Was Byron Leftwich Not Listening To Todd Bowles?
January 18th, 2023
Disconnect?
Now that the season is over, Joe can offer a fair assessment of the Bucs offense based on 17 games and a playoff game:
It was one of the biggest jokes Joe has ever seen.
(Right now at this very moment, Joe is stumped. Almost like writer’s block. It’s like walking into a bar and not one chick is below an eight. Where do you start?)
Evidence of what the Bucs did well (play-action, hurry-up, no-huddle) was out there for anyone to see with their eyes and with a simple internet connection. But failed Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich couldn’t see it! Or didn’t want to see it (quite likely).
You had to know the Bucs knew this. Hell, the Bucs employ statheads to compile data. These guys didn’t know it? Puh-leeze! They didn’t pass the info on to Todd Bowles? No organization is that moronic.
So either Bowles didn’t pass this intel on to Leftwich (Joe’s dubious of that) or Leftwich flat ignored it (very plausible).
Or one could argue Bowles may have ordered Leftwich not to mold the offense around what works, which doesn’t add up at all. To hear Bowles yesterday, that just was not the case.
Bowles was asked about having a solid ground game. He said if something is not working, it’s not working. And folks, the Bucs ground game did not work.
“At the end of the day, you do what you do best,” Bowles said. “You want to score more points than the other team. Winning is first. If you get runs within the wins then you are very happy. …
“The ultimate thing is winning and whatever it takes for us to win, we’ve got to do that.”
So unless we are to fully believe Bowles completely ignored the eyeball test and the analytical data that showed the Bucs offense excelled in areas Leftwich seemed allergic to, why did this happen? More importantly, why was it allowed to happen?
Could Bowles have ordered Leftwich to use more play-action, hurry-up and no-huddle at different times of the game other than when the team trailed in the fourth quarter? Of course, he could have and should have.
At face value, there seems to have been a major disconnect somewhere in the organization, whether it was between Bowles and the front office data geeks or Bowles and Leftwich.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:10 pm
Leftwich thinks analytics are just for fantasy football🤣🤣🤣 they absolutely needs a more creative oc they can’t fire that guy fast enough.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:14 pm
Bowles is a conserative coach. HE called the shots as head coach. Now he is passing the buck rather than having the Bucs pass. He needs to go! Hire an offensive minded coach. At least the losses will be entertaining.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:14 pm
FIRE HIM ALREADY!!!!!!!!! PLEASEEEEEEEEE…
January 18th, 2023 at 12:15 pm
I think all the problems start with Bowles. If his OC isn’t doing as he says, it’s Bowles’ fault for allowing it to continue. If his OC is doing what he’s told, it’s Bowles fault for not adapting as needed. That’s true for any coach, anywhere.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:16 pm
The longer this goes on the more inept this organization looks..
January 18th, 2023 at 12:16 pm
Someone put it best recently: this WAS a plain vanilla offense with a number of superstars, that masked the vanilla calls. Butlook at the drop-off in production as the superstars departed.
I also blame this on lichts inability to put a high quality line in front of Brady, a completely immobile QB in a non creative system. Even with jensen at 100% there were holes. Should have been more aggressive in FA or a trade.
Brady can extend plays to not sacks, which is helpful. But it’s rare he extends plays and makes a play.
And Gage and Julio underwhelmed. They weren’t any better than our 3-5 guys last year.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:17 pm
Sean Payton is an a$$…
But he’s a damn good football coach, with some swag.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
Ehhhh … No.
The Bucs played 19 weeks of football. Bowles is the HC. If BL wasn’t doing what worked, Bowles had 19 weeks to correct the problems. Even if BL was the problem, Bowles had 19 weeks to fix it.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:23 pm
Maybe the Glazers need to sell the Bucs its obvious they don’t sh_t about football. When the ticket sales plummet next year they just might.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:24 pm
All Bowzobabble.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
With a guy like Jim Caldwell coming at the bit to get back into coaching, give him a physical! If he passes, replace Byron Leftwich with him. It’s an easy solution.
Unless with B.A. still around, is he “protecting” Leftwich from being fired? 🤔
January 18th, 2023 at 12:28 pm
Incompetent coaching, period! What’s taking so long!?
January 18th, 2023 at 12:32 pm
This is Bowles’ responsibility……
January 18th, 2023 at 12:35 pm
Bucfan Says
“Bowles is a conserative coach. HE called the shots as head coach. Now he is passing the buck”
Totally agree.
#FireBowles
January 18th, 2023 at 12:36 pm
How long is Bowles contract?
Could that be the reason for the delay?
Or maybe the Glazers are trusting Licht to find a suitable replacement before firing them? I mean…playoffs are still happening, right?
January 18th, 2023 at 12:39 pm
Jmarkbuc Says
“Sean Payton is an a$$…But he’s a damn good football coach, with some swag.”
That’s a pipe dream.
Here’s why:
The Bucs would have to work out a deal with the Saints to get him. We’re a division rival. There is a very tiny chance they would even be willing, but if they did, they would demand a price so steep that it would put us out of competition for years (see Gruden trade with Raiders).
