Todd Bowles: There Was Nothing Wrong With The Offense
October 28th, 2024
Todd Bowles has his back.
The Bucs defense, again, was terrible yesterday. Even Todd Bowles openly agreed.
But when it comes to the offense, Bowles didn’t want to hear any nitpicking. He thought the offense played well, considering who wasn’t on the field.
In fact, Bowles thought the Bucs got enough production from the offense to win.
“I thought they fought,” Bowles said. “They did some good things. They had time of possession and made some plays.
“You don’t like the false starts, but overall, those guys fought hard – 26 points should be enough.”
Bowles has a point. The defense played mostly with their heads up their poop chutes. For example, when Bijan Robinson caught a six-yard pass for a score, it was like he had the Ebola virus. No Bucs defender was in the same zip code.
That just blew Joe away. One of the best running backs in the NFL if not one of the better offensive players in the league and no one has responsibility to shadow him??? How in the name of Myron Lewis does that happen?
What the hell kind of defense is that? Cover-Nobody?
October 28th, 2024 at 7:18 am
I think Bowles is right with Evans and Godwin out the offense was ok. Still think Baker need to clean up the interceptions, that can also be discouraging when the defense holds and get the ball back to the offense and the offense give the ball right back. Nevertheless, you can’t keep making excuses and criticizing the defense, they need to start performing. It’s getting old and that’s what get coaches fired.
October 28th, 2024 at 7:18 am
The season ended yesterday Joe…..actually, it ended when CG & ME both went out injured in the same game.
The Defense is horrific.
Baker has morphed into the Cleveland Bucs version and the honeymoon is over with Baker…….the real slim Baker has stood up now…..
IT’S OVER!!!!!!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
October 28th, 2024 at 7:24 am
We had time of possession but they had way too many explosive plays.
October 28th, 2024 at 7:24 am
It ain’t over till it’s over
October 28th, 2024 at 7:26 am
Hard to win games when your defense plays like this …
October 28th, 2024 at 7:28 am
YOU LIKE THAT BUCS!!!! …………….Kirk cousins
October 28th, 2024 at 7:30 am
One more thing I would like to bring forward is, as I said last year about the Texans. You had a rookie HC coach and QB who out perform the Bucs in every aspect now this year although not a rookie HC but a new coaching staff with a rookie QB down in Washington that’s besting the Bucs who have a veteran QB and a veteran staff who has been together for 3 or more years. Very frustrating and tired of excuses.
October 28th, 2024 at 7:46 am
Britt,Mayweather,and #24 shouldn’t be on any nfl field
October 28th, 2024 at 8:00 am
Bowles simply isn’t a good HC, sure players may love him but the fans pay to see wins. Maybe he’s a serviceable DC on a team with a high powered offense but that’s it. He’s basically the Mike McCarthy of defense……the game has evolved and those old systems they run are obsolete. What you’re seeing is Bowles commitment to blitzing is really out of desperation. If he gets a hot hand, it looks genius but it’s not remotely consistent. As my youth b-ball coach used to say….”you live by the 3, you die by the 3”. Same with Bowles blitzing…..you have to be more than one dimensional. The same confusion we saw against the Rams in the playoffs with Brady, is exactly what we’re still seeing. Massive blow assignments, “poor communication” and no fixes. I’m convinced Bowles has completely over complicated his defense to the point it can’t be executed. We got DEs dropping back in coverage and then we wonder why we’re getting exploited. Let those guys rush, that’s their natural ability. If you’re going to blitz anyone why not Britt….he clearly can’t cover, everyone watching the games can see that. Opposing teams see it….why are we blitzing secondary guys, they are literally our best option in coverage.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:02 am
And he was actually brave enough to complains about false starts after his defense made cousins look like Tom Brady
October 28th, 2024 at 8:03 am
The frustrating thing is that when you’re team is losing but it looks like the answers are almost there…you can be patient as a fan.
But the Defense doesn’t look like it’s almost there. It looks like they are at the limit. When they shift scheme to limit open players over the middle they get burned by the rush. When they shift coverage to aid Funderburk the TE gets free. When you tie everyone up on the back end Kirk Friggin Cousins runs for 17…Kirk Friggin one wheel Cousins!
There are so many positives with the Offense. It just literally hurts watching the defense struggle so thoroughly.
As pointed out by another commenter on a different story Atlanta doesn’t have much of a cake walk remaining. Good chance they drop a few games and come back to earth. But I just don’t see many positives in our Defense. It’s not a Defense where a bunch of young guys are cutting their teeth. No dig on Funderburk and the Braswell. They may very well blow up. But Britt, Diaby, Shoyenka, Hall, Whitehead…these guys are who they are. They aren’t going to make a huge jump. Bowles schemes his scheme… and that scheme either doesn’t fit the talent or isn’t successful enough this yr.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:03 am
74% Completion rate on passes that will keep you in the game. 26% of the passes that will win you the game. That means there were 13 passes of 50 attempts that failed due to bad or over throws or drops, including 1 that the guy in the first row had just about as much chance of catching than any Bucs player.
