Conservative Finally Worked For Todd Bowles
January 4th, 2026
Todd Bowles approach fuels skeptics.
Joe was appalled by the Bucs’ offense when it took over with just under two minutes left in the first half after cornerback Jacob Parrish jumped a Bryce Young pass intended for Tet McMillan.
The Bucs’ rookie corner returned the interception to the Bucs-42. There was 1:51 on the clock. If the Bucs pushed the ball and got a touchdown, they would have had a 10-point lead.
The way the Bucs’ run defense was working, a 10-point lead may have been too much for Carolina to overcome.
But no, why do you need six points (and maybe an extra point) when you can have three instead and keep the game a one-score game?
The latter is the option Todd Bowles chose. Rather than try for six, Bowles wanted three.
Josh Grizzard’s offense milked the clock, taking their time between snaps, running countless motions to eat up time before the snap clock ran to zero.
Chase McLaughlin hit a 36-yard field goal with five seconds left in the half and the Bucs led 13-7. The Bucs would only muster a field goal the rest of the way and won by the skin of their teeth.
When will Bowles learn? His conservative ways, putting a lasso on the offense, nearly bit him in the arse. Again.
Bobby Kownack of NFL.com believes Bowles is a very, very lucky man. This time.
The Bucs offense arguably played too conservatively as the game went on after coming out hot — it ran the ball 38 times — but for once, Todd Bowles’ defense allowed such an approach to result in a win. The 14 points given up to Carolina mark Tampa Bay’s second-best outing on the season.
This is one reason Bucs fans are up in arms with Bowles (the boos were loud) and are flabbergasted why Team Glazer may seem inclined on keeping him. Bowles basically has been a .500 coach in Tampa.
Almost every game Bowles does something that seems fully illogical and either dooms the team (not going for two at Kansas City, punting in Buffalo, the list goes on) or sets it up for failure.
Last night, Carolina was one play short of winning thanks to Bowles keeping the Stinking Panthers in the game late in the first half.
With a better feel for the game or being a little more aggressive, the Bucs could have easily won the NFC South already. Instead, we wait and chew our fingernails.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:58 am
Well, yeah, Bowles should have went for the TD before half but if he did and they left time on the clock, how much you bet the Panthers would have marched down the field against Todd’s prevent zone and got 3 or 7 points themselves, given that the Panthers would get the ball at the 35 unless the kickoff went sideways again and the special teams gifted Carolina better field position? I think Todd went turtle for 2 reasons, the one I just mentioned and also the fact he might have been afraid Baker would throw another pick. BTW, interesting how everyone is now saying that Bowles is actually directing the O and to keep it conservative as if Grizz is now just being told to follow a script. It is as if Grizzard is the teen driver who got the car keys taken away by Daddy Bowles. Given that Grizzard has appeared lost at times since the bye, it will be interesting to see who handicapped the O more: Grizzard or Bowles like the chicken or the egg……..
January 4th, 2026 at 2:58 am
I think after watching Baker lose the last four games in a row, and with Bowles having his career on the line, he decided he’d bet on his defense as opposed to betting on Baker.
With that said, Baker, outside of that awful INT, played his best game in months – and how much of that was because he wasn’t asked to do much? Maybe this game gives him some confidence so if the Bucs make the playoffs, maybe Baker can be more than a simple game manager. I’d hope so since the Bucs have zero chances in the playoffs unless Baker gets hot.
January 4th, 2026 at 3:19 am
Rod, for the very first time, you and I agree
January 4th, 2026 at 4:54 am
Joes, can I get the name of the raincoats you had on? Cus they worked so good you forgot about the horrible weather conditions. The 1 minute lost, that’s on Bowles and was stupid but the plays once t hey were down to 20 seconds? smart. its a free 3 points and if they fumble the ball, we lose.
January 4th, 2026 at 6:18 am
Joe, I agree with your point, and could laundry-list a bunch of times when Todd Bowles went conservative and it cost us a win.
At the time yesterday, the field goal decision left me scratching my head and rolling my eyes.