January 18th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
Coaches contracts don’t mean squat.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
One way to be safe. Fire them both.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:44 pm
Maybe Lefty was sour that Bowles got HC instead of him, so his pea brain decided to sabotage the success, although he forgot that also sabotaged his own success!
January 18th, 2023 at 12:47 pm
I would add if Lefty was just doing what he wanted why didn’t Brady listen to Bowles and do what they thought was best? Not like they would have benched Brady if he started running the things that worked or he wanted to do. There’s just too many issues for Bowles not to be apart of the problem. If Lefty was ignoring Bowles that much why wasn’t he fired. I still think Bowles was partially to blame for the offense and wanting to get away from the risk it part. D coaches want to run the ball and do play action, then let the D win it.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:48 pm
Joe, I think you are ignoring an angle. How many throws did Brady expect out of his arm? Byron was sorta between a rock and a hard place too, yeah? If they start out throwing throwing throwing where do they go if theyre still behind? I didnt like Byron’s designs, I didnt like what looked to the regular “couch potato” to be a lack of adjustment. But I can see how they couldnt come out firing 30 passes in the first half. It leaves no room for passing in the 2nd half if they were still behind. The run game didnt work. But Bradys arm probably wasnt gonna last at 17games of 60 some odd passes. Just a wild guess.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:49 pm
Would you listen to someone who employed Jaelon “Fall Down Because I’m Afraid” Darden for 12 games?
January 18th, 2023 at 12:50 pm
Maybe Bowles was ignoring the stat statheads, but I guess the world will never know.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:51 pm
Bonzai
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:53 pm
If Bowles told Leftwich to change the offense and Leftwich ignored him Leftwich should be fired.
If Bowles just stood and fiddled while the offense burned, they should both be fired.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:55 pm
I think I’d have more faith in Antonio as an OC right now.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:55 pm
This entire coaching staff is LOW IQ.
January 18th, 2023 at 12:57 pm
The most dysfunctional and bizarre chapter in Buccaneers history!
I was been through it all!
I have never experienced such a perplexing funk !
Is there a psychotropic drug in the water cooler in TB and BL’s corner of the building?
January 18th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
I am praying the delay in firing leftoversandwhich is because they are negotiating with a legit offensive coordinator. I love Bucco Bruce but I don’t believe a word he ever said about leftoversandwhich.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:01 pm
More and more most of Lichts draft picks are not working out. Last years pick 3rd and 4th round were ok but 1st and 2nd stunk. 2021 picks 1st and 2nd a waste Darden pick another waste.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:01 pm
I am praying the delay in firing leftoversandwhich is because we are negotiating with a legit OC.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:04 pm
Joe says coaches contract don’t mean squat, but plz tell me how long was Team Glazer on the hook for Jon Grudens’ contract AFTER canning him? and How long did our front office sidestep signing any big deal players between 2008 & 2012 because of it? This must be the younger Joe that spews all the drivel on twitter.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:05 pm
IMO it falls on Bowles. If Leftwich wasn’t running the offense how Bowles wanted, then Bowles should have relieved him of that duty. Arians was still on the payroll, doing nothing, and could have taken over as interim OC. Bowles would have appeared decisive and in charge. Instead, by sitting on his hands while watching the season go down the tubes, he appears weak and indecisive. While there may be valid reasons (excuses?) to keep Bowles around another year, does that change anything? Will he become decisive and proactive? Or any-active? Unlikely. Bowles is going to end up fired… rather than postpone the inevidible , might as well do it now and move forward.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:05 pm
Coaches will be talked to after the playoffs. So it would make no difference now. That’s why other teams have not waited to fire coaches.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
How many rushing yards per game did we average? Subtracting the fact we weren’t able to include QB rushing yards where did we stack up then? Most teams average rushing yards were inflated by the inclusion of QB rushing yards. Take that stat away and it would be interesting to know where we stood then in a apple to apple comparison.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:09 pm
You can’t fire Leftwich without taking out Bowles as well. Ever time I heard Bowles talk about the offense he was preaching run the ball more. You have to have a top tier line to just go out and run the ball at will. Not to mention it is 2023 not 1999 teams pass to set up the run no longer run to set up the pass.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:09 pm
Hmmm, could Leftwich have hurt feelings about not getting the head coach job ? After having his ego boosted by the praise of Ariens for so long and having been passed over for the JAX job (and little interest from others) perhaps this is a childish temper tantrum to sink Bowles. Surely not, people don’t do things like that.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:11 pm
THEY FIRE THIS MOFO YET!!!!!!!!! GEEEZ SEND HIM PACKING ALREADY!!!!!
January 18th, 2023 at 1:13 pm
There is no “delay.” Bowles’ timetable, as he explained yesterday, is different than most commenting on this site.
