Todd Bowles Loved The Attack Mode Of The Offense

January 17th, 2024

Offense made Todd Bowles smile.

Joe typed last night that this Bucs team can do serious damage when the offense is opened up.

Even early on when Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were bottled up by the Eagles defense, the Bucs had plenty of other guys to lean on to and score points.

Todd Bowles liked that. Speaking yesterday in his day-after presser, Bowles lauded Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales for keeping the pedal to the metal.

“Well, we stayed in attack mode most of the time,” Bowles said. “We had a little bit of a lull in the third quarter, but, you know, we were in attack mode [in the] run game and pass game.

“We hadn’t had that working in quite a bit consecutively at the same time, so that was great to see.”

The Green Bay and Jacksonville games springs to mind. If the Bucs decided this week to be aggressive on offense from the first snap like they were Monday night against the Eagles, or the Packers or the Jags, who knows what they could do against the Lions on Sunday?

37 Responses to “Todd Bowles Loved The Attack Mode Of The Offense”

  1. Proudbucsfan Says:

    I said I was going to lay off JBF for awhile until all the fighting ended over Baker and Kyle but the last couple of days I haven’t seen much of it going on so I’ll comment that Baker has earned respect and a contract. I haven’t always had faith in Baker or Bowles but they have a real opportunity to get us to the superbowl. The team knows how to play for each other and stick together. Baker Mayfield is the perfect leader to get us there 🙏

  2. David Says:

    “Baker is the perfect leader to get Bucs to super bowl”
    Are you serious ? I hope some how it becomes through for the first time in NFL by a six years journeyman.

    It will all depend on what version of Baker we get. The poor version in the last two games of the season will be blow out game by Lions. The better version of him beating of on bad Eagle team will be a win by Lions. The good version of Baker played Texans will defeat Lions.

    We know the defense will show up as it has all season. Would good version of Baker show up ? I hope so.

  3. David Says:

    Aggressive on offense/attack mode ? Why not ? Bucs will be playing with the house money. The rookie receivers will have to be factors as they did in last game when Lions doubled cover Mike E.
    It is not too easy to bet on combo of TB/BM against a good team as Lions. TB/BM are 1W-6L against quality wining teams in regular season.
    However anything can happen in playoffs with one and done game as this has been a weird regular/playoffs season when a GB blows out Dallas at their back yard. Go Bucs.

  4. Hunter Says:

    @Joe

    Please write an article about CJ Gardner-Johnson’s bulletin board material for Baker. Gotta make sure it gets back to the team in case they haven’t seen it!!

  5. dmatt Says:

    Folks thanks to JBF, stakeholders, players wife/s, n others, Bowles knew he was being attacked n on the hot seat especially after seeing the number of coaches fired n top available candidates. Bucs defense was a different defense. They were in full metal jacket attack mode. That D harassed Hurts like they did Mahomes in the Super Bowl. That D harassed Hurts like Sapp n Brooks did Gannon in the Super Bowl. Now, as for Detroit, we had a chance to put up a better fight with them earlier in the season. We passed the ball at will against them. We completely shut down their run game. LDavid had an mvp day against with a sack n 2 tfl. If we pressure Goff like we did Hurts,we win n if Baker take off after going through his progressions with no one open, we avoid sacks/turnover. Last time Baker held the ball too long n fumbled on our goal line putting their offense in better field/ scoring position on the 7 yd line. Lions are very beatable.

  6. Joe Says:

    Please write an article about CJ Gardner-Johnson’s bulletin board material for Baker.

    Don’t know anything about it.

  7. steele Says:

    Credit to this team for energy and doing its job, and peaking at the right time. But the fact remains, this team that should not have even made the playoffs benefitted from being in the worst division in the NFL. And it was another fortunate, well-timed matchup ,vs. another team on the decline, this time an Eagles team that came in shot, half dead for weeks, that played directly into a trap. All the Bucs did was finish them off.

    This team has been exactly what it has been all season, a .500 proposition, with a bad coach and problems that are masked by the faceplants by miserable overrated opponents, and the general parity of the NFL, that is allowing other average teams to also advance. There are no dominant teams, none.

    The Lions are beatable. The 49ers are beatable (and may not even beat Green Bay, which, like the Bucs, were gifted an overrated and sinking team in the Cowboys, and are riding on momentum). AFC? Not impressed.

    So, remarkably, the Bucs can win the SB. Not because they are great. But they will go into the offseason thinking that they are. When the helium wears out, we will still be looking at Bowles, still unsure about Canales, and still wondering how long sheer cockiness carries Mayfield before his likely fall to his actual level.