Cousins played well as usual following a bad performance like that against the Seahawks.
After his 13 yards scramble and QB sneak put to bed the question of his Achilles I expected the Falcons to continue burning dry the clock but the defense held when it had too to get a FG attempt that failed. Football Gods made right a play that may or may not have been made by Winfield. Ball was in Mayfield’s hands with a chance to win the game and threw for 60% and it was not good enough.
As far as Robinson’s check down TD White as equally as open.
Offense did almost enough to win and Defense did just about enough not to lose. Bucs Defense after all helped the team recover from a -3 Turnover differential. Most times you turn it over like that and you lose big. Just look at the Lions winning 52-14 in 3 quarters with Goff throwing for 85 yards and 3 TD’s.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:11 am
Our offense is good enough to win.
The problems start when the defense gives up so many points, the offense is in catch up made the entire game.
When the offense has to score every possession, it causes them to make mistakes.
Especially when you have young Wide receivers in the game. They get pressured, they make mistakes- you get turnovers.
We all knew we needed Pass rushers, but the front office sat on its a**, and did nothing to get one. Bowles can only coach what he has to coach.
And he doesn’t have anyone who can rush the passer.
And our defense is getting carved to pieces.
Just like we all said it would, back in February.
Worst part- the offensive line is playing better than expected. We actually have a running game.
We could really do we, if we only had a pass rusher
October 28th, 2024 at 8:16 am
No. The Offense was not okay. Rachaad White put them in a hole. The interceptions were horrible.
But the Defense was appalling. Those DBs should be ashamed of their performance. Joe Tryon is a sad and pathetic pawn who just takes up one of eleven spaces. Britt runs slower than Tom Moore.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:16 am
With regards to Whitehead. He looked great with the Jets the last couple of years. Remember the game against the Bills last year when he picked off Allen three times. Then he comes here and looks like hot garbage. He’ll even Winfield is playing bad. There is only one common denominator: BOWLES
October 28th, 2024 at 8:18 am
Just bide your time Bucs fans. The inevitable will happen sooner or later.
This type of ineptitude will not stand forever. The stench will eventually reach the owners box.
Only in the gutter NFC South could a coach like this survive.
Two of the worst NFL teams reside in the division and soon you could argue there will be three of the worst.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:18 am
When a running team is able to throw for 4 TD’s you know there are major issues. I’m not giving Mayfield a pass, but from early on you knew the Falcons were going to score 30-40. This forces the offense to take chances like that ridiculous flea flicker and the fake punt. There are all signs of desperation and the other teams know this.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:19 am
Bowles old school D philosophy does not work in 2024. Offenses have evolved, his defensive philosophy has not.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:21 am
I know we got behind in the 2nd half but hard to believe we only ran the ball 3 times the entire half after the way we ran at will in the first. Baker is not good enough and we don’t have the receivers to throw the ball every play and it cost us. Yes the defense was horrible but they only gave up 7 points and scored a safety in the 2nd. You don’t win in this league when you turn the ball over 4 times and don’t get any turnovers.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:22 am
😂 chiefs open as -9.5 against the mighty Todd Bowles D. That’s all you need to see. KC will put up a fifty burger on the Bucs.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:40 am
I think I saw someone else ask this question in another post, but why did we abandon the run in the second half when it was working so well earlier in the game? Irving was killing it! Got to keep the defense off balance, and when we’re running well, Baker seems more comfortable in his passing game.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:47 am
But of course the defensive failures is all on the players while Bowles has coached perfectly. Cmon Bowels. You can retire comfortably. Just do it!
October 28th, 2024 at 8:54 am
Bowles has no clue if u think the O was good you really need to go.
October 28th, 2024 at 8:54 am
NEXT COACH UP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 28th, 2024 at 9:00 am
Mahomes and the Chiefs have a very very average offense anymore. It’s their defense that’s winning games for them
October 28th, 2024 at 9:00 am
That Todd Bowles really had the team pumped up for a great game against their #1 division rivals, huh?
October 28th, 2024 at 9:12 am
Bet huge against any Todd Bowles led team.
You will always win. Unlike Todd Bowles.
October 28th, 2024 at 9:14 am
This team is unwatchable as long as Bowles is HC. He’s overrated as a DC, and nothing more than a .500 HC.