But yeah, Leftwich should have been launched no later than after Baltimore game.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:13 pm
Hmmm, could Leftwich have hurt feelings about not getting the head coach job ? After having his ego boosted by the praise of Ariens for so long and having been passed over for the JAX job (and little interest from others) perhaps this is a childish temper tantrum to sink Bowles. Surely not, people don’t do things like that.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:17 pm
NFL got they wanted thanks to BA and the Glazer’s. It is not going to happen. We will be lucky if Bowles turns on Leftnut and does fire him. I do not think it happens now. If it was going to it would have. Anyone of us shown this record this year we would have been fired already.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:18 pm
Arians protected Leftwich, he is his protege.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:21 pm
We actually had an OC with NFL experience for 2 teams on our staff and ready to take over if only on an interim basis. Clyde Christensen, our QB coach.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:21 pm
Accountability starts at the top.
Based on the past three years, I would say that lefty was doing as he was told by Bowles.
Zero game planning for the next team. Strict adherence to the “forced” 1 way game plan (one plan for every game of the season).
This is the reason we were always easy to predict and rarely used our strengths against the oppositions weaknesses. Except when that happened to fit our ONE gameplan.
Time to cut bait.
Start interviewing head coaches immediately!
January 18th, 2023 at 1:22 pm
Could Leftwich be having a temper tantrum ? After having his ego stroked by Bruce for so long and then being passed over for the JAX job after little or no interest from others, I think he decided to sink Bowles. Leftwich could then claim that Bowles overruled him on certain aspects thus giving himself cover.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:27 pm
Glazer’s are not going to do it. You may as well save your breath . Start talking draft. And save your money too. This team won’t be worth watching.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:33 pm
Did anyone watch Byron during his playing days? He had the worst windup/release of any qb in the history of the league and was too hard headed to change it. Not surprised one bit that he would keep calling the same ole tired offense.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:36 pm
The Glazers will keep Bowles regardless of his complete incompetence as a head coach, because it makes them look good to Roger Goodell and the woke mob. Bowles is the HC of a team that should have won at least 13 games and vied for the number one seed. Bowles can say what he wants about Leftwich but at the end of the day the blame lays squarely on the shoulders of the HC. The defense stunk just as bad as the offense so what does that say about Bowles ?? Bowles and the entire staff should be fired immediately. Excuse me for being old school but when you have women coaching offensive and defensive lines then it’s a wonder the Bucs won any games…
January 18th, 2023 at 1:38 pm
The Bucs chose between Leftwich or Bowles to take over….they went with Bowles. Maybe that created some sort of friction? Arians really left them both in a difficult situation. Organization had to pick one of them as we were too far into the hiring cycle, whomever they picked couldn’t build the staff they wanted, recruit players they may have preferred, etc. If Bowles gets fired after next season, he’s done as a HC candidate. Leftwich took a big step backwards in his OC/HC career. All around not good for either of them.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Bowles needs to go along with Leftwurst. Bowles knew Leftwurst wasn’t getting the job done and did squat about it. Do you think Arians or even Gruden would allow an OC to screw up the entire season?
January 18th, 2023 at 1:44 pm
There’s no direct statistical relationship between run success and play action. But the bucs were historically bad. I wonder what would’ve happened if BL had just called a ton of play action in a game. The reason it works is because defenders are taught to read run first. Who knows, if they’d called more of it, defenses may have simply ignored the run action and killed Brady. The hurry up stuff is another animal. There’s no earthly reason why they shouldn’t have run more of it. You can’t run it all game, but you can certainly use it as a jump start and to keep certain defenders on the field
.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:47 pm
This is typical Bucs crap. Its a no brainer FIRE Leftwitch & move on. But this is the way the Bucs operate. Slow & slower when it comes time to letting people go. It really makes it hard to follow this team.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:47 pm
Simeon97 Says:
January 18th, 2023 at 12:16 pm
Someone put it best recently: this WAS a plain vanilla offense with a number of superstars, that masked the vanilla calls. Butlook at the drop-off in production as the superstars departed.
__________________________________________
Correct, it was actually like this since 2019 when BA & co. took over. The difference was, in 2019 you had Jameis the gun slinger, and in 2020 and 2021 the offense was filled with HOFers, all-pros, pro-bowlers, etc.
They still had a few of those guys in 2022 of course, but down a few o-lineman plus ZERO production at tight end + Leftwich’s pathetic playcalling = our offense sucking. When BA was here, he at least forced a little more unpredictability in the playcalls, even if the scheme was still basic.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:49 pm
[Reported by who? — Joe]
January 18th, 2023 at 1:50 pm
Scapegoat.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:51 pm
Sure… a rogue employee that just wouldn’t listen to me caused all the problems. I’m a great coach. SMH.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:52 pm
Good point made above — BA is supportive of both coaches and probably is lobbying to give them another year.
I hate to do this to ya, BA, but you’re the first one that needs to be “excused” of your duties, whatever they are now. Once he retires for good, there will be no obstacles to firing the stubborn blind man and his drooling sidekick.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:53 pm
Goatfarmer … ‘One way to be safe. Fire them both.’
And what’s behind HC Door #2 Goatfarmer? Schiano 2? Lovie Smith Reincarnated? The Bucs are a multi-billion dollar BUSINESS to the Glazers, and they’re the ones calling the shots, not you. You can make your decisions based on emotion, which you often do apparently. They don’t have that luxury.
January 18th, 2023 at 1:57 pm
Buc4evr … ‘Bowles needs to go along with Leftwurst. Bowles knew Leftwurst wasn’t getting the job done and did squat about it’.
