“Hardest Year” For Todd Bowles

February 5th, 2022

Todd Bowles

Our beloved Buccaneers allowed the fifth-fewest points during the regular season. The mighty Rams ranked 15th in that category.

So it’s impossible to say defensive coordinator Todd Bowles had a bad 2021 season, even if you’re still in disbelief from how the Bucs defense gave up the booty in their crushing playoff loss to Los Angeles two Sundays ago.

Bowles weathered a major injury to Jason Pierre-Paul, lost his top cornerbacks for months at a time and endured lost games by his stud interior linebackers. His starting safeties combined to miss seven games while his top ballhawk safety was suspended for three. Vita Vea was limited by a knee injury and Richard Sherman played like he was injured — before he got injured.

Yeah, every team has injuries, but the Bucs defense had more than most. And that fact isn’t lost on Bucco Bruce Arians.

“I think Todd probably had his hardest year, you know, having to protect guys,” Arians told the Buccaneers Radio Network.

“You know, when you start losing your top corners, you gotta find ways to still be aggressive but also protect [their replacements]. And I thought, man, he did a great, great job.”

Overall, Bowles did do a great job, though Joe believes there was too much “protection” of the Bucs backup cornerbacks. The Bucs were a bad zone pass defense (with or without the starters), and Joe thinks the backups would have fared better playing a little more man coverage.

Still, allowing the fifth-fewest points is impressive, even if the Bucs faced a healthy share of weak quarterbacks.

Bowles is a strong defensive coordinator and Joe is glad he’s back in that role.

79 Responses to ““Hardest Year” For Todd Bowles”

  1. VSyl Says:

    That’s an area that definetely needs to improve. Much better to spend money on the defense than on a common qb.

  2. Marine Buc Says:

    I’m glad TB is returning as our DC. I know he is taking a lot of heat recently because of what the Rams offense did to us…

    Regardless of all the negative noise I still believe he is a very solid DC.

  3. SOEbuc Says:

    His ridiculously beat up defense did play well, but it only takes one really bad call for the ridiculously large number of fake Bucs fans to cry like some kinda Mahomes or Rodgers fan. It’s the defense BA knows and runs with Bowles and you can’t just La-dee-da out there to find a DC that will put up those numbers with those injuries.

  4. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    According to Listnfrmafar it’s all BA’s fault because he should have heard the blitz call from Bowles…..and since we didn’t have any time outs….should have ordered the defense to go offsides….then changed the paycall….

    Now, this is a real stretch to blame the defensive playcall on BA….but after being restrained for a year with BA……he simply can’t help himself.

    FYI….this is all documented in the Antoine Winfield article from yesterday.

    I will cut Listnfrmafar some slack because the OC hatred for BA,,,,the restraint had to be very difficult…..

    I have a truce with the Realist…..but he no longer posts.

  5. Bosch Says:

    Now we know. Arians still supports Bowles. What a shame. He entered the Rams game with the healthiest defense he had all year. his selfish effortless preparation for the Rams makes him unworthy of HC support.
    Bowels movement!

  6. DoooshLaRue Says:

    What does Joe always say about stats?

    While injuries played a huge part this year we looked like crap on D even before the injuries started piling up.
    I like Bowles but his poor game planning and slow adjustments really pissed me off.

    I hope he gets back on track next year because we’re gonna need a stout D to be competitive.

  7. Ed Kerber Says:

    Buckles is right. It is all about the impact on the salary cap. Jimmy G is not worth $$$$. Gardner Minshew with a better defense and more receivers and an improved online would be better that Aaron Rogers and massive cuts in bothering sides if the ball.

  8. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Now, as for Todd Bowles…..I would be willing to bet that you could conduct a secret ballot vote with his players and he would receive 100% approval….

    As a matter of fact…..should we keep Todd Bowles would be a good JBF poll…..I suspect we won’t see one because Joe knows it would be at least 90% favorable.

    Did he make a bad call or did he make a good call with horrible execution…..that will be an open question for a long time.

