the right time, Brady/Gronk, the players esp. veterans motivated (coaching aside), favorable matchups, so that only a handful of games was all it took.
I don’t see such things working this season—one that requires the leadership of great coaches to get them out of a hole.
December 2nd, 2022 at 6:50 am
You’ll always have mad respect for coach Bowles?
Well good for you. Nobody else does.
December 2nd, 2022 at 7:11 am
In the off-season, Bowles basically said he didn’t have a chance to hire other assistants. Do you think this will buy him another year with the Glazers?
Also, when I think of the NFC Championship game, I think of the aggressive play calling at the end of the first half, specifically the TD to Miller. I bet Bowles, on the other hand, thinks of the 3 interceptions Brady threw and coaches as if that would be the norm if Brady was too aggressive.
I doubt I will watch next season if Bowles is brought back. Defensive football is boring as hell most of the time. The later Brooks and Sapp years weren’t because their defenses made lots of splash plays, but overall, defensive football is boring as hell…(think Dilfer, King years).
December 2nd, 2022 at 7:22 am
Blowes is a horrible head coach. In his mind, 18 ppg should be enough to go undefeated.
December 2nd, 2022 at 7:31 am
100% chance clueless Todd is fired after going 6-11.
December 2nd, 2022 at 7:35 am
We will lose to the Saints Monday night.
I’ll be looking forward to the press conferences from Todd. “We have to play smarter. We have to execute better. We have to coach better. ”
What a loser this guy is.
After singlehandedly giving the Browns a win with his ignorance he has the gall to step up to that podium and say “We have to stop pissing away games”.
I would’ve fired him on the spot for that.
December 2nd, 2022 at 7:45 am
We need to win Monday…..I’m not looking any farther than that.
December 2nd, 2022 at 8:43 am
Think BL will let Ko line up next to Wells? Hmmmm
December 2nd, 2022 at 8:44 am
Superbowl run? You mean toilet bowl run. If they continue to run the offense(which we all know they are) like they have the last eleven games, the toilet is the only run they have within them. What upsets me the most is that we on the outside looking in and everyone in between has processed the problems and we have absolutely no power to do a dame thing about it. The Glasers don’t like bad press, so we know they won’t make a change in mid-stride. Brady is semi checked out, he is looking forward to his accelerated retirement. This coaching staff gets no love from me, mediocrity is in plain sight and I guess I have to just shut up and enjoy this product. What pisses me off is that any other franchise would have made a change in mid-season if your defense or offense were putrid. Apparently we have no say so and it they don’t show up Monday night I hope the boo birds come out in full force. Maybe ownership will disagree with Bruce Arians assessment on Leftstiff as head coaching material, we can only wish for something to happen that will not.
December 2nd, 2022 at 10:11 am
I’ve just got 3 words to say… “Risk the Biscuit!”
December 2nd, 2022 at 10:16 am
They all suck.
December 2nd, 2022 at 10:33 am
I was never a BA fan as a coach but I do have to admit his impact and presence help the Bucs secure the SB. Why I dislike him even more now is for the position he put this team in. Just as Bowels had no time to interview assistant coaches, Licht and the Glaizers couldn’t interview HC’s. Sorry but that is not only deceitful but unethical. I am sure.the contingency was that he would micro manage the team until is predecessor said F that. So here is Bucs.are stuck with, two arrogant HC’s on exHC a HOF QB and possible 3 HOF receivers and a OC that continues to force the run on a pass first offense. A manager that is not building a better team and worst off all a team that has lost total faith in their coaching staff. There is no doubt in my mind Brady favors favors BL over Bowels because he is calling ALL the shots. Do not take this to mean I am a fan of BL’s, he sucks just as much. BA the invisible man!!!
December 2nd, 2022 at 10:44 am
Brian Flores or Eric Bienemy.
December 2nd, 2022 at 10:44 am
BucU
Apparently Joe has some. You and “everybody else “ that don’t are classic bandwagon. You move down here for job opportunity last week?
December 2nd, 2022 at 10:48 am
Goatfarmer, Reich or O’Brien, the affirmative action hires don’t seem to be working. Most qualified works best!
December 2nd, 2022 at 12:13 pm
I understand that national writers do not follow any specific team in-depth but the premise that Bowles can save himself is ridiculous.
He can’t save himself – he must rely on BA to save him and on the Glazers to continue not to care what the fans think