Todd Bowles Doesn’t Seem Ready To Start David Walker
September 24th, 2026
Staying consistent.
Corrected: KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles has never put sack production above “other things” in his defense, even though sacks are such a critical element to stopping offenses in a passing league.
Joe doesn’t believe Bowles will change his ways Sunday when the Bucs very likely could be playing for the 2026 season.
The Bucs are 0-2. For teams that start 0-2, since the league expanded the playoff field to 14 teams in 2020, only 16 percent of those 0-2 teams advanced to the playoffs.
If the Bucs fall to 0-3 this Sunday, since the playoffs were expanded in 2020, only one team has made the playoffs after starting 0-3. And that’s last year’s Houston Texans.
This just in: The Bucs don’t have near the defense those Texans had.
Yesterday, Bowles was asked about edge rusher David Walker’s play. He’s the guy the organization hyped so much Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was told (politely) to pipe down on national television because he was so stoked about Walker.
Walker got a sack against the Browns on Sunday. Then he disappeared. How dare you make the most important play a defense can make outside of a takeaway! Get your arse on the bench!
Joe swears watching a defense year after year that doesn’t give a damn about an edge rusher has taken untold years off Joe’s life. And Joe is convinced being subjected to this is why in recent years Joe’s begun to sprout gray hair.
Walker, in two games, has a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a special teams tackle. And he didn’t take a defense snap in Week 1. The Miami Mauler rookie edge rusher, Rueben Bain, has one tackle in two starts.
Asked about Walker’s play against the Browns, Bowles seemed unmoved, other than his sack.
“I mean, the sack was great,” Bowles said. “He’s got some things he’s got to learn, fundamentally, from a defensive standpoint.”
But there is hope!
“He’s come along at a pretty good pace for us.”
What is that pace, get him on the field full-time by Christmas? Right about the time a new coach will be signing a lease in Avila?
The Bucs’ season, and maybe Bowles’ coaching career, could be at stake in this game. It ought to be all hands on deck! Instead, Bowles just shrugged his shoulders yesterday. Just another day at office (yawn).
Oh, and Bowles later added that he doesn’t expect any changes to the starting lineups. So guys who are woefully underperforming like Alex Anzalone and Vita Vea are safe.
But after Sunday, will Bowles be safe?
Remember: Since the buying the Bucs 30-plus years ago, the only coach Team Glazer has retained after back-to-back losing, playoff-less seasons, was Chucky. And that man won Team Glazer a Super Bowl.
Good thing there’s no urgency for this Sunday.
Just another game in the NFL. Players who produce, you sit the bench. Players that aren’t producing, you’re safe. Even if others in the building at One Buc Palace may not be.
September 24th, 2026 at 12:03 am
Coach Sean McDermitt, come on down……
Be the next HC of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers!
September 24th, 2026 at 12:03 am
Side note. Bucs win 70 percent of games win Chris has 8 catches…..
September 24th, 2026 at 12:17 am
Ever since he quit on the team in the last minutes of the ’23 divisional round with the Lions I have wanted Bowles gone.
He is, however, still here. And because he is still our head coach, I definitely want him and the team to succeed.
So…. Please , Please , Pleeeeeeeeeeze tell me that you’re exaggerating his p!ss poor attitude Joe!
September 24th, 2026 at 12:19 am
Let em bake: NFL teams with a 3 point lead at any time in the 4th quarter have a 70% chance to win that ballgame. I just researched that last week and was surprised to see it was that high.
We want to see Chris catch a bunch of passes, and we will. But I’d like to see more of Walker- and anyone that can help us hold a 4th quarter lead.
September 24th, 2026 at 12:22 am
I’m starting to wonder if this is a George Constanza situation. Todd’s doing everything he can to get fired so he can nap in his La-z-boy on Sundays while getting paid.
September 24th, 2026 at 1:14 am
One thing for sure, everyone owes Lavonte David an apology who thought, said or implied that Anzalone would be an upgrade over him. At no point in Anzalone career was he EVER even half as good as LVD.
September 24th, 2026 at 1:56 am
And… this is problem with Bowles & defense. Too complex. So complex that guys need to think instead of letting their talent flow.
Free the edge rushers and let them hunt!
September 24th, 2026 at 1:56 am
Agreed WestPhilly.
Bowles has been a stain on this franchise since around January 2022. Cannot wait for this guy to be gone.
September 24th, 2026 at 2:10 am
you’ve gotta be kidding me. OF COURSE HE HAS FUNDAMNETALS TO LEARN. this defense is so stupid. this is looking like another Jose Ramirez situation. If we’re lucky YaYa. I am with you Joe, I think Bowles messes with these guys heads so much it just stunts their growth.
September 24th, 2026 at 2:21 am
Perusing the mood of this website is like reading an endless advertisement to abandon hope and plan your own funeral, LOL.
Congrats to the writers here on throwing enough chum in the water to keep the audience rage posting more than 72 hours after the game. If you can make it last until Sunday my guess is you’ll have a whole new pile of fresh content to do it all over again.
September 24th, 2026 at 2:46 am
Can someone get rich off of his team not covering the spread?
September 24th, 2026 at 2:48 am
Davenport Says:
September 24th, 2026 at 1:56 am
And… this is problem with Bowles & defense. Too complex. So complex that guys need to think instead of letting their talent flow.
Free the edge rushers and let them hunt!
^^^^^^^^^
If this were true, about a “complex” defense, why do guys like Kirk Cousins absolutely SHRED it? It’s not complex for the opposing teams.