  9. gp Says:

    It’s quite easy for us “fans” to miss out on seeing the whole picture.
    Add in to the mix the “casuals” and the “Brady tag-alongs” and you might get the impression that Bucs “fans” are anticipating cellar dwelling for the next ten years.
    True fans always, ALWAYS, expect the best. Even while accepting limitations in team and staff.
    Naysayers are welcome to their opinions.
    They ain’t mine!

  10. Bucwatchingnut Says:

    It takes mastery of multiple abilities to excel in any complex endeavor. The one major flaw in TB’s approach is his seeming inability to resist an urges to blitz, even against the best blitz handling offence in the NFL. Consistently being the #1 blitzing defense in the league is not a sign of strength. It is the hallmark of a coach fixated on a tactic not suited to every situation. There is a good chance that we might have won in overtime against the Rams given that we had Brady and the flow of momentum if we would have prevented that last second field goal. Todd Bowles lacked the discipline to resist handling the Rams a huge big play opportunity by weakening an already shaky secondary because his blitz fetish.
    There is no question that Todd Bowles excels in most of his coaching duties. He just falls short of the complete package. Knowing how strategic Brady is, I would be surprised if he did not bring up this issue before the game to BA and Todd Bowles. I wonder if it’s possible that this frustrating situation might have played a small part in Tom Brady’s retirement. If we won that game the Bucs would likely be in the super bowl and not the Rams. If we could have won next week it might have been harder for Tom to give it up. I find it sad that Tom Brady did not have an opportunity to get an eight ring and the Bucs land a twofer.

  11. Steven007 Says:

    Doosh, I hear you, and since we were the loser that game I suppose that Joe is citing stats. And there are at least somewhat relevant given all the piling upon BL has been getting. He’s the best DC we’ve had in sometime. He either made a bad call, there was bad communication, or very likely both. It’s over. We’d all like to see some fine-tuning.

  12. Steven007 Says:

    *piling on TB, not BL

  13. Marine Buc Says:

    You live by the sword – you die by the sword…

    Todd Bowles coaches a blitz heavy scheme and probably always will.

    It’s no surprise he called a blitz against the Rams late in the game. We didn’t execute very well. No pressure got to the QB and the DBs failed to cover a wide open Cooper Kupp.

    Plenty of blame to go around.

  14. Eric Says:

    Our D was vastly overrated. It’s easy to look great playing against Darnold, Hill, Heineken, David Jones. In the games they play it against real quarterbacks the D let up 30 points a game. And it was the D that spit the bit or we would be playing next weekend.

  15. Mike Johnson Says:

    Uninformed fans always seek out a scapegoat. Our Defense was riddled with injuries this year. We did good just to get back to some semblance of what a halfway Defense even looks like. We simply failed to rise to the occasion when we played the Rams. Their Defense looked like we looked when we played KC. We failed to have any kind of a pass rush. Thats what truly beat us. And the Rams Defense was simply Outstanding and then some. But don’t blame Bowles. Blame our players.

  16. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Hard year for Bucs fans and Brady thanks to Todd.

  17. crazyBucs_CL Says:

    Simple put it: Bowles should resign.
    He is the main reason Tom left, and the mess that we are about to have starting in Feb 11th, and continue March 15th and beyond.
    He “massacred” the Jets for three years, and they are still the worst team out there even three year after he left.
    Todd is a nice guy, and a very short-sighted/one-dimension coach.
    He should resign and save our D.

  18. Defense Rules Says:

    ‘and Joe thinks the backups would have fared better playing a little more man coverage.’

    Speculation; we’ll never know because that ship’s sailed. BUT you recovered nicely:

    ‘Bowles is a strong defensive coordinator and Joe is glad he’s back in that role.’

    I’m glad he’s back too.

  19. Defense Rules Says:

    crazyBucs_CL (12:35 PM) … Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Some are worth reading AND responding to; others are extremely biased & not worth reading or responding to.

    Rather than embarrass both of us, I’ll leave it at that.

  20. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Tampa, before you take your shots learn how the sidelines work. The HC can overrule anything. That thing perched on his hat are headphones so he can communicate among his team and make changes. You obviously have never played the game if you have never witnessed a coach having a player purposely commit a penalty to save time or make an adjustment if your TO’s are burnt. Ping Pong is a legitimate sport, I suggest you stick with it.

    Bucswatch, well written post!