Looking back now, I have much less of a problem with it, (although I’d still have preferred us to go for 6), for the same reasons other folks have already mentioned.
The weather stunk. Baker, who had a great game yesterday, has been very prone to INTs at very inopportune times recently. Our defense (which also had a great game yesterday) has been almost non-existent these past few weeks.
We won by the skin of our teeth. I would’ve preferred a little more “padding” in that margin of victory, but given the pointers I and others have mentioned, ball control and clock control work for me on this one.
January 4th, 2026 at 6:29 am
Bowles is the only coach who can make winning feel like losing. Since Halloween we’ve won two games! Barely beating the Cards by three, and clipping the Panthers by two. That’s nothing to cheer about. It’s hard watching this team play. That was such chicken sh%t before the half. The rest of the game was just as hard to watch. We’re a 8-9 football team. Bowles needs to be fired. Go Atlanta!
January 4th, 2026 at 6:29 am
yeah the conservative play almost cost coach the game in the end…
he just doesn’t get it a lot of the time…
davey cantaloupes had the midget heaving the ball around when necessary – in adverse conditions…
3 points of second half scoring, in what were improving conditions – as the game wore on…hints to me that bowles was okay with letting everyone in bucland down, if need be…
reason to blindfold and walk the plank baby…
scoring 16 was a joke…we shoulda lost…ask sapp…
all i was thinking for a long time is let’s get 23 and we got this…
but no…16 imho is not really acceptable
January 4th, 2026 at 6:29 am
agreed he was conservative, but until the middle of the offensive line is fixed, passing offense has no chance.
January 4th, 2026 at 6:44 am
coach’s problem is the team is not too good and struggling…
yet he thinks it’s ok to go missionary…
while other coaches go 8 ball, down a sixer, and go doggy style…
and the girls are riding the bull with not one, but both hands high in the air…
the league i’m thinking now, has passed the guy by…it happens…
if we get in, it’s certainly not because of him…and his style will bite him in the azz with a quickness
January 4th, 2026 at 6:45 am
The bucs have so much talent its depressing.
January 4th, 2026 at 7:08 am
Conservative may have been the way to go. Baker’s throws are erratic and the weather was awful.
January 4th, 2026 at 7:16 am
The only reason the Bucs win this game is because Canales inexplicably tried that re tarded flee flicker. The Panthers had the Bucs D on the ropes that drive and we’re already in FG range. What a dumb call that was, Bowles owes Dave for blowing the game and possibly saving his job.
January 4th, 2026 at 7:17 am
Todd’s loss-win record speaks volumes for how effective his conservative
decisions affect his teams. Please Glazers, pull the plug on this spit show. Being a senior on pitch count, I can no longer consume enough alcohol to be sedated enough to watch a Todd Bowles coached game.
January 4th, 2026 at 7:25 am
It isn’t all on Todd. There are other elements in play too.
January 4th, 2026 at 7:28 am
conservative was the way to go…
but with a side order of risk it for the bisquit…
a side order of bisquit seemed almost manditory to me…
and i didn’t see that – even as conditions improved big time in the 2nd half
January 4th, 2026 at 8:19 am
Leaving your DB one on one with the Panthers best receiver while you blitz on 3rd and 8 brought back memories of a game against the Rams a few years ago when Stafford buried us.
Bowles never learns. How can this keep happening over and over.
January 4th, 2026 at 8:28 am
Wait. So now it’s if the Bucs make the playoffs? Munchkin you already guaranteed they would.
The Falcons have 0% chance of winning the game. It is a Lock they lose the game.
January 4th, 2026 at 8:33 am
Let’s Go Saints! I want my team in the Playoffs!!! Let’s Go BUCS!!
January 4th, 2026 at 8:41 am
Points were at a premium and it was the right call especially with the weather.
January 4th, 2026 at 8:41 am
3rd and 24 Todd. At the very minimum they should hire a really good defensive coordinator (and take a hard look at offensive coordinators)
January 4th, 2026 at 8:44 am
It’s more than the losses that has turned me against Bowels. I cannot invest 3 hours of my life watching this crap show. The Buc’s entertainment value is zero in my book. The team plays just good enough to hold a lead then rips your guts out due to a stupid coach decision or just plain bad karma.
