Key Game For Todd Bowles’ Future
November 5th, 2022
Todd Bowles.
Somewhere in the back of Todd Bowles’ mind, he knows he can’t go on a four-game losing streak with Tom Brady — and fall to 1-4 at home this season — without sparking the folks in the owners’ suite into action.
That’s just NFL reality.
The Bucs haven’t lost four in a row since the inaugural year of the Bucco Bruce Arians regime began 2-6 (and finished 7-9).
Losing at home is particularly troublesome for owners, though home field advantage isn’t what it used to be in the NFL. Literally 16 of 32 teams had a losing home record last season.
Every head coaching change starts with a turning-point moment, a time when ownership proverbially looks at each other and says, ‘Let’s start exploring our options.’
Joe thinks that could happen Sunday night if the Bucs lose to a bad Rams team on Sunday at The Licht House. And yes, the Rams are bad at 3-4 with a poor offensive line and major issues scoring points.
Ironically, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is a guy Joe could see Team Glazer having an eye on if they end up considering ousting Bowles and going into rebuild mode.
In Team Glazer’s eyes, Joe believes, Raheem has experience with a rebuild because he took the Bucs from a gutted roster to a 10-6 season in Year 2 of his regime (2010), one of the underrated accomplishments in franchise history.
Also, Joe thinks Raheem would present as a head coaching candidate with an impressive coaching staff from his time working for Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Dan Quinn, in addition to a few coaches from his former Bucs staff.
Joe also thinks Raheem and general manager Jason Licht and Raheem would be a great marriage.
In multiple ways, and possibly for multiple people, the Bucs season is on the line Sunday.
Just win, Bucs. Just win and shut down all this misery.
November 5th, 2022 at 10:16 am
Yawn
The Lost Season
November 5th, 2022 at 10:29 am
I hope you’re kidding, right?
November 5th, 2022 at 10:34 am
The carolina game was the turning point for me and that loss combined with a large amount of our players looking listless is just inexcusable. Raheem got screwed by ownership and I’d welcome him back with open arms. I love Arians and what he did for us, but unless there is a dramatic turnaround I’d dump the majority of our coaches and Arians too if he takes issue with it.
November 5th, 2022 at 10:39 am
Ken Dorsey. Check out his coaching career. It’s impressive.
November 5th, 2022 at 10:43 am
Mike Kafka. Check out his coaching career. It’s impressive.
November 5th, 2022 at 10:44 am
There are not many teams that lose 10 in a row where a coach is safe. Especially with the problems the Bucs had. Not even factoring in how that team quit on Rah.
November 5th, 2022 at 10:46 am
If Bowles can’t win the division, and we miss the playoffs with a losing record, he should be fired. We’d be going into rebuild, and Bowles did a lousy job building a winner in NY. If Brady didn’t come here, and save the day from Jameis, would Licht even still be employed? I think winning the division is a low bar to climb over. If Bowles can’t do that he should be gone.
November 5th, 2022 at 10:54 am
Dorsey coached up Cam Newton into a Pro Bowler in Carolina and has done the same With Allen in Buffalo. Great competitive fire and offensive mind.
November 5th, 2022 at 10:59 am
Way too soon to consider all that stuff. Like I said this game i circle from the getgo. It means a lot in players head to win. Rams might have a bad oline but we have a bad d line. Imo it’s going to come down how lefty calls the game and Bowles on defense , why? Rams have our number.
November 5th, 2022 at 11:04 am
I like Dorsey too, and he has turned Buffalo into a total Juggernaut.
Licht was totally in trouble, until he pulled Arians out of a Hat, but let us not forget his lucky Gift of Tom Brady, who was snubbed by the 49ers.
I hope when we start our rebuild we start totally over. New Head Coach and a new general manager as well.
I would welcome Raheem back too because he did so much, with so little.
November 5th, 2022 at 11:08 am
I’m sure that the Glazers are concerned and have already had conversations trying to figure out WTF is going on but I seriously doubt that Bowles’s job is in danger at this point.
Minimally, he’ll have the entire season to turn things around and show he deserves to keep his job. And unless he just completely lost the respect of the players I’ll bet he’ll get a second season even if the Bucs miss the playoffs.
Because of how late in the off-season Bowles was given the job he wasn’t able to make any significant changes to the coaching staff, something that he would have been able to do if he had gotten hired right after the 2021 season ended.