  21. BucsFan81 Says:

    Can’t blame everything on Bowles as he is not on the field. Some of it is on the players and the injuries. I still like Bowles a lot better than Mike Smith and pretty much every DC in the last 20 years besides Monte.

  22. gotbbucs Says:

    Bowles is not the problem.
    You wanna know why the Rams are in the Super Bowl and not the Bucs? The Rams had all their best players playing the whole year, and especially in the playoffs.
    We played defense the whole year at half strength. JPP was a shell of himself the entire year. Our secondary was a M.A.S.H. unit the entire season. Devin White looked completely lost out there, make whatever excuse you want for him.
    We couldn’t run a consistent scheme from one game to the next, it was constant patch work.
    We need a legitimate shut down corner on one side of the field. Carlton Davis is not that guy, nor is SMB or Dean. J.C. Jackson from New England should be a target in free agency. I would sacrifice both Davis and Whitehead to get him.
    Of you can’t play press man in today’s NFL you will die a slow paper cut death every Sunday.

  23. stpetebucsfan Says:

    D.R.

    You’re far more diplomatic than me. LOL My wife is as well so she helps balance things out.

    Meanwhile I think next year is YOUR year. One mock draft I saw had us taking a DL first and a DB second. I like that. Time to build the defense…keep the OL in line as it is…and roll with Trask and Gabbert.

    A couple of mocks including Daneil Jeremiah had us taking a WR first. I get that they explicityly base that on CG14’s FA status but even if we lose CG I do not want to grab another receiver. We still have a great possesion receiver…a TE who has a knack for the end zone and I haven’t given up on Johnson or Scottie and we can afford them and spend money on D! Vaughn is decent…try to keep Fournette or ROJO whichever will come to terms financially.

    Then pull an Indianapolis or Tennessee and start building a running game and create the best D in the league to augment. Neither are a stretch IMO.

    Meanwhile TBBF was the first to broach the idea and I agree with him. If Andrew Luck is truly healthy now try to woo him out of retirement. IF that happens then of course things change and retaining CG14 becomes essential.

  24. Lesko_Brandon Says:

    Give me a break. First game against Dallas we have a complete healthy defense going against Dak Prescot who has not played for almost a year and no pre-season snaps and he almost destroyed our defense. Todd Bowles is overrated and look at the results when he was the Jets HC. Horrible!

  25. unbelievable Says:

    Fifth-fewest points allowed is great for sure.

    But let’s be honest- we also had a cupcake schedule. Depending on which rankings you look at, our SOS is ranked somewhere between the #1 easiest and 5th easiest in the league this past year…

  26. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Anyone else out there think that BA should have purposely ordered players to go offsides so he could overrule Bowles’ blitz…

    I’m waiting!!!

  27. Swampbuc Says:

    His genius was on display during the last 42 seconds of the Rams divisional playoff game.

  28. SKBucsFan Says:

    Im still dissapounted in him. I’d rather move on and take the two 3rd rounders.
    My original thought was Flores, but he just proved he is a headcase. We already have one that loses his cool on the sideline. We don’t need two coaches doing that. (Yes, calling out your former owner publicly, or the team that you interviewed with isn’t a smart way of ensuring your future in the league no matter how upset you are that you didn’t get the job. This isn’t corporate America, it’s an exclusive old boys network! Too bad,because he is a good coordinator who thinks he is elite head coach material.

    With any luck Bowles isn’t so arrogant that he learned from his mistake and it won’t happen again.

  29. Mike Johnson Says:

    Ok scapegoaters. Find another DC. Lets see how that works out. I am waiting…..

  30. voice of reason Says:

    Todd, aka Toilet, Bowles, screwed the Jets team for 3 years and ended Brady’s Super Bowl run with a MORONIC all out blitz! How many times did the Bucs defense give up a 3rd down and long ALL season! They must have led the league in that! Zone defense when giving up 10 yard passes all day and you don’t try man on man???????

  31. gotbbucs Says:

    @SKBucs
    So you think if they fire Bowles the team gets two 3rd round picks? Quick, fire all the minority coaches. We can own the draft.

    Two years of winning and still the dumbest fan base in the NFL.