Easy question: Why aren’t you asking for Licht to go too? I mean like he’s the GENERAL MANAGER, in charge of making PERSONNEL DECISIONS, among other duties. He obviously knew BL wasn’t getting the job done and didn’t do ‘squat about it’. Why does he get to keep his job in your scenario?
January 18th, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Bowles was HC. He didn’t need to have stat heads show him what worked. He was standing on the sidelines of every game. Who care what Leftnut thought of stats? Bowles was HC. If Leftnut ignored his order to change things up Bowles could have pulled the plug on Lefty headset and taken over play calling! Now we are led to believe that it’s all on Lefty? Nope We had a HC who refused to hold people accountable and failed miserably as HC. They BOTH need to go. No excuses for either one.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:07 pm
DR. The organizational structure, below the Glazers gets pretty murky pretty quickly. Licht is the GM. Arians has a great deal of power with the Glazers and Licht. Todd and Lefty are Arian’s guys. Does one go? Two? Three? Four? And who takes their place? Frankly, something needs to be done. But exactly what the Glazers decide to do is pretty sticky. And who will carry the water to the seat buying fans to convince them whatever they decide is better than sliced bread, and well worth the investment of their hard earned funds? Wish I had their funds, but happy I’m not in their shoes on this one.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
NPR…kind of what I’m saying. An employee basically gives you the finger when you tell them to do or not do something, do you sit back and take it? You can’t fire them and replace them? Says who? It still comes back to the decision makers with the power to hire, fire and promote. Scapegoating doesn’t work.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:10 pm
Head clown Bowlzo and his circus show need to be disbanded ASAP. Fans want to see football and not a circus.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:11 pm
I’m sorry but how can you coach a team properly when your QB doesn’t want to get hit or practice??
January 18th, 2023 at 2:12 pm
Not sure why he’s still employed, lol does he need an exit interview? No need to wait until someone else is available for if they know without a doubt he’s gone because a 4th or 5th hire option is still better than leftwich. Greg schiano could put a better offensive gameplan together than him
January 18th, 2023 at 2:12 pm
And secondly NPR. If Arians and Licht likes them both, don’t they have a responsibility to back the guy in the right and help jettison the one that won’t back the best interest of the organization? They both can’t be right…the results show that. So they need to find out if it was one, the other or both, and do what is best for the organization. Period.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:13 pm
Bobby M … ‘Arians really left them both (Bowles & Leftwich) in a difficult situation’.
Agree 100% Bobby. But not just them; he left the whole organization in a pickle. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if the timing wasn’t intentional. Free agency was already underway & the draft was just around the corner. Other teams needing new HCs had already hired them. The timing also pretty much guaranteed that BA’s staff would get 1 more year, at a minimum. So what options were left for the Glazers but to go with BA’s recommendation?
Of course there is another scenario that’s been rumored. Tom Brady announced that he was coming back to the Bucs on March 13th (to which BA responded ‘Total excitement’ according to press reports). And yet, 2 weeks later BA ‘retires’ (to a cushy front office job). I wonder what went on in those 2 weeks. Inquiring minds need to know. Nah, I really don’t care. You are where you are.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:16 pm
So Lamarcus. If you don’t like what Brady has done, bench him. After all, who is the HC? Stand up for your convictions. And if you can’t do that, I’d be in Lichts office pronto looking for another QB among the guys floating around during the season, to have a plan B other than Trask or Gabbart. Would you sit there and eat it?
January 18th, 2023 at 2:17 pm
Defense Rules — Brian Flores. Proven successful head coach. For OC, there are any one of a plethora of people that don’t drool on themselves when trying to lead an offense or address the media. Go pay Todd Monken whatever he wants to leave Georgia. Fill in the blanks. I have a feeling the Glazers are keenly aware of the stooge show in house and are making deliberate preparations. We may need to suffer another year with the proven failed head coach Bowels. Door numbers 2 through184 probably have compelling candidates. Licht knows a lot of them. Glazers are telling Licht to get busy.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:19 pm
DR… I’m just speculating. But I wonder if Arians had another health scare of some kind that made him do an about face. It is odd. But he doesn’t exactly have a great health history. And when you get this age, no one knows what can happen from one day to the next. That is the only reason I can think where a guy might rationally change directions so quickly.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:21 pm
And Defense Rules — take it easy with the superiority complex you plop down on almost every post you make. There are motivations different than yours for lot of the posters here — amusement, venting steam and trying to find a few laughs. Don’t take yourself and everyone else so damn seriously.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:23 pm
WAY ARE THESE GUYS EVEN STILL ON THE COACHING STAFF???? THEY ALL SHOULD WALKED THE PLANK BY 12:00PM YESTERDAY JAN. 17TH
January 18th, 2023 at 2:23 pm
If Glazers are going to sell nothing will happen at all. Brady will leave and the rest will either fly the coop or get as much dollars as they can for the upcoming Bowlzo Debacle. it will be the problem of the new owner.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:24 pm
WHY ARE THESE GUYS EVEN STILL ON THE COACHING STAFF???? THEY ALL SHOULD WALKED THE PLANK BY 12:00PM YESTERDAY JAN. 17TH
January 18th, 2023 at 2:25 pm
Deemo. I think the Glazers were blown away by how badly we were blown away Monday night. Maybe it caught them a little flat footed. And I think they have alot of voices in their ears.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:28 pm
If Brady demanded BA step aside in order to un-retire, then this past season can be blamed on Brady.