  8. BillyBucco Says:

    Last time a batted ball on a pass to a wide open Evans resulted in a pick almost in the red zone.
    We had the weird Offensive interference call against ME13 followed by a picked up defensive interference call.
    TOs cost us the game, followed by dropped passes and bad tackling.
    This is NOT the juggernaut team we CANT beat.
    Baker might just end up being a serious playoff warrior.
    He is 2-1 now, soon to be 3-1.
    Make it to the NFC Championship and ANYTHING can happen.
    Having a really good defense it crucial.
    Teams like GB and Houston don’t have it.
    Baltimore vs KC and Tampa vs SF is my picks.
    Just don’t wanna see KC vs Tampa again.
    Baltimore vs Tampa would be fun after beating Philly, Detroit and SF the second time, avenging losses in all 3.
    What would be better, is Buffalo in the SB and Tampa avenging 4 earlier losses.

  9. Oddball Says:

    Why would you depart from a scheme that was working ( very well I might add ) down the stretch? Baffling.

    Glad they returned to it for the playoffs.

  10. Defense Rules Says:

    Todd Bowles … ‘We stayed in attack mode most of the time. We had a little bit of a lull in the third quarter, but, you know, we were in attack mode [in the] run game and pass game. We hadn’t had that working in quite a bit consecutively at the same time, so that was great to see.”

    It’s obvious to me after some of TB’s comments recently that he prefers (and really wants) an aggressive offense. It’s also obvious that he’s not nearly as conservative as tons of media & ‘fans’ make him out to be. Matter of fact, he’s more of a gambler than the vast majority of DCs & ‘defensive’ HCs who we’ve experienced. That defense that he orchestrated Monday night for instance was a huge gamble … and Philly had no clue what to do with it.

    Through 6 years now of being a HC, TB’s run-pass percentage has only been 40.5%, BUT … take away last year (with Tom Brady at the helm) and that run-pass rises to 42.2% over the other 5 years. THAT’S very Todd Bowles. He’s been amazingly consistent in his approach to his OFFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY over those other 5 years as a HC for 2 teams now, despite only having a Top-10 rushing game ONCE in those 6 years (2015 when the Jets went 10-6). As Popeye used to say, ‘I yam who I yam’.

    His run-pass percentages over those years (and what his running game was ranked in Yards Gained Rushing) …

    o 2015 Jets (10-6): 41.7% run-pass .. run game ranked #10
    o 2016 Jets (5-11): 41.7% run-pass .. run game ranked #27
    o 2017 Jets (5-11): 43.4% run-pass .. run game ranked #24
    o 2018 Jets (4-12): 42.2% run-pass .. run game ranked #26
    o 2022 Bucs (8-9): 33.3% run-pass .. run game ranked #32
    o 2023 Bucs (9-8): 41.9% run-pass .. run game ranked #32

    Those are amazingly consistent numbers IF you disregard the 2022 outlier (I’m convinced that he let Leftwich & Brady run the offense without imposing his preference for a more ‘balanced’ run-pass attack).

    Todd Bowles has never had an ‘elite’ QB (and no, 45-year-old TB12 was no longer ‘elite’ IMO; he NEEDED great pass protection AND a solid run game to be effective, and the 2022 Bucs couldn’t give him that). Baker Mayfield provides the most important attribute that Bowles NEEDS in a QB … LEADERSHIP. His 62% career completion percentage isn’t elite. Neither is his 40-46 career win-loss record. But his LEADERSHIP, in the locker room & more importantly on the field? That’s been quite ELITE IMO.

    Any number of teams needing a QB will see that now after how he & the Bucs did this year. Baker’s stock has risen A BUNCH, and so has what he’ll command in terms of compensation going forward. It’ll be interesting to see if the Bucs can afford him in 2024 & beyond. But for now, on to Detroit.

  11. Hunter Says:

    @Joe

    Was an article I found from the Detroit Free Press. Here’s the excerpt:

    “ The Bucs have one of the best receiving tandems in the NFL in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson compared last week to the Rams duo of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, while taking a shot at Mayfield.

    “This group probably is one of the better groups we done faced all year, besides that Tampa group,” Gardner-Johnson said. “If you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a great group. Evans, Godwin, (Russell) Gage, that’s a great group. I played against them for real.””