A number of things happened that had a huge negative impact on the team that was not within the control of the HC. Losing Marpet, Stinnie, and Jensen to start the season off certainly didn’t help. But on top of that, every single WR seems to be injured or recovering from an injury, and I believe even Evans is in that category, although unacknowledged. Also, when the GOAT takes an 11-day vacation in the middle of training camp you know that he’s got some major off-the-field distractions going on in his life.
The Glazer’s can’t be happy with how it’s going at One Buc Place but they’re not going to pull the plug on Bowles at this point as all those factors I mentioned above were not something he was able to control.
November 5th, 2022 at 11:09 am
Sean Payton
November 5th, 2022 at 11:10 am
Joe Says:
November 5th, 2022 at 10:44 am
Raheem got screwed by ownership
There are not many teams that lose 10 in a row where a coach is safe. Especially with the problems the Bucs had. Not even factoring in how that team quit on Rah.
Oh, no doubt that Rah should have been fired, but ownership did him no favors by not opening up their wallets after we went 10-6. With a few additions that season could have gone much differently.
November 5th, 2022 at 11:12 am
Anybody that thinks bowles is out next year is drinking too much toilet water. Bowles defense won the SB. I see a lot of coaches departing. But not Bowles.
Brady & Bowles will come back.
Truth is licht missed huge this offseason with his moves. His replacements are zero contribution so far.
November 5th, 2022 at 11:13 am
One would think if the Bucs lose to the Rams and Seahawks the Bucs would make a change during the bye week. But I have a feeling Bowles is good for the rest of the year irregardless of what happens.
November 5th, 2022 at 11:16 am
yes “irregardless”……….lol
November 5th, 2022 at 11:32 am
Does Raheem still frequent local watering holes with his players? Or has he matured beyond that? Can he be the hard ass and inspirational leader the team obviously needs?
November 5th, 2022 at 11:44 am
Raheem is an intriguing guy, almost in the same way Bowles is. Seems to have great success as position coach/coordinator, but really poor results as HC. I know the youngry BUCS were really fun to watch but a coach who completely loses a locker room mid season is a big red flag to me.
Funny how there used to be a LOT of griping on here about Bruce Arians and his golf cart and biscuits. Good head coaches are hard to find and I respect BA for trying to guide his guys to higher positions but maybe Bowles just isn’t the type. Bruce Arians put a swagger in this team that it’s never had before and apparently has no more.
November 5th, 2022 at 11:54 am
Welp, Bucs defense is allowing fewer points per game this year, than the past 2 seasons. It don’t seem like it, but that’s what I read.
Problem is, Bucs offensive scoring has fallen off a cliff.
In Bowles defense, he’s a defensive guy, (just saying)
November 5th, 2022 at 12:02 pm
Payton is a No Brainer if he can be had… proven he motivate today’s football player
November 5th, 2022 at 12:12 pm
“Every head coaching change starts with a turning-point moment, a time when ownership proverbially looks at each other…” If the Glazers haven’t already done this and started weighing their options, I have lost some serious respect for them as owners of an NFL franchise.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:13 pm
Clueless Todd will get out-coached, again. And he’s getting fired at the end of the season. And Arians LIED to us about Leftwhich. Arians was correcting the flawed game plans. Sold the Yucs a bill of goods.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:28 pm
Jason Licht would NOT be a great marriage for any coach as he has come very close to completely ruining what was a very promising season with his foolish nonsigning of Suh and hsi utter failure to sign a competent center when Jensen went down. Licht is the problem.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:28 pm
I agree Payton would be a better coach than Raheem but was he also the GM at the Saints? That would be a non starter unless the Bucs dumped Licht which I don’t see happening.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:29 pm
Have said for months Licht is guilty of malpractice
November 5th, 2022 at 1:39 pm
Since we’re talking hypothetical coaches, I’d love to have Vrabel here.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:46 pm
No to the Raheem “the dream” Morris. I would rather give P.J. Fleck a shot. His enthusiasm is contagious!!!
November 5th, 2022 at 1:48 pm
Bowles will and should be fired if they miss the playoffs. He’s in over his head, but I still see them winning the south by default. At what point does Licht share some of the blame. He’s the one who hired Bowles. He’s the one who brought in a veritable MASH unit of players. This never felt like an all in season. Licht is a good GM, but he’s far from blameless
November 5th, 2022 at 1:50 pm
D-Rok, 100% on vrabel. Top 5 coach IMO.
November 5th, 2022 at 1:56 pm
Redeemer,
Thumbs-up, buddy. Now THAT’s a coach who gets spit, fire, and vinegar from his players.