If Arians stepped aside so that it would ensure Bowles and Leftwich will get an opportunity, then the season can be blamed on BA.
Or maybe BA has health issues he’s not publicly disclosing.
We may never know the truth.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:28 pm
“The ultimate thing is winning and whatever it takes for us to win, we’ve got to do that.”
Then why didn’t Todd Bowels go for it on 4th down??!? Because he’s a scaredy cat!!!!!!
RIP no risk it no biscuit 🙏
January 18th, 2023 at 2:30 pm
Remember this time last year when the rumors were that he would be the next Jaguars HC
Bwahahahahaa
January 18th, 2023 at 2:31 pm
The Glazer’s are terrible at this!
They should sell the team or at least 51%
January 18th, 2023 at 2:33 pm
Leftwich was running Bowles’ offense, just like he ran Arians’.
If you look back at Bowles’ time as head coach of the Jets you see exactly the same thing.
Bowles and his entire staff need to go
January 18th, 2023 at 2:39 pm
Mark2001 … ‘They both (Bowles & Leftwich) can’t be right…the results show that. So they need to find out if it was one, the other or both, and do what is best for the organization. Period.’
I suspect that’s exactly what the Glazers are doing right about now. If they fire Bowles AND Leftwich, they’ve effectively blown this whole thing up. They’d have no coaching staff AND relatively few players … including no starting QB with experience … to build from AND no money to work with. Our FAs would all walk (most probably will anyways), so what top-tier HC is gonna want to step into that quagmire?
Defensively we’re facing a nightmare (only 9 players from this year’s defense returning, and several of those got relatively little field time). Offensively we’re in much better shape actually. Well except for the fact that we have no experienced starting QB & our OLine needs work. Still, there’s hope there.
Given that situation, Glazers will most likely opt to keep Bowles (he is a pretty good DC) and hire a top OC talent to replace Leftwich. Not unlike what they did in Lovie’s 2nd year? When Lovie didn’t produce, guess who moved up? Yup, Dirk Koetter, the OC. Could end up with the same scenario in 2023 & 2024.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:42 pm
The Glazers are in final negotiations on the sale of MU. That will be done soon. I doubt the family cares much about the Bucs and will prolly decide to bail out facing the loser season coming up. It may be a reason they sold 2 year tix to raise the market value. This is just a hunch but I would not be surprised. Some of them may want the money I think.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:44 pm
Glazers have fired coaches both very quickly, and others have taken several days or even weeks after the season. So a delay right now doesn’t really mean anything either way in regards to who‘s job is safe. I wouldn’t read into that other than perhaps they are batting around different ideas. And they rarely make these decisions based on emotion.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:45 pm
BrianBucs … ‘Leftwich was running Bowles’ offense, just like he ran Arians’. If you look back at Bowles’ time as head coach of the Jets you see exactly the same thing.’
Please do share how this year’s Bucs’ offense (#1 passing attempts; #32 running attempts) is EXACTLY THE SAME THING as the Jets offense that Bowles ran (#22 passing attempts; #16 rushing attempts in 2018 … other years similar).
January 18th, 2023 at 2:48 pm
DR…sounds workable….IF… we can get a top notch OC. Remember TD’s last years? He had the D but couldn’t get a top notch OC because he was on thin ice. I think Bowles is on thin ice, without the outstanding D that Tony had. So what if we can’t get a top notch OC? Do you then start over? I doubt any top notch guy wants a one year gig…unless he really believes Bowles can turn it around in one year, likely without a good pass rush and very possibly without Brady?
January 18th, 2023 at 2:48 pm
are these 2 bozos still in tampa ? what will it take to kick these 2 out.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:48 pm
2023 They will go with Trask and bring Gabbert back, Just like they were going to do when Brady retired. I would almost bet money on it.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:50 pm
There are 5 Glazers that own the Bucs. We usually see only 2 of them. One of them just sold their 55 million dollar home in Palm Beach. Something is up with that family.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:51 pm
Les Steckel?
January 18th, 2023 at 2:52 pm
Trask may be a great QB. But I haven’t seen anything yet to make me think that will happen.
January 18th, 2023 at 2:55 pm
Defense Rules
Because Bowles main focus was trying to control the clock with the run game, shorten the game to keep your defense off of the field and limit the opponents number of possessions.
Bucs couldn’t run the ball so, as he said several times himself this year, is to use the short passing game as an extension of the running game.
If the Bucs could have run the ball better then the number of pass attempts would have been much lower.
January 18th, 2023 at 3:00 pm
There is NO doubt this was set up by BA to insure his boys were locked and loaded. Bowles statements are BS and throwing the already incompetent BL under the bus. There is a reason Brady took to BL over Bowles. I know you don’t want to believe it DR, but Bowles is the biggest problem.