  32. crazyBucs_CL Says:

    @”…I still like Bowles a lot better than Mike Smith and pretty much every DC in the last 20 years besides Monte….”
    ———————————
    Let take care of Monte:
    The greatest D mind in Bucs history, who gave “birth” to the famous phrase”Defense win Champion ship”. He literally did it, that D of his won the SB.
    Not only that, he invented “Tampa2″ scheme, widely use even today.
    What a Great coordinator!!!
    ~~
    Ok, just because MS was a terrible DC HERE, it doesn’t mean we should except less-terrible DC Toodddd.
    They both came here in the same situations (both fired, both best buddies become HCs)
    So they both got a favorable situation for them, terrible for Bucs.
    Smith got fired, Toooddd should too.
    Will Arians do it, never in a million years;
    ++Remember, after the Rams game interview BA said:”Some of the players didn’t understand the Blitz call, so they were not in the same page”… pretty much players fault.
    ++Only the next day he said:”No No players got the message, and played the Blitz”.
    What a joke!

  33. Swampbuc Says:

    He’d probably tell the kickoff return team to blitz all 11 if he coached special teams.

  34. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Listnfrmafar

    So….some of these times JPP lined up offsides…& Shaq went offsides is because BA overruled Bowles’ defensive playcall…….now I understand.

  35. Buc1987 Says:

    Listnfrmafar…is an idiot.

    That is all.

  36. Listnfrmafar Says:

    gotbucs, why do you have to go there? Fire the guy because his over the top blitz happy game plans. Joe should fire you from this site.

    Tampa you dip shat, if twisting my words makes you happy go for it. To the rest of you intelligent readers, I wrote if BA or Bowles identified that there was confusion within the players, seeing the Bucs had no TO’s left the option of going offsides prior to the ball being snapped would be a dead ball foul which would allow the D to get on the same page.

    Tampa, when I use the term dead ball, I am not referring to anything in your shorts. Oh, another option if you haven’t perfected it by now is shuffle board, football is over your head.

    TampaDah, here’s another football question you can spend the rest of the day researching. Why didn’t BA line the O up after Bucs final TD to look like they were going for two? And how would this benefit the Bucs? It appeared Brady was looking for BA to make the call.

  37. SKBucsFan Says:

    @ gotbbucs

    Why would they fire Bowles? I was hoping he would have been hired in one of his interviews. Hence the two 3rd rounders.

    You really have proven that we have the dumbest fan base in the league!

  38. Anonymous Says:

    Did not know we were 5th best defense. If we do it again we could get back in the playoffs.

  39. HC Grover Says:

    Did not know 5th best. Do it again and we can get to the playoffs.

  40. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Listnfrmafar

    The only way to assure the play is called dead is if the pass rusher goes unabated to the QB or knocks a olineman on his a$$….otherwise it’s a free play for the offense.
    And, there would be little gain to go for 2 at that stage because you risk losing if you don’t make it…and you would still only be up by 1 and a FG beats you.

    The much better play would have been for Lenny to down it at the 1/2 yard line…..1st & goal…clock ticking away on the Rams…..would have forced them to use their last TO…..

    Lenny scored earlier in the year like that….leaving time and BA reflected that it may have been better for him to down it.

    So, you see…I know a bit about the game…….and, I’m not totally blinded by my bias toward a coach that I fault them for every single thing that occurs.

  41. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Tampa you are a freaking idiot. Of course you reach out and touch the player in front of you to cause the dead ball foul. These players know this and practice it. Maybe not under BA.

    Second, you definitely DO NOT have Lenny stop at the half yd line. One of the stupidest comments you made by the way. You automatically think the Bucs can score that easily against Rams D line? You take the chance of running out the clock, fumbling, losing yards, a sack etc. Then what Vince Lombardi?

    You line up for two so you catch the Rams off guard and force them to use their final TO? Man you don’t know squat about this game. So your next question is, “ya but wha if dey don’t call da timeout.” Answer: You take the 5yd penalty and kick. The wasted TO is more valuable than the 5 yds.

    Bucs1987, good one. You must of learned that during your multiple school detentions growing up. Or did you grow up?

