“Stay Together”
November 6th, 2024
Time to bond.
Last year the Bucs lost six of seven games, which damn near knocked them out of a playoff berth.
Both players and assistant coaches gave credit to Todd Bowles for guiding the Bucs’ pirate ship through the fog and stormy waters and to a playoff win.
Might the Bucs need a repeat of that?
Players and coaches last year often cited Bowles’ stoic consistency helping them through dark weeks. Bowles didn’t panic. He didn’t holler and scream. He guided the team and showed confidence in his men.
It seems Bowles is trying to pull off a repeat.
He was asked yesterday what the team, a loser of four of its last five games, must do to win. Bowles said simply, “Stay together.”
“Just stay together – for the most part, stay together,” Bowles said. “We had [fewer] mistakes in this [Chiefs] game. This one – they beat us, we didn’t really beat ourselves, they beat us at the end, and it came down to the end, but we’re not going to lose too many of those if we keep playing like this.
“As long as we’re playing this hard and committing [fewer] mistakes, we feel good about our chances week-in and week-out regardless of who we play.”
Well, it wasn’t just player mistakes that doomed the Bucs Monday night…
Joe still doesn’t like the Bucs defense. No edge rush. Soft in the middle. Major hole at linebacker. And, sadly, Joe isn’t sure Jordan Whitehead is the same safety the Bucs thought they were getting when they re-signed him.
It’s no longer 2020.
November 6th, 2024 at 9:12 am
Bowles has had his blunders I also think the personel on defense hasn’t been great either. Zero Edge, Britt and Russell are bench players at best, Zyon, Smith and Izien have been the best DBs, Hayes funderburk
Have been terrible, whitehead has been invisible, Winfield has been inconsistent.
November 6th, 2024 at 9:17 am
Stay together? How bout goibg for 2 for the win ! Dumbass
November 6th, 2024 at 9:20 am
Britt is not good enough, I went to my first Bucs game in 1992 and he’s the slowest player I’ve ever seen. He looks like he’s playing in the mud and everyone else is on skates.
November 6th, 2024 at 9:25 am
If he went for 2 and failed this bipolar fan based would have destroy Bowles!!!!
Tons of Bucs fans need to blame the coach, of course he makes mistakes, but he is not the reason why we are here, the reason is the lack of quality depth on hey positions….There is always somebody to blame on this fan base, sometimes makes me sick!!!!!
November 6th, 2024 at 9:45 am
Who exactly is coaching the safety position here? It’s curious how two promising free agent safeties—one already familiar with the system—suddenly seem to lose their edge under this defense and aren’t good football players anymore.
November 6th, 2024 at 9:45 am
When I first read the heading, all I could think of is “Let’s stay together” by Al Green. 😊 And then I read it.
Your last paragraph is very true, and it sure isn’t 2020 😢. I fully respect Todd and Jason. However, we do need an edge rusher, linebacker, … Still optimistic for some wins coming up in the next few weeks. Go Bucs!
November 6th, 2024 at 9:54 am
I wouldn’t put it past this coach and his team to either run the table or darned near it. Even though we shouldn’t with the holes on defense. The key to this is “Stay Together” and although the fan base isn’t the players and coaches are. I see the argument for going for the 2 point conversion the other night. That decision in no way made me lose any confidence in this coach-in hindsight I wish we’d have gone for it. It doesn’t change the fact that we’re a good football team that’s getting better.
November 6th, 2024 at 10:01 am
Bowles has to go. He’s the problem. Hire Bill B. and retain Cohen.
November 6th, 2024 at 10:12 am
Hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but we somehow need to get the refs on our side as well. The number mystery calls going against us is either extremely unlucky, incompetency by the refs, or dislike for the Bucs in general. You just can’t win close games no matter who you are if the calls at least don’t even out. Good players like Wirfs never get these shady calls on other teams.
November 6th, 2024 at 10:17 am
I’m shocked there is so many apologists out for Bowles…I’m I reading his record wrong…did Tom Brady not have is only losing season under his leadership…does he not have a losing record at both his head coaching assignments. I’m listening… somebody…. anybody show me where I’m wrong.
November 6th, 2024 at 10:22 am
Last year we were four and seven when we started our streak, this year we will likely be four and six when we start our streak. We’re already one game to the good!
November 6th, 2024 at 10:25 am
Not sure Whitehead is the same as 2020, I’m not sure Winfield is the same as 2023. He’s been a liability on the back end.