Where is BA the invisible man to defend his protégé before the hanging?
January 18th, 2023 at 3:08 pm
mark2001.
My thinking is they bring back Gabbert and let Trask compete. Which ever one wins? I don’t think Brady wants to come back. And they may not want him to come back even if they find the money. But they will not spend big money on a FA QB.
January 18th, 2023 at 3:11 pm
“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a 3-10-1 record against the spread this season.”
Someone made a fortune betting against the Bucs all season long. Not saying it was Leftwich, but it is strange he now has $20 million sitting in a Cayman Island’s account.
Just kidding! But it is something I wondered about all season watching constant run it up the gut plays for a yard or less.
January 18th, 2023 at 3:19 pm
I think it is more complex than Bowles told BL to do something, and he did it or not. It is easy to tell when the lights don’t blink it sequence…harder to actually make them blink in sequence (from Airplane2 movie). Agree, more play-action, less run up the middle on 1st, more up tempo, yada yada yada. I have to think Brady and Arians…and eventually other players and assistants…are injected somewhere in there in a notso-happy family. They need to keep a few players, but largely blow this thing up. Band-aids won’t fix this.
January 18th, 2023 at 3:21 pm
Defense, of course it was intentional. He did it as an FU to Brady. He had to know Bowles limitations. I also think he did it to make himself look better. How many times have we heard cries for BA to come back. He’s not as stupid as some make him out to be. He’s very calculating. Forget the coaching tree stuff. What better way to make yourself look important than failure with another coach. I think BA has some Belichick in him. Brady became bigger than the team. I don’t think BA took kindly to that.
January 18th, 2023 at 3:43 pm
Mark001
There’s no difference between Brady and Trask/Gabbert. All 3 could lead us to 8-9 and eliminated from the playoffs.
January 18th, 2023 at 4:00 pm
BrianBucs … Joe’s quote from Bowles earlier in this piece says it all IMO: “The ultimate thing is winning and whatever it takes for us to win, we’ve got to do that.”
The running game didn’t work this year after the first couple of games, except for in the Seattle game. Common sense says beating your head against a wall hurts, so they turned more to the short pass. Unfortunately, it’s hard to win in today’s NFL being 1-dimensional, and that’s what we became. My only point was that the Bucs & Jets attack schemes weren’t really all that similar. Different teams, different times.
January 18th, 2023 at 4:17 pm
Mark2001 … Tony Dungy had Monte running the defense of course, but he had several OCs (Mike Shula 4 years, then Les Steckel for 1 year & Clyde Christensen for 1 year). From a performance standpoint, Les Steckel was by far the best (388 points & #6 ranking), but he was apparently too tough on the offense from what I remember (guess they couldn’t take the Marine approach to training).
Regarding a top-notch OC, we’ve still got a decent core there & money talks. The Glazers aren’t cheap when it comes to paying for quality coordinators. That’d let whoever we hire focus on fixing the offense, and let Todd Bowles focus on fixing the defense (which actually needs more work IMO). If he can’t straighten it out, then the Glazers wouldn’t hesitate to let him go I’m convinced, maybe even in the middle of the season. Easy solution would then be to promote that top-notch OC (yet unnamed?) to HC & let Bowles’ assistant DC take over that side of the ball for the season.
All this is pure speculation anyways. Billionaires like the Glazers think differently than simple folk like us. That’s why they’re billionaires and I’m not.
January 18th, 2023 at 4:30 pm
My Momma thinks that getting rid of Ronald Jones was a big mistake. If he found a crease, he would exploit it. He was #1 in the league for yards after contact for a reason. She thinks that he paved the way for “Tippy Toes” Fornette because by then,the pass was already set up.
January 18th, 2023 at 4:33 pm
Here’s a question. Over the last 2 Years all I heard on this website was the success of the Bucs offense was due to Brady, that Brady was calling the plays and Brady was deeply involved in the schemes to maximize his strengths. Now that the offense has failed all I read is its Leftwich and Bowles fault. If the insinuation is that Bowles was hands off with the offense, and should have done more but didn’t, isn’t that the same situation as the last 2 years? why did Leftwich and Brady fail this year as opposed to the success from the last 2 years? And if we assume that all the offensive success was due to Brady as many on this site have spewed, then why did Brady fail?
I’m just saying that maybe just maybe the combination of o line and receiver injuries and limited practices, a drop off of talent on the o line, the retirement of one of of not the best tight end who ever played, loss of a HOF receiver and yes some limited and non innovated run game schemes all contributed to the overall lack of success for this year. To say firing Bowles will fix the o line or turn Otten into the second coming of Gonzalez or Gronk is a bit of a stretch.
January 18th, 2023 at 4:49 pm
“We do what we do!”
Sincerely, Byron
January 18th, 2023 at 4:51 pm
When Sean Payton’s team stock went down he retired. He’s looking to come back but with a team with stars already. If he is that great if a coach then why not stick around and help rebuild!!!!