October 28th, 2024 at 9:33 am
50/50…Bucs and Bowles are the perfect parity team. Right in the middle of the road where the NFL wants it. Permanent parity is the Bowles way. And that is just the way it is. A few blunders will determine whether they win the division again but they have dug a pretty deep hole and have to hope Atlanta falls back big time. Carolina and The Stainks are pretty much spoilers now.
October 28th, 2024 at 9:35 am
If a QB starts something like 14 of 15, leading two long drives for TDs, he should have a little breathing room and comfort and ability to rely on running backs. But then the D no shows and gives up two long pass TDs. The QB will press, thinking he has to be Superman. The INTs are killers but it is hard to blame Bsker, imo.
October 28th, 2024 at 9:40 am
This buffoon can’t adjust a watch let alone a defense. He could get a job at the nearest circus. Just give him a red nose and glue tufts of hair on hie temples. Make him wear a frilly collar.
Perfect.
October 28th, 2024 at 9:44 am
We need a QB don’t y’all see (JAMEIS MAYFIELD!!!!) Can not get it done we need a QB ASAP!!!!!
October 28th, 2024 at 9:44 am
We need a QB don’t y’all see (JAMEIS MAYFIELD!!!!) Can not get it done we need a QB ASAP!!!!!!
October 28th, 2024 at 9:45 am
We need a QB don’t y’all see (JAMEIS MAYFIELD!!!!) Can not get it done we need a QB ASAP!!!!!! PLEASE
October 28th, 2024 at 9:50 am
LOL except for the crucial turnovers
October 28th, 2024 at 10:10 am
The offense is ok with 3 giveaways? Smh…such low expectations from the HC.
October 28th, 2024 at 10:13 am
It’s time for the resident fog index champion to throw a few thousand words of excuses and conjecture at the problem, complete with a lecture to all the Bowels antagonists. Gems such as “yards don’t matter, points do.” Even though yards and points given up correlate strongly to one another over time. Or this nugget, no one would ever get – “complementary football is important.” Thank gosh for that wisdom.
Right now it’s as if Mike Smith and Lovie Smith got really drunk, had a baby, and he is now coaching the Bucs defense.
October 28th, 2024 at 10:15 am
Larrd Says:
October 28th, 2024 at 9:35 am
If a QB starts something like 14 of 15, leading two long drives for TDs, he should have a little breathing room and comfort and ability to rely on running backs. But then the D no shows and gives up two long pass TDs. The QB will press, thinking he has to be Superman. The INTs are killers but it is hard to blame Baker, imo.
Offense was moving the ball down the field with short passes until Mayfield got greedy and threw a 30 yarder. Interception was on him and he gets the Blame.
Defense bailed him out and held. Then Offense moved the ball 7 yards and Mayfield threw a bad pass. Maybe White should have thrown to Mayfield on third down and had the trick play then. Mayfield threw it but let him off again.
Second Interception was at the ATL 6 and thrown from ATL24. Down two scores because of his own play, chance to cut it to 7 and he blew it.
How can anyone say he really is not to blame? Rediculous.
October 28th, 2024 at 10:20 am
I really hate turnovers, but as some Joe said before (more than once), the bottom line is points scored. The offense has been producing enough to win, if the defense shows up.
October 28th, 2024 at 10:46 am
Its an Offensive league – unless something drastic happens – Coen is gone after the season. I hope our front office is taking notes. IMO you need an offensive coach that calls the plays. Is Coen that guy? We could do worse. As a Bucs fan I’ve never seen such play design/ creativity as we’ve seen this year…Bowels has never been a good game day coach – maybe he’s a great teacher and locker room guy, but I think the game has passed him by….
Reviewing Bakers last 7 interceptions
Saints – Deflected off of one of our guys hands…deflected at line of scrimmage…On throw to Evans the saints D showed cover 2 but flipped to man underneath…is that on Baker? Maybe…
Ravens – Good Player came off of his responsibility to get the pick in the endzone…Baker probably should have thrown it away for the field goal. 2nd Interception same thing good player came off his underneath responsibility and made a great catch…
Atlanta – deep throw off the flea flicker – probably should have thrown it away…but he did give our guy a chance (he had his hands on it) again, great catch by the D. 2nd interception, the DB came off his responsibility and made a heck of a catch for the interception…Baker needed to throw that with some air on it and deeper instead of a dart…
Maybe we need better spacing on our routes so guys can’t come off and make a play? Maybe Baker needs to have better recognition?
I’m not a Baker apologist, I see a guy trying to make plays – remember the other guys get paid too.
Go Bucs!!!
October 28th, 2024 at 11:03 am
Baker could throw 9 ints in one game and there will still be fans that say “we scores 26 points so that should be enough to win”.
