Todd Bowles Talks Defensive Failures, Says Lavonte David Was Overcompensating
October 9th, 2024
Todd Bowles is an astute listener who often will reject the premise of a question.
The head coach was in that mode during The Todd Bowles Show yesterday on the Buccaneers Radio Network.
Host Casey Phillips suggested to Bowles that perhaps Thursday’s defensive implosion in Atlanta was the result of injuries catching up to the defense.
Bowles was having none of it.
“Really didn’t see it that way. I just thought we were misaligned and didn’t make a bunch of plays,” Bowles said.
As for Falcons immobile quarterback Kirk Cousins exploding for 509 yards passing, Bowles revealed that Atlanta approached beating the Bucs in very similar ways to how Detroit attacked them in Week 2.
“It was more the YAC yards — after the catch,” Bowles said of Bucs pass coverage failures on Thursday.
“We got the same routes similar to Detroit. We missed a bunch of tackles. We misaligned, and we didn’t play proper coverage.”
For those who forgot, the Bucs beat Detriot 20-16 because Tampa Bay’s defense tightened up in the red zone and in key moments. On Thursday, they looked lost too often.
Joe doesn’t understand why “proper coverage” is an issue. Joe could understand it from rookie nickel cornerback Tykee Smith, but the other Bucs have plenty of experience in the system.
Bowles also noted that iconic inside linebaker Lavonte David was stepping out of his lane to help teammates. Joe assumes that’s because they were struggling.
“[David] tried to overcompensate a few times and we just got to get back to him making his own plays, and everybody else making their plays,” Bowles said.
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October 9th, 2024 at 4:29 am
Todd Bowles … “It was more the YAC yards. We got the same routes similar to Detroit. We missed a bunch of tackles. We misaligned, and we didn’t play proper coverage.”
Joe … ‘Bowles also noted that iconic inside linebaker Lavonte David was stepping out of his lane to help teammates. Joe assumes that’s because they were struggling.’
Someone needs to tell Todd that honesty is not the best policy when you’re a head coach talking to the media. Missed tackles. Misalignments. Poor coverage. Compromising your own coverage to help others who are struggling. Yup, pretty much a prescription for a meltdown.
Interesting though that Todd didn’t use injuries as an excuse. Credit Atlanta for a well-thought-out (and executed) game plan based on deficiencies they’d identified from our Detroit game. Shame on us for apparently repeating the same mistakes.
October 9th, 2024 at 4:31 am
Lavonte is always a Team player.
Prayers of safety for everyone who is in the path of the storm down there in the Tampa Bay Area and surrounding areas. Please be safe!
October 9th, 2024 at 5:37 am
Todd is saying they attacked us like Detroit, we couldn’t figure out how to stop them, so we also couldn’t stop Atlanta. That’s great. Goff threw 55 times, Cousins 58 times, same game plan, and you can’t stop it. So what’s going to stop every team from doing it since you don’t know how to stop it? Bowles defense has been figured out, teams now have a plan he can’t stop. Maybe when the stars align instead of his players we’ll win again.
October 9th, 2024 at 5:52 am
It’s Dean fault
October 9th, 2024 at 6:11 am
Because Britt never got to his spot and Tykee was getting confused
October 9th, 2024 at 6:41 am
I agree with Bucsfan. Tykee and Britt got beat along.
October 9th, 2024 at 7:16 am
Ahhhh..The Guru of Defense has spoken.
October 9th, 2024 at 7:19 am
And secondly, I noticed Coach Bowles kept the “lack of communication” excuse in his back pocket. To be continued…
October 9th, 2024 at 7:47 am
They should rename the hurricane Hurricane Bowles. Since it seems like he’s turning it into a disaster.
October 9th, 2024 at 7:57 am
He’s never going to say some of his players weren’t good enough
October 9th, 2024 at 8:00 am
I am so beyond sick and tired of the bend but don’t break philosophy. Expecting to magically tighten up in the redzone is not sustainable. Thinking it’s ok to give up 450 yards of offense to the lions is a fallacy. Willingly giving up first downs between the 20’s, giving up yards and spreading your cheeks for the other team is not what good defenses do. Good defenses stop the other team from moving the ball, good defenses don’t lose the time of possession battle. Good defenses gives the ball right back to the defense more times than not. Lastly, no fan wants to watch their team spend 70% of the game watching the other team’s offense. There is a very good reason why YARDS is the primary metric for gauging/ranking offense and defense. There is zero interpretation, there are no other variables that come in to play.
October 9th, 2024 at 8:28 am
Missed Tackles. Yep.
October 9th, 2024 at 8:39 am
Damn the HC/DC is so lucky being able to shift blame to players for a scheme that gives up chunks of yards on a regular basis. Bowles is so pathetic it’s sad but at least he didn’t drop Vita Vea in zone last week
October 9th, 2024 at 8:45 am
Nothing about the wide open receivers or uncontested catches? Nice. Hope is all we have! Go BUCS!
October 9th, 2024 at 8:49 am
Missed tackles, misalignments….sounds like bad coaching!
Casey Phillips oh my!