Heck, I’d run through a brick wall for him…as a fan!
November 5th, 2022 at 1:59 pm
Payton would be my choice, but let’s see if Bowles can beat the Rams tomorrow.
Light didn’t have anybody decent to sign that we could afford. We’re shopping at Goodwill for free agents in 23 already, so we can’t really give up draft picks.
As I think about it, Bowles isn’t looking like a keeper if we can get Payton unless we win 7 more games. Then all is forgotten.
November 5th, 2022 at 2:01 pm
Next year it’s our turn to have a fire sale.
November 5th, 2022 at 2:08 pm
Win Sunday or the alternative is not gonna be pretty.
November 5th, 2022 at 2:25 pm
Dorsey sounds good too.
Todd better win tomorrow or we’ll be talking about this till January.
November 5th, 2022 at 3:16 pm
The Bucs lay another egg tomorrow, and ownership has a real fan uprising to deal with.
I want to hear what BA has to say about this mess.
Vrabel, Peyton…
:sigh:
Can’t a boy dream?
November 5th, 2022 at 3:22 pm
Could you imagine if Vrabel was the coach and White said he was bored in the 4th quarter? Whooie
November 5th, 2022 at 3:27 pm
Yes, Listn, I can imagine that scenario with Vrabel as coach. And I would welcome it as a fan.
November 5th, 2022 at 3:30 pm
I always liked Raheem and though he got a raw deal. Had the Bucs not gotten screwed in that Detroit game for the fake news offensive PI call on Winslow, the Bucs make the playoffs, not the stupid Packers, and the Bucs were the hottest team in football at the time. They easily could have won a game or two in the playoffs, then he doesn’t get fired following the next season, and we’re not subjected to the Jersey Trash Schiano era.
If Brady does in fact retire, I don’t hate the idea of giving him a 2nd go, although you’re putting him in a position where the team would be losing for at least two years as they’d be in real cap hell, and would have a huge roster turnover. I doubt the front office would be patient and wait until year 3 to START to see improvement, and I don’t think it matters who the Bucs hire, you’re talking about at least 2 years of being one of the worst teams in football post-Brady.
November 5th, 2022 at 3:35 pm
Ooo, Cobra Payton would be tremendous. You imagine Brady and him together. He’d probably want full roster control. Yes we can still dream.
November 5th, 2022 at 3:46 pm
adam from ny Says:
November 5th, 2022 at 11:16 am
yes “irregardless”……….lol
.
.
Right up there with “competency.”
November 5th, 2022 at 3:50 pm
As much as I’ve “hated” the Saints over the last few decades, I’d welcome Payton as coach.
He’s never been clueless and always seems to get the most out of his players.
November 5th, 2022 at 3:51 pm
But I’d rather have Vrabel over Payton, to be honest. If a guy can dream, that is.
November 5th, 2022 at 4:02 pm
BucsFan1996 I completely agree with you about Todd. He has had all the problems that you relate and so many were out of his control. However, what bothers me is the play and seemingly the mindset of the defense. I don’t think any of us have seen that “fire” that we had become familiar with. That has got to be Todd’s fault unless Tony Piroli is keeping our guys out of shape, somehow.
November 5th, 2022 at 4:18 pm
I’m willing to bet all the replacement coaches suggested in this thread look at stats!!!
November 5th, 2022 at 4:21 pm
D-Rok – Payton is under contract with the Saints, whoever gets him has to make a trade, and since Payton is easily the best coach available, I’d assume the Saints would hold out for at least a 1st rounder, and probably more. To get the Saints to trade him inside the NFL South, I think you’re talking about a Jon Gruden type of trade.
But why in the world would Payton want to come here post-Brady? The Bucs are in serious cap hell, the reason he ‘retired’ in the first place with the Saints.
There’s literally zero chance of him coming here.
In fact, there’s zero chance of any good coach coming here post-Brady since you’ll have to rebuild the roster with draft picks and will lose while doing so.
BTW, nothing wrong with the rebuild and losing, it was part of taking Brady in and signing everyone we did. We stole from the future, for the present, and got at least one SB out of it. I’ll take that every time.
November 5th, 2022 at 4:53 pm
@Crickett, yeah, the defense is concerning for sure. We’re missing the leadership qualities from JPP and Suh when they left. And while yeah, Bowles IS ultimately responsible, he’s shown flashes of greatness in the past as a DC, including that gameplan he crafted, keeping KC out of the endzone in the Super Bowl. I wonder if his stepping out of that role as a DC as he’s had to take on more HC responsibilities is hurting the defense as well.