September 24th, 2026 at 2:58 am
DON’T WORRY!The DEFENSIVE GURU has got this!He is just waiting to. Spring his trap!
September 24th, 2026 at 3:06 am
Push Bain to the inside, bench Vea, start Nacho and start Walker on the edge. These kind of coaches are so stubborn that even in the face of being fired, they don’t change. He’s gonna ride the coat tails of Baker and Vea all the way into retirement.. Forced retirement.
September 24th, 2026 at 3:17 am
Why, because he comes out and does to well? Our whole line is garbage! Vita is garbage this year so far, and was never in the same league as sapp, he made plays here and there. They try to blow yaya up into a star which he’s not, GTFO! The only good consistent dlinemen we have is Anthony Nelson, that’s the only one that’s consistent, produces and gets sacks.
September 24th, 2026 at 4:46 am
The national media has been dancing around the edges of reporting what a disaster this organization has become. I think after a few more poor showings the dam will burst and we will here more truth about this dysfunctional group.
The decisions being made from the top down simply defy logic. Do the owners have a true commitment to the team and the fan base? It seems unlikely with their decision to roll the dice on another year of poor draft picks and terrible coaching.
Then granting huge extensions to mediocre players while letting the heart of the franchise walk away.
The owners are asking for hundreds of millions of dollars for improvements at RayJay. I think a few small investments in moving vans to clean out the stench would be much needed first step.
September 24th, 2026 at 5:01 am
He doesn’t know how to cover receivers yet.
September 24th, 2026 at 5:11 am
More censuring posts simply because Joe does not want to upset the owners and print the truth. What a shame he is in their pocket
September 24th, 2026 at 5:59 am
Paralysis by analysis.
At some point you just need to to let players move with instincts. Quit worrying so much about measuring every step they take and just let them play.
Overly rigid scheme that doesnt work. This isnt a team, its a hostage situation. A bunch of guys with Stockholm Syndrome.
September 24th, 2026 at 6:19 am
Gruden.
September 24th, 2026 at 7:47 am
Bowles is obsessed with featuring his secondary…..I’ve said this a few times now, as a former safety, Bowles entire defensive perspective is built from featuring the secondary. He doesn’t value the front seven unless they can make his secondary look good. He’s got no urgency to develop a front seven, its not his priority. He takes more pride in turning all his secondary players into mix and match positions to create his wizardry of blitzes. This is turning into Dungy 2.0….where ultimately Bowles has a roster that is capable of more but he can’t get the offense to produce enough to accommodate his defense. Dungy’s defense was obviously a completely different beast but it ultimately needed more production from the offense to take the next step. Bowles needs the defense to put up 25+ per game to be serviceable. If his defense cant get that from the offense, it wont work.
September 24th, 2026 at 7:50 am
“He’s got some things he’s got to learn, fundamentally, from a defensive standpoint.”
Bowles has some things he’s got to learn, fundamentally, from a defensive coach standpoint.
His entire approach to the game is bland, boring, and stale.
Everything is telegraphed. I knew the loss was coming Sunday while watching it.
Sure enough Todd found a way to lose to a lifeless football team.
I’ll give Faker the assist. He too lacks the necessary fundamentals to win.
September 24th, 2026 at 8:17 am
Vikings 34
Bucs 13
It’ll be 28-0 at half time
GO BUCS!!!!
September 24th, 2026 at 8:19 am
The network announcers are probably meeting the two Todd’s for a steak and martinis dinner tonight so they can hear all about Bowles’ genius guru blitzing schemes. Can’t wait to hear them all befuddled in the fourth quarter as the Vikings march down the field against a soft zone defense.
Hock for the score!
September 24th, 2026 at 8:41 am
Its like watching the mentally handicap trying to perform heart surgery. Chris Simms said it best when he called Bowles a meathead. Can we just get this over with and move on already.
September 24th, 2026 at 8:52 am
If you think Joe wants the Bucs to tank the season on Sunday, you’re crazy.
September 24th, 2026 at 9:05 am
Sadness quickly setting in because I feel there’s really no hope for a change with this stubborn head coach at the helm. Keep doing the exact same thing and expecting a different result. Already feeling like it’s another wasted season. Get rid of him already! An interm head coach couldn’t do any worse.
September 24th, 2026 at 9:13 am
Same old Todd B offensive defense. Guys can’t tackle, aren’t allowed to rush the QB, and always find a way to let the opponent back in the game.
Also, not sure about OC. Why no quick inside slants? Ridiculous throwing endless short throws to backs behind the line of scrimmage. O line has looked spotty on pass protection or maybe it is the receivers not getting open? Right now the team is a mess and that is a reflection on Todd B.
September 24th, 2026 at 9:46 am
Bain’s got a groin. Like Baker, he won’t come off the field. At least sub Walker in on passing downs.
September 24th, 2026 at 9:47 am
Idk I don’t want them to tank, but clearly with Bowles at head coach we’re doomed for a top 10 pick.
Imagine the haul we’re going to get from a QB needy team for our pick.
September 24th, 2026 at 9:56 am
Is it me or Bowles was a little stressed out in conference ?
September 24th, 2026 at 9:59 am
It’s not just the sacks themselves it’s when they happen. Unfortunately rarely happen on 3rd&28 and 4th&14. 1st and 2nd down sacks teams pick up 1st downs on a regular. So wow sacks are worthless to Toddo’s defense like preseason games because offenses can still pick up the extra yardage!!!