  42. JimmyJack Says:

    Whats more impressive to me is Todd Bowles got here and inherited one of the most pathetic defenses I have ever seen play the game of football. Its a basic miracle that it 2 season he was able to completely rebuild that defense from head to toe and had them playing at a Championship level.

    Its really sad that so many Tampa Bay fans dont seem to realize how great of a job he has done here. I suspect years from now yall will look back and realize just how good we had it.

    Todd is a Godd!!!
    GO BUCS!!!!!!

  43. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Maybe so Jimmyjackoff, doesn’t the draft and FA have something to do with that? Don’t forget Bradys changed the culture from a losing one to a winning one. Did the coaches buy in and help portray this to the players? I’m sure they did, LAST season. It was more than obvious these guys did not play up to the standards they did the last dozen games last season. It appeared many got complacent and thought their shat didn’t stink and the coaches did as well. Brady’s knows there are no short cuts and he lost some of the locker room and possibly coaching support. It is far easier to cruise than it is to bust balls everyday.

  44. Swampbuc Says:

    Bowels shouldn’t be fired, but he deserves a public enema.

  45. Zzbuc Says:

    If Bowles is back I will be VERY happy indeed….
    Do not judge him for one play, judge him for his three year and you will come to the easeist answer ever!!

    Thanks we have a todd Bowles!!

  46. BigMacAttack Says:

    Joe is on point 💯

  47. Alanbucsfan Says:

    The bottom line is the Bucs lost to Rams and lost an opportunity to repeat SB and ultimately lost Brady to retirement because the Defense was not prepared for their playoff game – despite having all their Defensive starters ready to go.
    They were confused on multiple occasions and the personnel and blitz calls were often questionable. –
    Why they didn’t play Gholston, Nelson and Vea more instead of an ineffective JPP hasn’t been explained.
    Maybe if the Bucs media wasn’t so afraid of losing their access to staff, they’d ask some tough questions.

  48. Crickett Baker Says:

    Listn..u are still using words like “must of..”. Of what? Learn English before you show how uneducated you are which tends to underrate your other opinions.

  49. adam from ny Says:

    the thing about bowles is he has really nice teeth, and that goes a long way lol 🙂

  50. Ash Says:

    I think he is a good dc does he make all the right calls of course not but none do. As far as him running more man when he did have them in man coverage it was worse which is why he didn’t run it often. He did what he could though an injury riddled season were the starters didn’t get alot of reps with each other which is a very big deal. Glad he is back and the person behind door number two was more than probably going to be alot worse, grass is not always greener on the other side.

  51. HC Grover Says:

    I like the parity now. LOL. Now I do not care who wins the Souper Bowl cause I don’t bet and Bucs can get in the playoffs this fall. Then who knows? We could go all the way! The further from the Bowles Blunder the less it bothers me. 9 wins is probable going to win NFC South.

  52. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Listnfrmafar

    So…you claim I don’t know the game….but you do nothing but Monday Morning Quarterback BA……and you actually think he should have ordered the Dline to go offsides to stop the Bowles playcall…..who is the idiot?

  53. D-Rok Says:

    Bowles is great, but for us to win, all we need is for the waterboy to have 20 sacks a game. That’d be great. 🙂

  54. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Listnfrmafar

    You have zero credibility…..over a year of “Old Stale Biscuit” BA……then you had to change screen names a couple of times and come back, only after we lost to start hammering BA on every post……
    Are we going to be subjected to that along with Bowles bashing from this point on….because I can tell you….neither of them are going anywhere.

    You can’t find one single poster that believes BA should have intervened and tried to overrule Bowles blitz call….with no time outs and 42 seconds left….not one.

  55. JimmyJack Says:

    List a little reality check for you Todd the Godd and Bruce were here before Brady. You followed Brady here and arent got a clue about what we had cooking before then.

    Sounds like you dont even realize Tom got to pick his team when he was a free agent. He picked the Buccaneers gor a reason, those of us who have been following the team know exactually what that reason is. You are just a little tagalong that knows very little about this team.