November 6th, 2024 at 10:32 am
Winfield has not been a liability. That’s just silly. Whitehead may be hurt a little. Seems like he’s not as aggressive as he was the first couple of games. Everybody loves Smith, I do too, but he’s a little weak in coverage – for a veteran. Fortunately he’s a rookie and should improve quite a bit. Funderburk plays like a safety who’s cross training at corner. From what I’ve seen, he’s been a nice tackler but really bad in coverage. Izien should be playing in front of Hayes.
November 6th, 2024 at 10:35 am
For those who keep insisting Bowles must go, don’t count on it mid-season. Remember how blatantly obvious it was that Leftwich needed to go mid-season? That situation was far, far more justified than the current one. And they still didn’t boot him. The take away is that our team does not make moves mid-season. Whether it be coaching changes or player trades.
November 6th, 2024 at 10:40 am
Agreed, bucnjim. The refs are not doing us any favors either.
November 6th, 2024 at 11:13 am
The doofus pictured above really needs to try academia. Coaching football is obviously not his thing.
November 6th, 2024 at 11:23 am
Shut up, Todd, and call a better defense.
November 6th, 2024 at 12:31 pm
Joe … ‘It’s no longer 2020.’
Is that an admission Joe that TALENT REALLY DOES MATTER, and that the 2024 talent on defense is nowhere near the talent level we had back in 2020?
Would that also be an admission that Jason Licht hasn’t exactly excelled at his GM job from the defensive manning perspective?
November 6th, 2024 at 12:37 pm
Beej … I’m still hoping for 5-5. Going 12-5 may not be likely, but it is still possible. Even that probably won’t win us the NFC South this year, but it’d improve our chances of getting a wildcard invite. And once in, anything can happen as we’ve seen. And especially if we were entering the playoffs on an 8-game win streak.
November 6th, 2024 at 12:54 pm
Whitehead has a hurt shoulder. I’ve watched him make tackles.
He’s only using 1 shoulder.
I don’t think Izien even saw the field.
I don’t get it. Every game he makes HUGE plays.
He needs to be on the field!
Izien and Winfield need to start at safety. They are twins anyway. So they can play both roles.
November 6th, 2024 at 1:35 pm
Sorry Todd YOU beat us yourself.
November 6th, 2024 at 2:07 pm
When the schedule came out at the beginning of the season, we knew this would be a very tough stretch before the bye. I had the Bucs losing to KC and 49ers. The Bucs and all of us need to stay positive that we can improve and win a lot of games after the bye.
Losing both Dean and Bryce Hall has forced Bowles to put in Hayes and Funderburk who have little to no NFL experience. That’s tough, but what really bothers me is the play of Whitehead and Winfield – they just aren’t making any plays. I was happy to see JJ Russel getting some snaps Monday, but he should have had snaps way before Monday night. He’s not starting material but he might be better than Britt?
If Licht and Bowles don’t want to bring in players and rely on the practice squad, then they need to get them some snaps in real games before they are forced to be starters.
November 6th, 2024 at 2:40 pm
Kenton Smith Says:
November 6th, 2024 at 9:54 am
Thank you kind sir for @ least trying to interject a tiny bit of objectivity, positivity, and hope into the whiny, overwhelmingly negative, comments section here. I for one, appreciate you (or anyone) for adding anything other than the same old criticisms and condemnations. ✌🏼
November 6th, 2024 at 5:39 pm
This isn’t the Titans we are playing against like last season.
November 6th, 2024 at 6:22 pm
You Pollyannas can keep supporting Bowles to mediocrity all you like. Some of us would like to see the team excel. Of course Todd is asking them to stay together. I bet he is losing more and more player’s confidence in the locker room each game. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there is a Coen faction pissed about losing from Todd’s mistakes… .I hope they win out too. It won’t be because of Todd’s brilliant leadership.
November 6th, 2024 at 10:49 pm
GoneGator, appreciate that. My opinions are based on facts and what I see and feel. Bowles knows what it takes to win a superbowl. As a player and a coach. The front office built a Super Bowl team just waiting for a QB. They got one and won a Super Bowl. The QB got old and Mayfield got lucky to find this team that knows top to bottom players and organization alike what is required to finish strong and win the big game. A bunch of experienced dudes that understand. Nothing worthwhile easy. Patience is hard earned. And it Never has been about how you start. It’s all about how you finish. We’re about to see a couple of months of some really solid football. I’m betting on it. Stay Together! LFG Bucs!