“It Probably Won’t Be Anytime Soon”
January 21st, 2025
Lasting pain.
So most NFL teams employ a 24-hour rule after a win or a loss.
Agonize or celebrate for a day and then let it go. Ancient history.
That’s not the case for the season-ending game when it comes to head coach Todd Bowles.
The agony of defeat has no set limit when it means the end of the season, Bowles said last week after the crushing playoff loss to the Commanders.
“It’s not going away anytime soon,” Bowles said. “You live with it. You look at it. You see how hard everybody fought and you slowly start to tweak things you can do better and eventually you get over it and come around, and you kind of move forward. But it probably won’t be anytime soon.”
Bowles’ comments came on the Buccaneers Radio Network.
The head coach emphasized that Baker Mayfield shouldn’t take his critical, fourth-quarter fumbled exchange with Jalen McMillen too hard because he had “a hell of year.”
January 21st, 2025 at 4:57 pm
Just please learn from it Todd. As more time has gone by, I’ve become more annoyed by the fact he didn’t go on 4th and 3. I just posted on another article that I see his point about the offense in that moment but they never got the ball again. Tied or down 3 didn’t matter, defense still needed a stop that we were used to not getting all season, so the only right answer is do what it takes to go up 4 points.
Bowles did not blow that game at all, poor execution did but in the end he still made a fatal mistake. D needed to be trusted anyway you slice it so you gotta also trust the offense and he never does. I don’t care how good this remade D is next year, trust the offense Todd and instill that trust and confidence in them from day 1 of camp!
January 21st, 2025 at 5:02 pm
You can see how much it is needed in these playoffs. The teams playing confident, clean football and being aggressive are winning.
Penalties, poor execution and turnovers are the death of any team. Trusting the offense in big spots all year will get them ready. Our offense cost us, the Rams OL cost them the game Sunday, Lions offensive unit cost them with turnovers Saturday.
The D can make mistakes and give up points … the offense can’t. A high powered offense that avoids mistakes wins the shootouts vs Wash. Instead Bucs and Lions O gave it away.
January 21st, 2025 at 5:25 pm
Defense is gonna take more than just a tweak.
January 21st, 2025 at 5:42 pm
The head coach emphasized that Baker Mayfield shouldn’t take his critical, fourth-quarter fumbled exchange with Jalen McMillen too hard because he had “a hell of year.”
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Probably the same thing he said last year after Baker threw a pick with 2 minutes to go and the game on the line in Detroit.
Glad to see guys are being held to the highest standard, and single handedly losing playoff games is no big deal if your regular season stats look good.
January 21st, 2025 at 6:19 pm
Rod do you ever get tired of sounding stupid…
January 21st, 2025 at 6:20 pm
Damn how long is he going to tweak his defense nothing has worked so far
January 21st, 2025 at 7:22 pm
“Just gotta do better”.
They will build a statue in Bowles honor when he retires in 15 years with that phrase carved in it.
Of course there won’t be any Superbowl titles to celebrate in his tenure.
But those regular season stats will be amazing.
I’m a big fan of the decision making skills he shows year after year.
Grade A quality there I tell you.
January 21st, 2025 at 7:45 pm
Pewter Power … Bucs’ defense only allowed 325 points in 2023, ranking #7 in Points Allowed (gave up 11 rushing TDs & 23 passing TDs). They allowed 1620 rushing yards (to rank #5) and 4232 passing yards (to rank #29).
Our defense allowed 385 points in 2024, ranking #16 in points Allowed (gave up 13 rushing TDs & 27 passing TDs). They allowed 1663 rushing yards (to rank #4) and 4147 passing yards (to rank #29).
So our defense surrendered 60 additional points in 2024, and yet their rushing & passing allowed stats were just about the same. Penalties were even almost the same (93 in 2023 versus 96 in 2024). So were sacks (47 in 2023 versus 46 in 2024). So why did we give up over 3.5 points per game average in 2024?
I think one of the biggest differences is in Turnovers (Bucs had 26 takeaways in 2023 versus only 18 in 2024). That’s 8 drives that potentially ended in points. That’s reflected in the T/O Percentage difference for each year (14.2% T/O Percentage in 2023 versus only 8.8% in 2024).
Another key difference was 4th-Down Conversion Percentage. Opponents attempted 25 4th-down conversions in 2023 & made 12 of them (48.0%). But they attempted 39 4th-down conversions in 2024 & made 19 of them (63.3%). Big difference; those 7 more that were made could’ve also resulted in points.
Interestingly our pass defense was equally bad in 2023 & 2024, despite having quite a few different starters. Bucs allowed opposing QBs to complete 66.1% of their passing attempts in 2023, versus 66.3% in 2024. But those 2 factors … fewer turnover & worse 4th down conversion rate … seem to stand out as major factors in why we allowed 60 more points in 2024.
January 21st, 2025 at 7:45 pm
Look, Coen did a solid job, but let’s not kid ourselves—he didn’t build this offense from scratch. With a strong offensive line, a competent quarterback, and a balanced rushing attack supported by a talented receiving corps, any offensive coordinator with a functional game plan is going to find success. The foundation is solid, and success is about optimizing what’s already in place, not reinventing the wheel.
We’ve seen this story before. Defensive-minded head coaches like Pete Carroll in Seattle and John Harbaugh in Baltimore have consistently built successful programs around strong foundations, even after losing high-profile offensive coordinators. Seattle thrived after the departures of Darrell Bevell and Brian Schottenheimer because Carroll maintained continuity with a solid run game and capable quarterback play. Similarly, Baltimore remained competitive when Gary Kubiak and Greg Roman left, thanks to their physical offensive identity and strong personnel.