  56. Listnfrmafar Says:

    You are the IDIOT! I said it was an OPTION if the players were confused. It gives the D time to reset dipshat. I take the dipshat back, I shouldn’t be picking on you seeing you have a comprehension problem. So Tom Landry, ( he was a past winning NFL HC) what would you HAVE done in that scenario if you were BA? Nevermind I already know, let Bowles run the absolute wrong play against the wrong QB and sit back with your thumb up your arse and watch your team scramble around in confusion while the best wr in the league embarrasses your entire squad. I hope you don’t coach any children in sports, I wouldn’t want them to inherit a losing mentality as such a young age.

    Cricket, please review the above to insure it is up to your standards. Out of all those who post on this site you choose me to evaluate? Comical, the next time I have a thesis to write I will be sure to post it on this site for your approval.

  57. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Furthermore….your idea that we should have lined up for 2 points to try to force a timeout and if they didn’t….we should take the 5 yard penalty on the kick…
    Extra points are difficult enough without adding 5 yards…..we miss it…we lose.

    If you really wan to eat the clock…you hold all of the receivers off the line….take the 5 yard penalties….maybe 3 or 4 of them….they get 15-20 yards and eat up the clock doing it.

    And…if we can’t punch it in from the 1/2 yard line…we don’t deserve to win.

  58. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Listnfrmafar…..we know who you are….

    Again…..you can’t find one single person that will agree with you…..

  59. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Listnfrmafart

    This is a waste of time….I’m over that game now….time to move on….we lost….

  60. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Tampax, if you hold the receivers as you yourself pointed out in a previous post the Rams would get a free play unlike going offsides and touching a player before the ball is snapped. Dead ball versus free play. Go back and reread your rule book because your interpretation sucks. Please don’t coach, God save the children. Tampax, if you are capable, look up the percentage difference from kicking a 35 yard versus 40 yard FG. Miniscule.

  61. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Jimmyjackoff, yes they were and no I was not. Let the record show they went 7-9. Oh ya that was ALL Winstens fault. Did they win when they benched him or did they not bench him and Bucs continued to lose. Nice try.

  62. Biff Barker Says:

    Bowles did a good job overall given the injury nightmare.
    His mistakes were magnified because it a was sudden death playoff loss. Some players didn’t execute either. Fans are tired of losing to the Rams.

    Bowles and his staff were just awful because the team blew so many tackles.

  63. Joe in Michigan Says:

    You know who the crybabies are in life, they cry about what could’ve/would’ve/should’ve happened and are in denial of reality.

  64. Defense Rules Says:

    Biff … Agree with you about being tired of losing to the Rams. Both teams are fairly equal IMO, but we keep falling victim to the same game plan time after time; Rams go up early then hang on to win. Same song time after time.

    This year will be different, ASSUMING that we meet them in the playoffs (don’t get to play them in the regular season). They’ll be undergoing a lot of change too. They’re already at MINUS $8 mil salary CAP with only 46 players signed (not much dead CAP, but their Top-4 players are making well over $90 mil all by themselves … ouch).

    Hopefully the Bucs can shore up our defense this off-season and don’t go through this injury nightmare again. We’ve got a decent nucleus under contract but do have a number of holes to fill. I’m optimistic though; almost all NFL teams are going through very similar ‘stuff’. Here’s where JL earns his money.

  65. Joe in Michigan Says:

    I like to see the Bucs add a pass rusher in this year’s draft. A better pass rush means Bowles wouldn’t have to rely on the blitz so much.

  66. Defense Rules Says:

    TBBF … Don’t know why I thought of this, but one of my favorite sayings is ‘Arguing with a fool is like wrestling with a pig. Nobody wins and the pig likes it’.

  67. Anonymous Says:

    [This is BS “Anonymous.” Joe has been hammered Todd Bowles for the Rams gameplan. Check the (free) archives. No need to be a bigot. — Joe]

  68. steele Says:

    TB had an up/down season capped with an unforgiveable disaster.

  69. Dapostman Says:

    The Bucs played 6 games vs off teams in the top 16.
    Cowboys, Bills, Patriots, Rams, Colts & Eagles.

    The Bucs played 11 games vs off teams in the bottom 16.
    Saints, Falcons, Panthers (all twice), Dolphins, WFT, Bears, Jets & Giants.

    That’s how you finish top 5.

  70. Listnfrmafar Says:

    DR, no need to bring up your wife. Go back to your abacus and Geek Squad smart car, your stats mean squat and often skewed.