  12. adam from ny Says:

    yo…….todd bowles is slowly becoming the mack daddy <—

  13. Tony marks Says:

    Proudbucsfan Says:
    January 17th, 2024 at 12:38 am
    I said I was going to lay off JBF for awhile until all the fighting ended over Baker and Kyle but the last couple of days I haven’t seen much of it going on

    ————

    Toward that End

    NOTICE OF CONDITIONAL TRUCE

    As long as team hate setlles down I will ignore David (*this does not cover a resurgence generally from team Hate) entirely AND I ASK ALL “Baker Bois” to do the same. I mean why read him when you know what he is going to say even if we make the conference game. The number of pure haters certainly has decreased since last game So be reserved in return fire Team Love

    Lets just enjoy the run

    #loivingTrask #Kyleonmyteam #cagethekitties

  14. WyomingJoe Says:

    David: I’m surprised that you would continue with your negative comments about Baker since he proved you wrong and kicked your a*s the entire season. We’re all convinced that there’s something really wrong with you.

  15. McBucky Says:

    It seems like Todd Bowles got out of David Canales’s way on Monday night and look what happened! The offense was on the attack and pretty much maintained the tempo all game long. It was great. Maybe Canales should be the head coach?

  16. darengibo Says:

    Joe Says:
    January 17th, 2024 at 2:08 am
    Please write an article about CJ Gardner-Johnson’s bulletin board material for Baker.

    Don’t know anything about it.

    “This group probably is one of the better groups we done faced all year, besides that Tampa group,” Gardner-Johnson said. “If you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a great group. Evans, Godwin, (Russell) Gage, that’s a great group. I played against them for real.” – Garner-Johnson

  17. Marky Mark Says:

    The myth that Baker is a journeyman is untrue. Fitzpatrick is a journeyman. Baker spent 4 seasons with the Browns and had 4 head coaches and 3 last year. The Journeyman was the Browns and Panthers not Baker. We simply don,t know how Baker would perform in a stable organization with a coach that believed in Baker just being Baker. It was Mcvey that turned Bakers life around by simply saying just be you and have fun. Bowles has been a Baker fan boy since the 2018 Jets pre draft visits. Long term contract bets are a fact of life in today,s NFL. Some teams win and others lose. The Browns are big losers on Watson and the Jets on Rogers. The Rams already won a Suoer Bowl with their QB. If Baker wins some more play off games this . year the Bucs have already won.. Whatever contract you give Bakes you Average in the playoff results from this year.

  18. Joe Says:

    Hunter:

    Thank you. Will dig it up.

  19. realistic-optimistic Says:

    “If you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a great group. Evans, Godwin, (Russell) Gage, that’s a great group.”

    This has basically been my argument all season. Yes, it’s bulletin board material, but it’s also true. I’m open to coming around on Baker. After all, he is the Bucs QB. But 1-2 good games followed by 2-4 bad games isn’t going to change my opinion. Play 4 or 5 consecutive good games. Play 10+ good games in a season (win or lose). You know, like “good” QBs do. I would love it if he did this. It means good things for the Bucs.

  20. ModHairKen Says:

    David has a small cranium and a smaller unit down below. He is participating in a study. It’s not going well.

    As for the Lions, Dan Campbell has been hyped as this coaching innovator and some sort of Troglodyte-Savant. They are reckless and inexperienced. The Bucs have players who have been to this place annd succeeded on the road. Exploit them.

  21. Bring back the lawn chairs Says:

    It must be very difficult to be head coach in the nfl. One day you’re in the penthouse and everyone luvs you, the next day you’re in the outhouse and everyone wants to kick you but they can’t because they’re afraid to soil their feet.
    Kudos to coach bowles.

  22. Jake been there since the beginning Says:

    Yeah Baby, another Great thing, they got Todd a playoff win. Thanks for the help from the Rookies, they all Shined Bright Like A Diamond. I Love It!!!!❤️ I remember all the days when we all just felt like puking by the end of the first quarter… Let’s Go Baby!!!

  23. Jake been there since the beginning Says:

    I myself remember when I was like 8yrs. old, watching the old drive-in movies from the top of the sombrero.. Just bored…

  24. Buddha Says:

    @Steele…welcome to life. It’s uncertain and unpredictable. That’s the appeal of the NFL. Embrace it.

  25. 1#bucsfan Says:

    Maybe Bowles kept the handcuffs on for most of the season and took them off here and there so that when we got to the playoffs these guys were chomping at the bit. I mean there are only a handful of games that it seems the offense got opened up to full speed. I know bowels didn’t want to run BAs offense cause he thought players were tired. Maybe this is Bowles way. Keep the horses tamed most of the season and only let them loose a few times then come playoff time kick the gates open and let them horses run free. It will he genius if it works.