The reality? Teams built on balanced, disciplined football can withstand coordinator changes because they’re structured for sustained success. The Bucs fall into that category—Bowles has overseen a team that is fundamentally sound and resilient. Losing Coen isn’t ideal, but it’s hardly catastrophic. The system is bigger than one play-caller.
January 21st, 2025 at 7:48 pm
He plays to conservative he needs to be more aggressive. Period. We had the Washington game won and it Detroit played like that against us we would be in the NFC Championship game..
January 21st, 2025 at 8:02 pm
Trade for Miles Garrett and draft all defense and the Bucs will be fine. All of y’all mental weaklings need to calm down.
January 21st, 2025 at 8:23 pm
D.R., Pewter Power is an idiot. All they do is slam Bowles over and over. I wonder if he/she/it understands what color pewter is? Some of their posts sounds like some hot air outta Chiefs, Bills, or C (DC) land. Those team colors are not pewter.
January 21st, 2025 at 8:28 pm
No rod is rod he knows no bounds he is just plain stupid & as far as I am concerned that McMillan knew he did not have the ball in his hands but kept running like a decoy didn’t even try to come back knowing he never touched the ball almost like he didn’t know the play was his to make.of course u haters want to blame baker he had a excellent game to that point with limited time of poss.u people cud only dream of playing that quality of football for 18 games a year
January 21st, 2025 at 8:35 pm
Ballhawk plz check u r stat sheet Bowles has a SB ring from 2020 with the bucs MORON!!!!
January 21st, 2025 at 9:00 pm
It’s truly getting laughable.
BakerBucs says “plz check u r stat sheet Bowles has a SB ring from 2020 with the bucs”
True dat BB but wait until they come back and say that was as a DC not an HC!
That’s exactly what you guys are ripping him for DEFENSE!!! BB correctly states he has a SB ring with the Bucs for what? Wait for it…wait..duh DEFENSIVE coordinator!
January 21st, 2025 at 9:06 pm
Munchman your desperation is clearly showing.
So now you wish to judge a player on TWO FREAKING PLAYS in two years!!! You certainly were not that discriminating with your guy Fameis Jameis who was good for two ints per game. OK I exaggerate it was actually 1.75 ints PER GAME!!!
That includes a career start with a pick six and a pick six to end his career which pretty well sums it’s up for your man Rod. Yet you supported him till the end and in fact I don’t know that you’ve ever stopped!
So two in two years is a disgrace but pick sixes to start and end a Buc career if forgiveable?
TWO PLAYS ROD!!! He wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make those playoff mistakes if he was Fameis Jameis your guy because the Bucs WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN THE PLAYOFFS WITHOUT BAKER!!!
January 21st, 2025 at 9:09 pm
orlbucfan … FACTS are FACTS. I feel extremely confident that Todd Bowles & his staff are analyzing everything that happened last year in an attempt to figure out how to improve. Their analyses & decisions will impact who we keep on the roster, who we re-sign, which UFAs we sign, who we draft. Defense WILL be their focus their results last year (the FACTS) weren’t up to Todd Bowles’ standard, by a long shot. From 2020-2023 our defense ranked #8 on average; last year we were #16.
I dropped out of JBF for awhile this season because I just got tired of the constant whining by a sizeable segment of the JBF audience. The majority of them were simply looking for scapegoats IMO, and Bowles filled the need. Noticed however that when the season ended, quite a few of them simply disappeared.
My conclusion? They weren’t REAL Bucs’ fans at all, and they put emotions high above facts & analysis to figure out what the REAL issues were. Newsflash: Todd Bowles is far less responsible for most things that go on out on the field than most folks think he is. He doesn’t make tackles; he doesn’t drop interceptions; he doesn’t fumble handoffs; he doesn’t even screw up blocking assignments. IMO 10-7 was just about what this TEAM was capable of. Improve the defense considerably (back into the Top-10) and we could improve to 11-6 or maybe even 12-5 this season (we’ve got a tough schedule).
January 21st, 2025 at 9:39 pm
Stpetebucsfan… do you think Bowles is capable of leading this team to a SB win as HC & DC?
I don’t. I don’t think he will sniff it, even with a loaded roster. I would happily accept him as DC. His faith and clear bias towards D as a HC costs us Ws. Newsflash Todd, D is the weak side of the team, injuries or no injuries. Even next year, load the D up, trust them… trust the offense more cause they are gonna be top 5 again and we will all be thrilled if the D is even top 15.
January 21st, 2025 at 9:53 pm
What will really hurt would be losing Coen. I like him. Hopefully the Glazers do too and maybe have a succession plan to keep him around.
January 21st, 2025 at 10:58 pm
Bucs are about to make the biggest mistake since letting Steve Young walk out the door. Congratulations Jacksonville. You will win a Superbowl in the future before Tampa does .
January 21st, 2025 at 11:04 pm
stpetebucsfan Says:
January 21st, 2025 at 9:06 pm
Munchman your desperation is clearly showing.
So now you wish to judge a player on TWO FREAKING PLAYS in two years!!!
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How people perform under pressure is literally how you separate elite players, from the also rans.
Losing two playoff games in a row, when the ball is in your hands with the game on the line, is how you get know as a choke artist.
January 21st, 2025 at 11:57 pm
Interesting. From the article title, I thought Coach was responding to the question about when he is going to fix his rotten pass defense.