Flag-Challenged Bruce Arians

November 10th, 2019

From the head coach who brought you back-to-back timeouts at Carolina late in the fourth quarter, plus taking a penalty to back up a field goal kicker for a game-ending boot against the Giants, today Bucco Bruce Arians delivered another gem.

At a critical moment in the fourth quarter, Arians threw a challenge flag that he didn’t have to throw.

Why didn’t he have it to throw? Because he senselessly challenged a pass interference call two minutes earlier.

Throwing the flag after you’ve burned your one flag throw per half costs your team a timeout if you have one. And c’mon, Coach, you know you’ve got no shot of winning pass interference challenge that doesn’t include an outright mugging.

Trailing 27-23 with 6:31 remaining and Arizona driving, Arians tried to challenge a throwaway by Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray; Arians thought he was sacked. (Replays showed Arians was wrong, regardless). Arians subsequently was stripped of the timeout and another bonehead game-management move was logged by a veteran head coach who hired a retired NFL official, Larry Rose, to assist him in-game on all matters that relate to officiating.

Man, that sure doesn’t seem to be working.

Arians might want to get Jamel Dean a Christmas gift this season for his game-turning interception in the red zone on that drive. If the Bucs had lost, Arians’ crunch-time blunder would have been magnified in a big way. The bad challenge represented a long catch-your-breath for the Cardinals and Murray, and they had a big play on the next snap.

26 Responses to “Flag-Challenged Bruce Arians”

  1. Zzbuc Says:

    Anybody knows what PI is anymore.
    NFL is a joke with this grey areas!!

  2. tmaxcon Says:

    Game has passed the old BS artist by. He was flat out embarrassing on sidelines once again today……

  3. ElBajito43 Says:

    What a Grandpa. This what Jason”Trash” Licht was kept around for????
    To bring in the QB whisper dude?

    WTF this old man is a comedy show. This is like a Will Ferrel movie.
    Why do we have to have this horrible ownership group WHY????

  4. Wesley Says:

    Should have been offensive P.I. honestly.

  5. Boltsfan17 Says:

    BA coaches like it’s his first year in the league. To say he’s been underwhelming is a huge understatement. It really does appear the game is too fast for him now.

    Licht never should’ve been able to con the Glazers into hiring him in the first place.

  6. BucsBandit Says:

    BRUCE ARIANS SUCKS.

    You all pumped him up to best this great coach… this great QB Whisperer…

    The guy hasn’t done JACK SQUAT for the Bucs this season. He hasn’t ‘outcoached’ anymore.

    Arians is NOT the answer.

  7. MadMax Says:

    Retire….sorry man, youre done!

    Thats what came to my mind right after it happened.

    I dont know man, too many boneheaded things have happened that i was not expecting from BA….and i was ALL IN on bringing him here!!!!!

    Maybe promote Bowles, go after Lincoln Riley for OC and draft Jalen Hurts in the 3rd….get a different DC, but whatever, jit needs to be blown up, not completely, but left in enough disarray to where we start new, working with the known pieces we have and build from there.

  8. '79 Defense Says:

    That taking a penalty to back up your kicker sounds like top three as far as all-time Bucs wtf decisions.

  9. 813bucboi Says:

    BA almost blew it…

    Luckily almost doesn’t count….

    GO BUCS

  10. unbelievable Says:

    It was a waste.

    And made us forfeit the opportunity challenge a few plays later that we would have won. Which would have saved our timeout AND given us a 3rd challenge.

    Ended up okay but Bruce has clearly started losing some of his marbles.

  11. Tye Says:

    For the Bucs, since wins only come 1 in every 4-5 games a seasons, a win is a win.

    what is unsettled with me is the contrast between the 2 teams does not bode well for the Bucs..

    Older, seasoned, respect HC vs rookie HC
    Rookie HC looked better… His team challenged a seasoned coach team; Arians throwing red flags and timeout like they are unlimited..

    5 year qb vs rookie qb
    Rookie qb played at least as good as the 5 year vet…

    a retooling team vs rebuilding team
    played about the same so retooling or rebuilding, you still aren’t a good team

  12. crazyBucs_CL Says:

    he has no idea what’s going one the field…. for a simple reason: he can not follow the game no more. JL brought someone from the dead pool, to coach the worst team in NFL.
    We are doomed, this city is doomed and frustrated with this joke team…..
    we should have lost today….. and the rest of the games, and maybe then the owners can wake up and clean the house…..maybe…..
    so painful to watch this team.

    BA = LovieS 2.0

  13. tmaxcon Says:

    But but but but we finally have real coaching….. BA is lovie 2.0

  14. orlbucfan Says:

    Arians has one week to prove Arians is not another name for Alzheimers. He gets to prove it against NOLA here at home. If he isn’t senile, Bucs will kick the Saints back to Lake Pontchartran, and that’s on offense. We have the players. Defense is ready and ST will back up. Go Bucs!!

  15. Stanglassman Says:

    It was offensive PI and Murray’s knee was clearly on the ground before he released the ball. I thought it was a good challenge. When a coach is out of challenges he should no longer HAVE the flag in his possession.

    Game management, player discipline and communication has got to improve.

  16. ModHairKen Says:

    You losers can’t stand winning.

  17. Ghost of Darrell Henderson Says:

    “Arians thought he was sacked. (Replays showed Arians was wrong, regardless)”

    Replay clearly showed that Murray’s knee was down. Shaq got screwed out oif a sack.

    The challenge was a symbolic protest of rotten officiating, there is no way they should miss that call. It showed the defense that he had their back even if it cost a time out.

  18. Anonymous Says:

    He’s an idiot.

  19. Alanbucsfan Says:

    Ghost of D H 👍
    And – the P I challenge rule is a BS rule change that will only be overturned in a playoff game. You will not see it enforced during regular season.

  20. Dapostman Says:

    I’m actually more worried about Arians mental capacity. He is 67 years old. People at that age get forgetful sometimes and I can’t help but think maybe just maybe a little thought process is starting to disappear.

  21. tmaxcon Says:

    The world really needs a mandatory maximum age of 65

  22. Buccfan37 Says:

    Some people are still young at 65 tmax as far as brain thinking capacity, even older. BA does have a retirement property, was that in foggy bottom Georgia?

  23. Buccfan37 Says:

    How about a maximum human age of 50. My confidence in BA is rising.

  24. lambchop Says:

    That was just horrible. This coach is gonna cost us a game. So many blunders.

    I can’t even explain it. He owes this team an apology by now after so many gaffes.

  25. Bradinator Says:

    Stop challenging PI calls!!! It’s a waste of time, since the refs can STILL call it how they want to, due to looseness of the rules. Arians used a valuable challenge flag on a call he couldn’t win, lost a TO, and then managed to loose another TO by throwing a flag he didn’t have!!! Far and away the dumbest “play” of the game. If we lost, he gets the blame. I like Arians, but the boneheaded way he uses a red flag and can’t keep track of his time out is rage inducing. Maybe “The Count” from Sesame Street can be positioned next to him during games.

  26. James Walker Says:

    That challenge was psychological warfare. He knew what he was doing. It was worth the time out to remind the refs that they were being biased.