  26. orlbucfan Says:

    Jake been there since the beginning Says:
    January 17th, 2024 at 9:16 am
    I myself remember when I was like 8yrs. old, watching the old drive-in movies from the top of the sombrero.. Just bored…
    —————————–
    Man, I remember those dreary days all too well. I would just shrug, kick back, drink a few more (overpriced) brewskis, and work on my sun tan. This was by the half, you all. Yes, the Bucs were THAT bad. How sweet it is now! 🙂

  27. SlyPirate Says:

    As great as the Bucs played, the Eagles were equally as bad. They didn’t tackle. Don’t expect the same in Detroit. It’s going to be a tough game.

  28. vadertime Says:

    Firstly, congrats on the Bucs wildcard victory over the Eagles. However, the Eagles were absent for most of the game, not that it’s a swipe at the Bucs. Even Troy Aikmen and Joe Buck kept repetitiously mentioning the lack of energy or enthusiasm on the Eagles’ side, both offense and defense. Secondly, this could have been an even bigger blowout had Evans, Otton and the other guy not dropped all those beautiful, catcheable throws by Baker in the first half. I went to be shortly after halftime, I am old and need my beauty sleep. However, I read up on the remainder of the game the next morning. Detroit, playing on their home turf in cold weather, might be more challenging. I hope they win, but if they don’t they’ve done very well this season Give Baker a big contract extension, give Antoine Winfield a large extension and fire Bowles. See if either Harbaugh, Belichick or Vrabel are interested in coming to Southwest Florida. Go Bucs.

  29. captivajim Says:

    bowles Finally changed ; he let the offense play to win ,rather than not to loose . So far we haven’t heard the lame excuse that his defense gets too tired when the offese scores too often.

    maybe he knew his butt was on the line after that pitiful game against the Kitties.

  30. BAKERSBucs says Says:

    Steele says & David says as I don’t read u r post since about 1 month ago as soon as u r name pops up I go directly to the next post u 2 r the biggest disappointment of 2 shtthy humans that don’t deserve to be on any web post on the internet u r the worst excuse of humanity u r oar we nts must have really hated the 2 of you in that lite I truly feel the pain u 2 jackasses must be in

  31. BAKERSBucs says Says:

    Realistic optimistic so the 9 games they won were just a mirage by u r standards& u said show me 10 wins didn’t we just get the 10th win so that wud make u b on board with u r post u just gave show me 10 wins & u r in

  32. BAKERSBucs says Says:

    Billy bucco says boy oh boy after that post my head is still spinning in a good way tho

  33. BAKERSBucs says Says:

    Wyoming joe glad to see u came back I posted on other post u disappeared lately l brought u r name up & wallah there u r back today

  34. BAKERSBucs says Says:

    I saw baker response to cj Gardner Johnson he said cj shud do research on stats hopefully this keeps the chip on baker shoulder for the next game & obviously these guys r reading the bs in the press releases just like we r I wud bet that baker does not read David’s nonsense nobody with a brain reads that total BS

  35. Shane Callahan Says:

    When their O and D play well collectively, they can beat anybody. Go Bucs!

  36. Greg T Says:

    What are some of you people bashing on Baker. He was excellent in Cleveland until a shoulder injury. Cleveland thought Watson was the one to take them over the top and now it was one of the worse trades in history. So Baker goes to lowly Carolina and was not a match and released. With the Rams Baker showed his arm was back. He then comes to Tampa, a team projected to win 4 games this season. Bakers leadership and no quit attitude is contagious and it shows up in the heart this team has. Baker is one of the better QBs in the NFL by stats. The proof is there so you haters just keep hating while Baker just wins games

  37. Mark A Swygert Says:

    To the fan who was concerned about the weather, Detroit plays in a Dome. Ford Field now and the Silverdome before that. Indoors since 1975. So weather is a non-factor. Crowd noise and artificial turf are the challenges outside the Lions themselves. Pretty sure Bowles saved his job with that win. The defense was dominant. The Eagles were 0-9 on 3rd downs and 0-2 on 4th downs. We held yhem to only 1 TD even without a turnover. (except for the turnovers on downs). People are saying the Eagles quit or they were playing with no energy. Remember, when a defense makes changes it can confuse an offense to the point they appear to be sluggish or with ouy energy. Bowles had them bewidered with his 6 man front and McCallums chess piece moves. Brilliant.