“Can You Be Competitive?”
April 14th, 2023
Keyshawn Johnson, the former stud Bucs receiver and Super Bowl champion (and the current face of ESPN radio) thinks the ice under head coach Todd Bowles is thin.
That was Johnson’s message yesterday on NFL Live.
The good news for Bowles fans is that Johnson thinks Bowles doesn’t need a special season to be blessed with the opportunity to coach Tampa Bay in 2024.
He just has to make sure the Bucs are legitimately competitive.
“Can you win nine games, can you win eight games, can you be in the fight? Can you be competitive in a divsion that right now is not that great?” Johnson asked of Bowles rhetorically.
“And if he can show that, then maybe his tenure as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer extends beyond 2023. … And it gets into 2024 before [ownership] really starts to say, ‘Hey, let’s make some hay.'”
Joe thinks Bowles need at least seven wins to have a chance of returning for the 2024 Bucs season. Every NFC South team won at least seven games last season — and each club trotted out subpar quarterbacks. So the bar should not go lower than that.
Also, Bowles shouldn’t have a learning curve in his fifth season in the organization and second as head coach.
Lastly, the Bucs have talent, and their AFC schedule includes games against shaky Titans, Texans and Colts teams.
Winning at least seven games shouldn’t be too much to ask. And it’s certainly reasonable to think the Bucs could be a nine-win team if they play close to their potential.
A losing 2023 season for Bowles would mark five in a row as a head coach. Joe’s research says that would be the worst run since Eagles/Falcons head coach Marion Campbell in the 1980s.
Flash poll posted at 10:10 a.m.
April 14th, 2023 at 9:59 am
If Todd Bowles can engineer a top 10 defense in 2024 he will be safe.
– The salary cap mess of 2023 was NOT his fault… $75M of dead cap space.
– Being stuck with an incompetent offensive coordinator was NOT his fault.
– Tom Brady’s off-field issues and distractions in 2022 were NOT his fault.
– The destruction of our O-line was NOT his fault.
Even with a horrible misguided offense the Bucs were close to winning all their games except two (SF and Dallas)…
April 14th, 2023 at 10:00 am
Keyshawn needs to get a full time gig on the ESPN NFL show he is a objective NFL analyst and is Keyshawn, compared to Ryan Clark, Mina Kimes, and that blowhard Marcus Spears, that show is garbage
April 14th, 2023 at 10:27 am
from marine buc above:
If Todd Bowles can engineer a top 10 defense in 2024 he will be safe.
– The salary cap mess of 2023 was NOT his fault… $75M of dead cap space.
– Being stuck with an incompetent offensive coordinator was NOT his fault.
– Tom Brady’s off-field issues and distractions in 2022 were NOT his fault.
– The destruction of our O-line was NOT his fault.
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granted, true … but it’s not about what happens to you (in or out of your control), it’s about how you respond. reviewing bowles’ responses (not outcomes) really? were they indicative of a take charge, innovative HC?
we each have our own opinion about that.
jim
April 14th, 2023 at 10:42 am
Not the biggest fan of we gotta “win this game” or that type of talk, because that is just framing an incomplete picture. For the time being time is on our side, and we’re still in the talent gathering phase of the offseason. We’ve got the draft, UDFA period, and a few waves of cuts that usually equate to FA runs, so at the very least anything is still possible.
April 14th, 2023 at 10:45 am
Ummm, There is a better coach out there kids.
April 14th, 2023 at 10:57 am
@ Jim
No doubt Todd Bowles needs to make improvements with his clock and overall game management.
But you can’t blame him for the offensive mess we saw last season… Leftwhich, Brady and a depleted offensive line were several key factors that contributed to the Bucs decline last season and none of them were within Todd Bowles’ control.
April 14th, 2023 at 10:57 am
HC Grover … Yes (and No)
The Bucs are rebuilding team. Bowles is actually GOOD for the Bucs because he’s not a very good head coach. With Bowles, the Bucs won’t overachieve. They’ll get better players in the draft and reload faster.
April 14th, 2023 at 11:10 am
I listen to your guys pod all the time, and Lee can’t pointing out how many straight losing seasons for Bowles… yet he’s got nothing against the guy as he likes to say… you love to point out 4 straight losing seasons, again, I’ve been beating this drum, and no I’m not a Bowles apologist, but I don’t recognize last season as a losing season…
Context means d!*k for so many people it seems. We played the hand that was given and we would’ve beaten the Falcons in the final game if we needed too. It was already heading in that direction when the starters were pulled. This website would have been tearing into Bowles if we opted to play that game all the way through… FOR NO REASON WHAT SO EVER, and someone critical on the team got hurt and wasn’t able to start in against the Cowboys. This team was riddled with injuries from day one and we needed everyone healthy. Why do we care so much about the record? We won the shi**y South. Losing to Dallas, with 9-8 regular season record would not have changed anything.
April 14th, 2023 at 11:11 am
@Marine Buc, I agree 100% with what you wrote. None of those issues were within his control, but many Bowles haters want to make him responsible for all of it plus climate change as well.