If he survives this season and still has his job I would hope that he would make changes to the coaching staff, including bringing in a great DC. Because he got appointed as HC so late in the off-season it was difficult to make any substantial changes at that point.
November 5th, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Lure Sean Payton out and see if Brady stays for another year or two? I could see those two coming together and agreeing to coach/play with Tampa next year. There has to be a reason why these guys last offseason signed for multiple years. I don’t think they’re doing that if they think we’re gonna rebuild after this year.
November 5th, 2022 at 5:51 pm
Future? Future? Future? We’re talkin bout Future???
November 5th, 2022 at 7:04 pm
They should have started looking at other options the moment we lost to the panthers better yet after losing to the Steelers. Harold Goodwin should have been the choice and the Glazera interviewed him for head coach already
November 5th, 2022 at 7:25 pm
Who says Jason Licht should have a chance to pick another coach.
He is as responsible as Bowles is for this poor season. He needs to go as well. A clean sweep and rebuild.
Jason Licht is responsible for the poor free agent signings he made this season. He is responsible for not making the adjustments and new signings/players the offensive line needed when Ryan and Aaron went down.
November 5th, 2022 at 8:41 pm
“Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is a guy Joe could see Team Glazer having an eye on”
The last woke hire worked out so well, why not try another one?
November 5th, 2022 at 9:27 pm
Raheem again? Joe, give the keys to any adult in the bar.
November 5th, 2022 at 9:47 pm
Even if Bucs lose miserably, Bowles and Left will trot out excuses, a few of which are plausible, and beg for time, despite the fact that their play calling as coordinators has been poor for a long time.
Bowles’ “great’ SB run largely benefitted from having Suh, JPP, etc. still going strong, and a then-still hungry attitude among the players (which is now gone, been there/done that).
Bowles still hasn’t proven that he is any better a play caller now than he was in the disastrous playoff loss to the villainous Rams.
Let’s see how he does tomorrow with a depleted roster.
November 5th, 2022 at 11:48 pm
Joe check with your Doctor I believe the meds you are mixing have effected your ability to think rationally.
RAHEEM!!!HAHAHA
THAT GUY IS AS BIG A JOKE AS BOWLES
November 6th, 2022 at 12:51 am
I have NEVER seen a coach lose a team as bad as Raheem. What’s,s next Joe? Putin is a great humanitarian?
November 6th, 2022 at 2:11 am
i want to throw up in my mouth, but go get the douce sean payton…
November 6th, 2022 at 9:21 am
ulch no more Raheem… there are like 6 billion other human beings to choose from… he may be successful but let him go do it somewhere else, cause if he fails it will just be sheer agony to have to relive it.
And sorry but they got pretty lucky on a lot of those 10 wins that year.
November 6th, 2022 at 10:35 am
Where is BA these days, not on the sidelines, don’t see pix of him up in the box either, maybe golf course, fishing? A great HC, total failure as a “Mentor”
November 6th, 2022 at 11:50 am
Joe wants to rehire a loser like Raheem but doesn’t want Trask to play with the starters to evaluate what he has. smh
November 6th, 2022 at 1:20 pm
Boles was definitely not given the bucs head coaching job based on merits or skill. Just look at his stint with the Jets. Arians wins a super bowl and he’s gone next season? What the hell is going with the Glazers? I guess they were being politically correct. Many other great choices other than Boles in the black community more deserving. Glazers suck!!!!!
November 6th, 2022 at 4:23 pm
I’d settle for Napoleon Dynamite as head coach or offensive coordinator at this point.
November 6th, 2022 at 7:57 pm
Well Brady needs to be couch of bucks when he retires cause he just won this game with the rams,he called all the last plays in last 1,24 sec of game why Todd boles didn’t challange the football that never passed the white line is beyond me! Where is Gruden’s phone no, somebody Needs to call him to take over, hey Glazers make a call before its too late,Defense way to go and grats to Otton and Miller hey Mike it’s time for new pair gloves!
November 7th, 2022 at 9:21 am
As they pointed out in the TV broadcast, 1st 6 first downs were runs, no passes. Guess what Seattle will be looking for? Mix it up guys. Give White more Carries as he hits the hole quicker while Lenny dances around. Do we have the horses to play tighter corners instead of the soft setup we seem to love? Let Tom play up tempo more and call what he sees is the right play instead of running it up the gut for 1-3 yds behind what we all realize is our weak OL.