Lol…yall are hilarious. It’s obviously not all on Baker but throwing into double and triple coverage is inexcusable, at least to me it is. But yall say he’s pressing because he feels the need to score every possession. Well, isn’t that the point of the game? To try to score every time, regardless if the defense makes a stop or not?
Baker loves hero ball, and it’s killing the team by putting a bad defense back on the field. If you wanna let slide, fine but we see how that worked out in the playoffs last year.
Does this Bowles and Baker lead team have enough to go further in the playoffs than last year? If not, what excuses will the Baker fans come up with?
October 28th, 2024 at 11:15 am
I saw somewhere that mayfield is leading or near the top of the league in most QB categories. 71.1 cmp% 7.7 avg 273.6 yds/g 21 to 9 td int 104.9 passer rating. Hell Mahomes and love both have 9 ints. In my opinion Mayfield is trying to do to much, after seeing his defense crap the bed against the Ravens, Falcons, and Falcons again. It’s almost to the point where the offense has to score every possession. Thus Mayfield is taking more chances than he normally would. I think any QB would have a problem being error free with this defense. We can win with Mayfield, but like any QB in the league, you need a defense to complement the offense.
October 28th, 2024 at 12:02 pm
Bucs offense is excellent ! Under Coen, the Bucs have scored more points on eight games than the 49ers and the Chiefs even though the Chiefs have only played 7 games they still would not score the ~ 235 points the Bucs have scored in eight games.
So yes Joe, there is nothing wrong with the Bucs offense.
If coach Bowles can figure out how to make our defense more effective, primarily to pressure and sack quarterbacks. The Bucs will be back to their winning ways !!
Go Bucs !!
October 28th, 2024 at 12:27 pm
Defense wins championships. But I thought you knew that coach Bowles. Defense is your specialty, right?
October 28th, 2024 at 12:28 pm
Bee: It has nothing to do with being a Baker fan. If any NFL QB threw nine interceptions in a game and still scored 26 points, I would say that should be enough to win. The whole point is that it will never happen, +because no team can score 26 points if the QB throws nine interceptions+. They can, however, if he throws two. How do I know? Because they just did.
October 28th, 2024 at 12:28 pm
1 thing I don’t get how u stop the Lions but not cousins he ain’t that good it’s almost like they let the hype control.cousins looked like a old guy last week in seahawks game
October 28th, 2024 at 12:32 pm
7 points in the 2nd half is good enough?
Yup, that’s coach Soft as 💩 in a nutshell right there. Playing not to lose
October 28th, 2024 at 1:11 pm
To all the naysayers, Bucs will finish 10-7 and get through one round of playoffs, just like last year. It’s a good team, not a great team. The defense relies too heavily on the linebackers (David who is getting older) – the D line and back end are OK. Too many injuries this year.
October 28th, 2024 at 1:30 pm
The offense rebounded nicely with the huge loss of Evans and Godwin – literally the best WR duo in the NFL this season. Having a sieve for a defense doesn’t help at all. I think we only forced one 3 and out in 8 quarters against the Falcons/Cousins. No matter how good/bad your offense is, you aren’t winning games with that.
October 28th, 2024 at 1:46 pm
Baker with a 55.9 QBR, a slight improvement over last years 55.1 QBR.
Last year Baker was 18th in QBR, this year he’s 16th in QBR, so we’re seeing improvement.
October 28th, 2024 at 3:03 pm
Sure there were, 3 bad turnovers, 2 missed open receivers for tds that Cousins hit on just to name the few.
October 28th, 2024 at 4:09 pm
RodMunch,
Not even you can define how a QBR is calculated. On the other hand, ESPN shows passer ratings for all QB’s thru 8 games. Mayfield is 104.5 or number 6 on the 2024 list. Of course he is number 1 in TD passes and number 1 in passing yards. You conveniently omit this data because it doesn’t fit the axe you are grinding.
Passer rating is calculated using a player’s passing attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions. Passer rating in the NFL is on a scale from 0 to 158.3
October 28th, 2024 at 5:08 pm
This is on both the players and coaches. This team can not tackle. They come up to a players waving their arms, just like a bunch of 3rd graders that are afraid to deliver the blow. It is down right embarrassing. I am considering this team out of the playoffs because of the defense.
Mayfield’s turnovers can not be covered by this defensive team. So it is on him also.
One other that has to be added to the mix is Licht. For not making a move on an Edge Rusher, upgrading the LB crew. It is on him also.
So in this order, A chicken rots from the head down.
Licht
Bowles
Baker Mayfield
Defense.
At least when Donn Nelson coached the Dallas Mavericks he took accountability by saying.
The Defense Sucked, The Offense Sucked, I Sucked WE ALL SUCKED.
I hear no accountability.