I don’t believe there is a specific number of wins that will determine whether the HC is launched from One Buc Place or not after this coming season. The Glazers and Licht want to do everything within their power to build another championship team and Bowles will have to show that he can be part of the equation to make that happen.
Back in 1996, Tony Dungy had a 6-10 season but the team started off 1-8 that season but won 5 out of its last 7 games and everyone in that building knew the team was on the right path. Dungy won 6 games in his first season but was absolutely safe.
The Glazers know that Bowles and JL have severe salary cap restraints this season but want to see their young players being developed and want to see signs that the team is moving in the right direction. If that happens then both the HC and GM will be safe.
April 14th, 2023 at 11:20 am
So we are taking MEshawn seriously now?
What an asshat! Geez guys come on!
April 14th, 2023 at 11:34 am
Are there betting lines that Canales is promoted to interim head coach after Thanksgiving?
I hope the team comes together and we don’t have a wasted season again
April 14th, 2023 at 12:01 pm
EEK Says:
April 14th, 2023 at 11:34 am
Are there betting lines that Canales is promoted to interim head coach after Thanksgiving?
I hope the team comes together and we don’t have a wasted season again
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I would put the percentage of likelihood this will happen at less than 5% and would question the wisdom of doing such a thing.
Even if Canales demonstrates that he is a GREAT OC that doesn’t mean he’ll be a great HC.
The only reason the Bucs would offer him that position is that they don’t want to lose him to another team offering him a HC position. But history shows that that move doesn’t always end up in a positive way.
If he demonstrates that he’s a great OC then the Glazers and GM should do all they can to keep him here in that position. Give him a raise or even make him Assistant HC, but don’t make him a HC until he demonstrates he is ready….if he ever is.
April 14th, 2023 at 12:05 pm
If the Glazers keep a coach who has five consecutive losing seasons, including two with the Bucs where there is way more talent than he had with the Jets, it will be shock of the century. There are, for sure, way better choices out there and Jason Licht already has his list.
April 14th, 2023 at 12:10 pm
Marine Buc, you sound like Bowles. Bowles always has an excuse for his failure. Winners don’t make excuses!!!!!! Losers do! You can rationalize anything, literally anything!! Case in point, the other day a couple jumped out of their car, during a fit of road rage, and fired a gun at some older woman who was still in her car. Then they pounded on the windshield and drivers window trying to break in. What sort of action could this lady have done to provoke being shot at? I don’t believe she ran down their daughter in the street! But in their mind they were wronged! And she needed to die! You can rationalize anything!
April 14th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
Bowels should have NEVER been HC of the Bucs…
The sooner the Bucs replace him, the better they instantly become!
April 14th, 2023 at 12:32 pm
@ Info
I understand the point you are trying to make.
However – in order to properly analyze any situation you have to look at the facts and make a judgement based on reality…
April 14th, 2023 at 1:05 pm
Tye Says:
April 14th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
Bowels should have NEVER been HC of the Bucs…
The sooner the Bucs replace him, the better they instantly become!
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Who would you replace him with?
April 14th, 2023 at 1:09 pm
We’ll be lucky to get 6 wins- dam lucky..
April 14th, 2023 at 1:24 pm
If he can win 9 games, he’ll be back for certain.
Vegas, correctly, has the line at 6.5 – last place in the NFC South. That’s what happens when you’re handed a SB caliber team and go 8-10, then replace Tom Brady with Baker Mayfield.
April 14th, 2023 at 2:50 pm
Having the starting offense take half the day off in that last game is looming larger and larger
April 14th, 2023 at 2:58 pm
Captivating, I would strongly consider Brian Flores , but thinking about an offensive coach who is quite obviously a leader and I’m sure Licht has a good half dozen coordinators on his list already. Both Wilks and Culley got teams (Panthers, Texans) with tanking as their goal to hard and win some games also.
Then there’s also Lovie Smith
jk
Bloweszo seems positively manic compared to Lovie.
This is the next big job for Jason Licht.
April 14th, 2023 at 2:58 pm
Captivajim *. Sorry about the autocorrect t
April 14th, 2023 at 3:12 pm
How does one make hay?
April 14th, 2023 at 11:31 pm
The problem with Bowles is he took a team that was designed to do a specific thing and tried to force it to align more closely to his philosophy. He stubbornly persisted in this even though a series of injuries made it even more unlikely to be successful.
Also, when is the last time a top 10 running team won the Super Bowl? How often does that happen? Whether he likes it or not, this is currently a pass first league. Clearly, our run game should be better but it’s not like the Super Bowl team was a running team. That year we were 4th…from the bottom.
April 15th, 2023 at 12:34 am
Spot on Greg. Bloweszo brought a sledgehammer to a brain surgery operation.
April 15th, 2023 at 11:59 am
View from 132 Says:
April 14th, 2023 at 3:12 pm
How does one make hay?
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Do nothing, kinda like Bowles overseeing his team’s offense. All you have to do is cut and store it [wait til fall, cut drying grasses, store in a well ventilated space out of the sun]
April 15th, 2023 at 9:11 pm
Ha