  71. Anonymous Says:

    Read the archives as I religiously read and agree with nearly everything you post… You’re right, but I was talking about the people in the comments. I’m black and literally requesting commenters and other people in the media not to be afraid to criticize him because of his race. Don’t be so sensitive, Joe.

  72. HomerSimpsonRocks Says:

    Bucwatchingnut Says:
    February 5th, 2022 at 11:47 am
    It takes mastery of multiple abilities to excel in any complex endeavor. The one major flaw in TB’s approach is his seeming inability to resist an urges to blitz, even against the best blitz handling offence in the NFL. Consistently being the #1 blitzing defense in the league is not a sign of strength. It is the hallmark of a coach fixated on a tactic not suited to every situation. There is a good chance that we might have won in overtime against the Rams given that we had Brady and the flow of momentum if we would have prevented that last second field goal. Todd Bowles lacked the discipline to resist handling the Rams a huge big play opportunity by weakening an already shaky secondary because his blitz fetish.
    There is no question that Todd Bowles excels in most of his coaching duties. He just falls short of the complete package. Knowing how strategic Brady is, I would be surprised if he did not bring up this issue before the game to BA and Todd Bowles. I wonder if it’s possible that this frustrating situation might have played a small part in Tom Brady’s retirement. If we won that game the Bucs would likely be in the super bowl and not the Rams. If we could have won next week it might have been harder for Tom to give it up. I find it sad that Tom Brady did not have an opportunity to get an eight ring and the Bucs land a twofer.

    ———

    OMG dude, yes, yes, yes and double yes. These are exactly my thoughts.

  73. Anonymous Says:

    Coach Bowles has forgotten more about defense than the keyboard defensive experts ever knew. No defense makes the right call or executes perfect every play but he and the defenses he coached have been damn good. I will always trust Todd Bowles defensive play calling abilities more than some guy calling himself Doosh or Listnarmfr… who get to be right by second guessing after the fact.

  74. stpetebucsfan Says:

    Is Listnfrmafar the reincarnation of TMAX?…Nah…I do not remember TMAX resorting to ad hom cheap shots at some of our most respected posters.

    But he would have certainly piled on Bowles.

    And PUHLEEZE…the Jets…that’s why Bowles sucks. Yeah…it’s all Bowles fault that the Jets have ONE winning season in the last ELEVEN years 3 of which go on Bowles record. The Jets may be the most mismanaged franchise over the past decade in the entire league.

  75. Capt.Tim Says:

    Brady won the Rams game.
    Bowles then gave it away.
    Bowles had a good year- but that Rams game is almost unforgivable

  76. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Anonymous the bigot, seriously? Bowles was a DB which is the weakest part of his D. Man to man the best athletes in the NFL on his D squad and still manages to mismanage them throughout the season. The Bucs had a cush schedule this year and Bowles D managed to lose AGAIN to the Saints twice and WFT. Funny how everyone says Brady can’t beat the Rams or the Saints yet he did prior to joining the Bucs. The Saints were.back and forth but he had.never lost to the Rams, so it’s BA and his cronies that can’t beat these teams. Without Brady the Bucs went 7-9, let’s see what happens next season. DR will tell you the numbers don’t lie. Bowles D allowed almost every team to be in the game or comeback this season.

  77. Rich S Says:

    Bowles is overated…..any coach that would start jason pp in a must win game is not to bright.

  78. Ben Harvey Says:

    Bowles is a great D coordinator. I don’t like how the Rams game ended and thought he was too focused on getting a job than on winning. At the end of the day, Bowles is legit and I’m glad the Bucs have him. I’d like to see the defense play better in zone with 4 man rush. If they can do better in this category I think the defense can bear anyone. Time to upgrade some corners and pass rushers

  79. David Says:

    I could not agree more. Todd Bowles takes a lot of heat from some of the fans on this website but he did a remarkable job for a team that was missing half their defensive backfield almost every game. I think the starters played in one game together and, on top of it, the front 4 pass rush was lacking because of JPP.
    So yeah, so far I’m extremely happy he has not bolted for head-coaching job.
    They need him here regardless of the horrible call and WORSE execution on that last play in the Rams game