A “Non-Excuse Year”
June 28th, 2025
Todd Bowles
Longtime Buccaneers fans have painful memories of LaVar Arrington.
It’s been 19 years since the ferocious linebacker picked off then-Bucs quarterback Chris Simms in the playoffs and returned the ball to the Bucs’ 6 yard line.
Washington scored on the next play and eventually beat the Bucs 17-10 in Tampa.
Arrington also had 10 tackles and a forced fumble in that game. Joe still has the occasional nightmare after hearing Arrington hosting on FOX Sports Radio.
Arrington also has a little in common with current Bucs head coach Todd Bowles; they both played in Washington for legendary head coach Joe Gibbs. Arrington respects Bowles, per his radio comments this week, but he sees Bowles and the Bucs in a “non-excuse year.”
He says general manager Jason Licht and Bowles rightfully were rewarded with new contracts this week but the team can’t go backwards in the playoffs or in games outside the pillowy-soft NFC South.
“If it’s an early departure [in the January postseason], I think it’s a loss of a season,” Arrington said. “And you can’t continue to look at the coaching staff and the quarterback and even the GM and give credit due to saying that this is a very well-built team.”
Arrington also says if Baker Mayfield truly is a special franchise quarterback, then this is his year to take the Bucs further in the postseason and more definitively separate Tampa Bay from the pack in a weak division.
Joe thinks Arrington went a little far roping Licht into the blame game if the Bucs have another one-and-done playoff experience this season. Licht isn’t calling plays and crafting gameplans, and there certainly are enough roster goodies to win a home game in the playoffs.
If the Bucs, football gods forbid, lose again in Round 1 of the postseason, that would push Todd Bowles’ postseason record to 1-4. Joe can’t even stomach the thought of that, not even in June.
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June 28th, 2025 at 4:04 pm
Well, coaching darlings Kevin O’Connell has gone 0-2 in the playoffs and Matt LaFleur has gone 1-3 in the playoffs since his second season, so at least Bowles is keeping good company.
June 28th, 2025 at 4:39 pm
Arrington is right but so is Joe. Licht can’t be roped into that.
Bowles, Baker and Grizzard will shoulder the burden.
If Baker continues to turn the ball over in bad spots (wasn’t his fault in playoffs I don’t think, couple rookies to blame there) he could be culpable for an early exit.
If Bowles continues to stay conservative, takes the ball outta the offenses hands when they are a top unit again, D gets shredded by the pass game or can’t get stops, allows his team to come out flat or unprepared for any big games, he will be to blame.
If Grizzard can’t get field position and points regularly he could be to blame.
Could be a combo of all 3 and to me the buck stops at the HC. Why so much criteria for Todd? Well he is the HC and DC so he has a lot on his plate. Simple as that.
Licht has built a great roster, Arrington is right that a 1 and done in playoffs is unacceptable for this team.
June 28th, 2025 at 4:48 pm
He’s got a point… Malcolm Glazer fired Tony Dungy for not being able to get past the first round in 2000 and 2001 with a Championship caliber Defense.
Although reportedly, the main reason ownership moved on from Tony Dungy was due to some level of insubordination…. as in – Glazers ordered Tony to do whatever it took to have a competent offense including firing most or all of the offensive coaches – and Dungy refused, wanting to stay the course with Clyde Christensen and company…. Um – wrong answer…..
Coach Bowles on the other hand has been an OC hiring savant – so the situation is completely the opposite basically. Todd’s defense has been the primary weakness and ‘reason’ the Buccaneers have not been able to make a legit run at the Super Bowl the last 2 years….
Now that the offense is established as top 10 and with the solid talent infusion for the defense this offseason – it does kind of feel like a make or break year/ no excuses allowed type of year for coach Bowles.
11+ wins in the regular season and at least 1 playoff victory feels like the base level expectation for this 2025 Buccaneers team – any less than that (with this roster) and the arrow will no longer be pointing upward for this coaching staff…..
June 28th, 2025 at 5:09 pm
i don’t agree with pick grin, the defense although not great is not the unit that turned the ball over in the 4th quarter of two playoff losses, that was Baker…. you think TB12 would turn the ball over in the 4th quarter of a playoff game?
June 28th, 2025 at 5:12 pm
The snowflakes will make excuses anyway. Injuries! The phase of the moon when Mars was in retrograde!
June 28th, 2025 at 5:16 pm
Arrington is right, except for Licht. Bowles needs to figure out the night games and one-score games. Are Bowles’ Bucs the next Cowboys – can’t win a playoff game?
June 28th, 2025 at 5:45 pm
mj Says:
“you think TB12 would turn the ball over in the 4th quarter of a playoff game?”
Somehow you apparently forgot that Brady threw THREE interceptions in the 2nd half vs the Packers in the 2020 NFC Championship game???
Claiming Baker Mayfield is the reason the Bucs lost their last 2 playoff games is laughable….
June 28th, 2025 at 6:11 pm
Dammit Joe, i just brought that game up the other day. A real punch to the gonads.
June 28th, 2025 at 6:30 pm
The excuses will flow every Monday
June 28th, 2025 at 6:32 pm
Beyond my ability to understand why media & fans play these silly games in June. It looks like nothing more than attempts to identify ‘scapegoats’ BEFORE anything bad has even happened. Why not wait until the sky actually starts falling before playing Chicken Little?