October 9th, 2024 at 9:32 am
How many years in the NFL do you need Mr.Bowles to be able to identify talent and teach guys how to run your defense? I mean come on Dean sucked from day one and your defense is so predictable that even the sports commentators know what your gonna do. Bowles is wasting our talent being here by the time we fire his as our team is gonna lose all its talented players
October 9th, 2024 at 9:41 am
Sure Todd, it’s LVD’s fault he knows Britt’s guy is about to be running free and he is cheating over. What is he supposed to do Todd? Please don’t blame yourself or your scheme. We might think you know what’s going on.
October 9th, 2024 at 9:50 am
Why am I more scared of the Saints’ rookie QB than Carr
October 9th, 2024 at 10:08 am
It is stunning how bad a few players looked during that game. KJ Britt totally not capable of covering but more surprising is how Dean can be so bad game after game and keep his job. How many times do we have to watch him running backwards 5 yards past the 1st down marker, making 3rd and 9 an easy pickup. Where are his coaches? This was another opportunity for the Bucs to take control of the division that was squandered with horrible defense and Bowles coaching record and the Bucs remain stuck around the 50% mark. The coaching staff needs to step up if we have a change to be a championship team.
October 9th, 2024 at 10:19 am
In a bold twist under Coach Bowles, the Buccaneers decided to shake off their defensive reputation and embrace a high-octane offense. Instead of the usual grind-it-out style, Bowles challenged his team to outscore opponents, starting with their longtime rivals, the Saints.
The game kicked off, and the Bucs dazzled fans with unexpected trick plays and deep passes. One wide receiver even launched a 70-yard touchdown bomb! By halftime, they were leading 28-14.
As the game unfolded, even the defense got in on the action, scoring touchdowns and surprising everyone. When the dust settled, the Bucs triumphed 52-35, proving that with Bowles at the helm, scoring points could be just as thrilling as stopping them. Who knew defense could be so boring and offense soooo much fun when you could light up the scoreboard instead?
This is what I’m hoping for personally…
October 9th, 2024 at 10:27 am
Bowles looks like a genius when his defense works and a moron when it doesn’t.
October 9th, 2024 at 10:32 am
Bowles calls out HOF LD and the guy got a pick late in the game to seal the W for the Bucs only for mediocre coach Bowles to blow it by not even attempting a forward pass in falcons territory!! To win the game. Bowles ruining HOF play. Back to back weeks LD comes up big to help seal the W. Bowles has to take accountability for his trash game management.
October 9th, 2024 at 10:39 am
Thank you Ben!!
This situation raises concerns about accountability. How can you expect your players to take responsibility when you won’t? David has significantly more influence in Tampa than Bowles, so tread lightly there Bowles. Fans are already on the fence about your leadership, playcalling, and defensive mindset/schemes.
Why hasn’t he called out Britt? Perhaps he thinks other teams are “blind” and won’t notice how underperforming and out of posistion he is.
October 9th, 2024 at 10:53 am
The whole defense were confused. Defense has to play better no it’s and buts about it they have to step up their game.
October 9th, 2024 at 11:12 am
So Josh and Ben think Bowels called out LVD…I did not read it that way at all. He basically said David was trying to cover up for people bc people are saying that David lost a step. So he basically wasn’t calling out he was covering. I think it’s funny that people want or expect Bowles to call out players in the media. That’s laughable, and that is a quick way for you to lose your locker room. As someone who is in the military which I’ve been in for 14 years now, I’ve noticed that good to great leaders chastise in private, while poor leaders chastise in public. You lose credibility when you start to do that or people tune you out.
October 9th, 2024 at 11:19 am
When Bowles was asked if he considered using a Dime package which would allow 6 DBs to be on the field he quoted, “We have some dime packages when Winfield is on the field”.
That sounds to me like injuries then affected the game.
I think its horse SH!T anyway that your ONLY dime packages are with one All Pro.
Isn’t Dime an integral part of an NFL defense?
October 9th, 2024 at 11:21 am
Injuries is the only reason period because if Dennis was not hurt I don’t see that many yard for cousins in the middle Britt is not the guy I understand smith was exposed but then again rookies play like rookies no CK no AWJR no DENNIS those guys in we would have won by 30 easy
October 9th, 2024 at 11:25 am
I completely agree, TombsEN.
I just feel that if you’re going to mention anyone’s name to the media, it should be Dean or Britt after last week. Don’t say “misaligned” and Lavonte; just say some players were out of position and others were trying to use their athleticism to make up for it. If—and it’s a big IF—you’re going to call someone out publicly, I understand trying to point out the positive spin by saying he was trying to help, but it still sounds like, “Hey, Lavonte, you were actually out of your spot too trying to help,” That’s just my opinion, and I could be dead wrong; it’s just how I perceived what was written. I haven’t had time to listen to the audio yet.
October 9th, 2024 at 2:40 pm
The coach coaches & the players play listen to him he is saying the other. guy covers for the 1’s messing up he was referring to David not taking the int & that wud have finished atl in their tracks so to speak stop dumping on Bowles it’s only week 5 let these guys self correct the rest will fall in place another words STFU
October 9th, 2024 at 4:38 pm
TRANSLATION: KJ Britt sucks and Lavonte is having to cover for him.
October 9th, 2024 at 8:24 pm
Way to go Todd. Leave it to Todd to throw his best player under the bus. Somebody tell his know it all blind supporter that Todd is a failed head coach, a failing DC, and soon to be unemployed.
Maybe he will hire Saleh to help fix the defense.
L.