January 18th, 2023 at 5:07 pm
DR…Tony could never get a top notch OC in his later years, and his loyalty to his staff cause him to wait too long to do so until it was too late. I heard he wanted Moore when he first came to Tampa but he already took a job in Indy. Not sure that is true but guys like Joe certainly know better than me. But my point is that the 1999 D had multiple HOF’ers on it. And we couldn’t cobble together an offense that could get us to the big dance. He went to Indy with a superior Offense, used his skills to put together a good defense, not as good as the one in Tampa but a good one, and he won the SB. But when you are on think ice, nobody wants to tie their future to a failing situation..
The track record of the Glazers tells me they are carefully thinking out the next move. They are exploring all their options. Even they probably don’t know how all the cards will fall out at this time. And will do what they think is best for the organization and that bottom line. They have tons of contacts. And I think what will happen next is pretty much speculation on our part.
I’d imagine that most successful OC”s want a shot at HC. And you don’t make that happen by taking a job in a filing situation, one that you don’t have the power to correct. And it isn’t just about OC and DC. You can pay them a million or millions more. But the point comes where having the career you have worked for, for years, means a lot. And it isn’t just about the next paycheck.
January 18th, 2023 at 5:17 pm
Clearly people see what they wanna see. While Coach Leftwhich called the same plays that led to a top offense two years in a row, he did so with an injured and new offensive line, without the star tight end they previously had and with a a 45 year old QB who used to be the GOAT but was at times distracted with personal issues, at times uncommitted and so afraid of being hit that he threw balls into the dirt before receivers could complete their routes. But because he is the golden boy, the Coach took all the blame for his failures while he got all the credit for successes. He fumbled games away, threw uncharacteristic interceptions and threw balls away way too quickly because he was too immobile to run and too gaunt to absorb hits.
January 18th, 2023 at 5:21 pm
@DR: yes, billionaires think differently. AFTER the billions, not before.
Now they’re all Woke. Are the Glazers in Davos?
We know what Billionaire Woke gets the Bucs in 2023: Bowles is untouchable.
January 18th, 2023 at 6:02 pm
C2 you’ll get the chance to prove yourself right cause Brady ain’t coming back.
NCal, I get your point but what you’re forgetting early on Bowles was asked will Brsdy be dictating the offense and Bowles blatantly replied NO, it is Leftnuts offense, which tells me Brady was neutered. Bowles wants Brady gone so he can be the only say in the locker room. The Pirate ship is the new Titanic.
January 18th, 2023 at 6:09 pm
We lost the game because the Cowboys picked up our pass rush and stopped it cold, even when we blitzed.
Prescott had all day to pick us apart.
January 18th, 2023 at 6:59 pm
I’ve said this many times and I’ll keep saying it. The Bucs have hired and fired more Black coaches than any other team has probably hired. They’re not afraid to fire anyone. Stop with your dumb “woke” buzz word. You sound ridiculous.
January 18th, 2023 at 7:55 pm
what oc would want to come here? what oc would want to work with bowles?
what oc would bowles work with?
if you keep bowles and get a new oc without bowles acceptance, you have next yr exactly what we had this year.
you either be happy with a bowles offense or you have hc oc onflict again.
get rid of bowles, start afresh because you don’t want his offensive philosopy.
i like the idea of monken … but doesn’t the head coach choose his oc? do you chose a head coach you know will chose monken as the oc?
i’m perplexed (regardless of what tom does or doesn’t do)
January 18th, 2023 at 8:02 pm
Can’t help but wonder if the problems started when BA moved upstairs and Bowles became the HC rather then Leftwich. Frankly it never made much sense to me to hand the reins over to a defensive minded coach who has failed previously as a HC.
And it also didn’t make any sense to hand over the HC to an inexperienced OC with what was for the last 1-2 years one of the BEST offenses in the league. Heck, I can’t stand the guy but Michigan alum Jim Harbaugh probably would have taken the job if it was offered to him back then, and I would have been fine with Brian Deaboll too, you know, the guy who’s team just knocked the Vikings out in the first round!
Geez, what a cluster puck!
January 18th, 2023 at 8:18 pm
Byron and Todd somehow transformed a 30ppg aerial offense to a plodding 17ppg joke. Byron will be the scapegoat but Todd deserves plenty of blame. His fingerprints are all over this boring offense.
January 18th, 2023 at 9:45 pm
Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron. Fire Toad. Fire Boron.
All wack and no plan makes Toad a fired coach.
January 19th, 2023 at 1:59 am
Bowles got the job on March 30th, and was just the head coach in name only. He was as involved with the offense as Gruden was with that all-time great 2002 Bucs defense — meaning not at all.
Arians put the Bucs in a difficult spot by retiring when he did, and Bowles was handed the job, and a big raise, but in name only. He was told don’t touch the offense, it will run on auto-pilot, they’ll just do what they do, and focus on the defense.
But what Arians didn’t realize is how clueless and stupid Leftwich truly is. All Leftwich had to do was run everything the same way Arians ran it, but Leftwich is literally the dumbest person in any room. This is the same idiot that turned down the Jags headcoaching job because he thought so highly of himself that he’d just be able to get any job he wanted and name his terms. He’s clueless.