Todd Bowles has now been our HC for 3 years. He’s overseen the creation of an OFFENSE that scored over 500 points last season, 2nd most in our history. He didn’t do it with Tom Brady at the helm; he did it with Baker Mayfield, a QB who only 2 years ago most media & fans viewed as a reclamation project (at best). It’s justified to give Jason Licht kudos for drafting the guys on offense, but it’s just as justified to give Todd Bowles props for his role in creating this OFFENSE.
Our DEFENSE has struggled under Todd for 2 of the past 3 years. Personally I think that’s largely due to some lack of starting talent, some lack of depth, and what’s looked like an overabundance of injuries. Losing Suh, JPP, RNR, Davis, D White among others probably made each season somewhat more difficult, but it looks like we’ve just about weathered the storm. Now should be a time to be positive rather than pondering who we should hang IF things go south.
Newsflash: the head guy gets blamed for things when they go wrong. Todd Bowles is our Head Coach; the owners of the Buccaneers said so. He’ll get blamed if things go bad, but he’ll also get kudos if things go well. Sure will be nice to get back to talking FOOTBALL instead of whatever this has become.
June 28th, 2025 at 6:53 pm
Baker Mayfield needs to make plays in these playoff games, when the game is on the line, and we need a score. He failed against Detroit and Washington by turning the ball over. We need him to make big time throws in the playoffs, big time decision making.
But l really think l defense will have to get us another Championship
As they have done twice before
June 28th, 2025 at 7:31 pm
That’s a bunch of BS. The Offense will have to carry us to the playoffs and beyond this year. The Defense has too many, well if A + B = C + D, then we’ve done enough on the defensive personnel side but even then we’ll need better performances from our D-Coordinator to be successful. He can barely manage the D much less the entire team and game management.
Mayfield made plenty of plays last year and he was scrambling for his life during many of them. He outperformed expectations and the play of the rest of his teammates, without which we would have been nowhere last year. If the rest of the team was playing at a higher level he wouldn’t have had to try so hard to make plays when they weren’t really there to be made.
Take a step back and check yourself. Our QB play over the years has been epically bad. Except for a couple of QBs ours have nearly all stunk. And you’re complaining about Baker? GAFC
June 28th, 2025 at 7:33 pm
D.R.—
This time of year is akin to the spatial void between galaxies. There’s nothing going on.
Can’t discuss the muffed or successful call on last week’s 3rd and 10 from the 20, or the chip shot missed FG to cost a team an easy win.
This is height of melodrama time, the time to make something from nothing.
What else do you suggest to keep the multitude intact?
June 28th, 2025 at 8:41 pm
DR
Content. It’s all that matters , feeding the beast. Creating perceptions.
June 28th, 2025 at 9:10 pm
JA … ‘This time of year is akin to the spatial void between galaxies. There’s nothing going on.’
Love the Star Wars metaphor. Wait, that’s an assumption on my part. Not sure I’m even in the correct galaxy JA.
You’re right of course, and I get all that ‘making something from nothing’ stuff. Also get that the media will always endeavor to give the masses what’ll keep them engaged & entertained. Ooooh, two ‘E’ words. If only there was a way to include a third one in there … educated. There’s so much about NFL football strategies, tactics & whatever that I don’t have a clue about. Really enjoy learning about ‘the game’. Hard to find sources in today’s ’10 second sound bite world’ that provide that.
June 28th, 2025 at 9:15 pm
Bowles needs to make better in game decisions. If he doesn’t and the Bucs don’t improve their record, it may be time to cut bait after the season. If Licht is a good enough GM, he will see that.
Seems weird to hire a clock coach. Seems like it would add to the confusion, but what do I know?
June 28th, 2025 at 9:17 pm
Yet you comment damn near every day with your typical bitter attitude about everything. So you must like the daily content even with the NFL on vacation.
June 28th, 2025 at 9:19 pm
Ever hear of this thing called “YouTube?”
June 28th, 2025 at 11:18 pm
What has been demonstrated:
Todd as a defensive coordinator with 100% of his time to devote 90 hours a week to that job, does well.
What has also been demonstrated:
Todd as a “twofer” with the Jets and Bucs achieves mediocrity as a head coach, maybe. But definitely, his defenses aren’t as good as when he had a 100% focus on the defense.
Todd is one game over .500 including playoffs as a Bucs twofer and significantly under .500 as a twofer for his career including the Jets .
Facts hurt.
June 28th, 2025 at 11:39 pm
The dual hatted twofer coach has allowed the development of one of the most potent offense in Bucs history as a head coach. This is more than commendable, it’s excellent.
Meanwhile, while doing his “other job” his pass defense in particular has regressed to one of the worst in the league. For two consecutive years, and points allowed is now rising to correlate to yards allowed.
And yet, when close games come down to the final push, he opts to trust his bend over and break defense instead of the potent offense he enabled.
That must change or his “extension” will be as short lived as Gruden’s was.
Either fix the defense or lean on the offense to win close games.
June 29th, 2025 at 12:17 am
Some people – smh.
June 29th, 2025 at 1:42 am
I gotta say…Baker DID lose the playoff games for us.
In the games, the defense put all they had out there…then, after we were in position to win, Mayfield turned the ball over and and exhausted defense that was gassed from just coming off the field was unable to stop them.
Had Mayfield not turned the ball over, we may have won those games.
Don’t blame the defense for Bakers mistakes.
That said, I DO think he has it in him to go all the way.
And this year? I think the Bucs are the team of destiny.
June 29th, 2025 at 1:45 am
You know, what are you haters going to do when the defense is better this year because Licht finally addressed it?