January 19th, 2023 at 3:18 am
The posters who think the Glazer family are just itching the sell this team are just plain ignorant of the business of professional sports. How much do actual ticket sales account for the budget of the NFL? aka butts in seats 75%? 50%? 25%? Try 1.25%. (Statista 2021) So if all you pretend armchair GMs/Presidents of Football Operations/Directors of Player Personnel all drop your season tickets… it wouldn’t matter one iota to the real bottom line. (plus the visiting team fans would just scoop them up like matinee tickets to an all-day movie marathon. National television revenue drives all things in the NFL. (the pandemic proved, no fans=no problem) I don’t think the Glazers are stupid enough to jump off the money train, even if their local product isn’t up to the quality their “fans” demand. The organization could have went 0-50 during the TB12 era regular season and still would have made more scratch being blacked out for all 25 home games. Under the Glazers the Bucs hoisted the Lombardi trophy twice, so how can the be the worst owners? Some of you make it sound like Hugh Culverhouse’s rotting corpse is still running a financially emaciated organization with a notoriously frugal tightwad ownership group.
Yes Billionaires think differently, because their data says the average loudmouth fan doesn’t have enough sway to pull enough real revenue away to hurt them. Lets look at bad football team like the 2021 Houston Texans. “In 2021, the revenue of the Houston Texans amounted to 571 million U.S. dollars, denoting an increase of 43.8 percent over the previous year.” (per Statista) When you suck out loud like that the money should run far away, but reality is different and no matter if you are Jerry Jones or Daniel Snyder you stick to the money train. You would need all of the NFL addicted fans to collectively shut off every TV for the whole season to hurt the ownership, but that will never happen. Even if the Bucs finished with a pedestrian 8-10 record, they still drew where it mattered…. in big screens across the country. It doesn’t matter who QBs or who coaches… the dollars will keep flowing like manna. Unless you can drop a couple of billion to buy a professional team, you have no idea what it takes to make probably mundane organizational decisions. Unrealistic expectations meets reality.
January 19th, 2023 at 9:18 am
Just the opposite. Bowles is a horrible coach which he has proven, and he will trash every single person and coach to protect himself. Leftwich has gotten better each year and has been on the upswing every year. Bowles has always sucked. Suddenly Leftwich is an idiot and Bowles let him do as he pleased? BS. Bowles change the offense and Leftwich dealt with it .
January 19th, 2023 at 10:56 am
The G Should be fired for resigning the black frankenstein he is the most penalize offensive linemen in the NFL plus probably had Brady sacked or pressured hundreds of times doesn’t anyone on the team watch tapes of the game defensive ends just run right around him this is the worse move the bucs ever did Frankenstein had better footwork than him
January 19th, 2023 at 11:30 am
Bowles said basicly the same thing earlier this year and it was BS then. Question is…. Is there is even an ounce of truth to this? If there is then he’s gotta go!
January 19th, 2023 at 3:33 pm
Dear Rod Munch S dumb as you say Byron Leftwhich is, he is still a Super Bowl winning OC who will coach again at the highest level of football. You are still a nobody criticizing someone for their performance at something you could never do. Yet you call him dumb…. Gotta love you people!
January 22nd, 2023 at 9:19 am
I agree with the vast majority of responders…. both bowles and leftwitch should be fired. Never saw or heard someone less qualified for managing a complex set of issues than leftwitch… ZERO ability to comprehend, react, communicate and lead ! bowles the supposed defense wiz appeared braindead during games …. was his phone even connected?? He also cost us a SUPERBOWL trip last year with the stupidest defensive play call ever … allowing Kupp to run free with seconds on the clock… when he was the only guy hurting us all game ! Awarded the head coach position after that ????? Tired of woke appointments! Hire the best person available regardless of their color ! Now fire bowles!
Good bye Mr Brady!
January 24th, 2023 at 10:42 am
“No Balls” Boles is the problem. Just listen to his jibberish at every press conference. He let “Leftfield” Leftwich alone #1because he’s a brother and #2 he has no balls to confront an issue weather it’s fighting the refs on the field or confronting his staff after a dumbass loss that made no sense to loose. He sucks and he has to be the first to get fired. Brady is not that stupid to come back another season of Todd Boles. Neither are the fans.
January 24th, 2023 at 2:54 pm
Based on what bowels did to the jets, leftwich was listening to much. You got Rooney ruled tampa, say goodbye to a decade
January 24th, 2023 at 5:02 pm
100% agree w/SlyPirate.
Bowles had 19 weeks to correct the ineptitude of the offense. The buck has to stop with him. OL & TE were playing bad football as a unit and it took the entire offense down. Otton was young and improved with time, but he’s not Gronk. That left a hole. Wirfs was solid again, but the others struggled mightily. That problem needed to be addressed with coaching. Neither Lefty nor Bowles solved the problem. And with Bowles taking charge of the whole team, the defense took a step back too. Didn’t help that they lost Barrett early in the season, but honestly, even he looked pretty out of shape before the injury. The Bucs were loaded with talent, but as a team they severely underwhelmed in 2022. Both the coaching and the culture were not where they needed to be….Leaves a horrible aftertaste in one’s mouth. Blech!