January 4th, 2026 at 8:51 am
This is the most embarrassing coaching staff in all of sports. Beating a team with virtually no offense by 2 points and you two 1st round, two 2nd round and a seventh round steal receiver with a stud running back plus you got two turnovers. These coaches are absolutely awful
January 4th, 2026 at 8:52 am
He kept it close….The Bowzo Trademark
January 4th, 2026 at 8:59 am
Playing not to lose doesn’t work in NFL anymore. If you ever doubted that Todd may or may not have the killer instinct it was on full display that he doesn’t. From the last drive in the first half till end of game the conditions were better and we went full turtle mode. Most of the Panthers completed passes were with 21 in coverage. Not convinced Morrison is the real deal.
January 4th, 2026 at 9:28 am
He never would have been hired by the Bucs if they had a real coaching search. Why they try tooth and nail to hold onto him is a headscratcher.
It was part of the deal Arians must have made to leave without causing a stink, so that the Glazers could keep Brady for one more year. But no way they hire him on a neutral playing field.
January 4th, 2026 at 9:29 am
This is what he is. His ceiling is a barely above .500 coach at his best. If thats what ownership is satisfied with then we’re all screwed. He’s had better teams than this 2025 team and gotten roughly the same exact results.
He has shown no ability to develop the front 7 of this defense, even with a ton of early draft capital used there.
January 4th, 2026 at 9:35 am
Wow ! This is ridiculous Joe the game is over the team went out and won and yet you find something to criticize Bowles about. Baker just threw a inexcusable interception why would he put the ball in bakers hands to screw up again? He did exactly what he was supposed to do run out the clock !!! We are the worst fans! Do you hear eagles fan booing the offense when they put up 12 points ? No they happy with a win! The way fans want him to lose his job is sick!!
January 4th, 2026 at 9:37 am
@Herbiebuc
Apparently you’ve been in a coma the last three years
January 4th, 2026 at 9:41 am
The amount of fans that want this team to go in rebuilding mode is crazy! We have too much talent to fire our head coach that hasn’t missed the playoffs since being hired. If we fire Bowles who’s to say our next coach would want the players that we free to love? Firing Bowles could mean no more vita vea, Antoine Winfield, Chris Godwin, rachad white,. We had injuries to every key starter on our roster ! That should be enough to bring coach Bowles back! Or at the very minimum look at hiring a more modern d coordinator but blowing this team up because of this injury riddled season is just dumb and I pray the glaziers don’t make that mistake again
January 4th, 2026 at 9:53 am
That drive was hard to watch…..I can’t imagine many coaches would actually play for a FG instead of TD….
Very painful…..and this is why fans want Bowles gone……playing not to lose.
It worked out….just barely…..
What kind of message is he sending to Mayfield?
January 4th, 2026 at 9:54 am
TBH, I sincerely believe that th3 coaching staff completely lost sight of the time just befor3 the half. If so, yet another indictment on the competency of this coaching staff. If not, what do3s it say about Baker? The third option is Baker audibling out of better clock mgmt options. Regardless of why this is just a fine example of Bowles’s inability to adjust situationally throughout a game.
Either way, time is up for Bowles…
January 4th, 2026 at 10:12 am
@ HerbiBuc, Eagles fans have absolutely booed their team for poor or inconsistent offense. They’ve been calling for their OC to be fired for months. He’ll, a lot of them wanted Sirianni fired the off-season before they won the SB (and during the season where they started out slowly).
January 4th, 2026 at 10:16 am
Rod Munch, you sir deserve mega credit today.
1) You called the Atl winning out scenario before anyone else. And, you were relentlessly mocked for doing so.
2) You predicted a Bucs win yesterday, when even I thought it was impossible.
3) Your comment above was spot on.
And now, as you called it, today I’ll patiently wait for the outcome of your most wild prediction:
4) Carolina will WIN today.
Here’s hoping!!
January 4th, 2026 at 10:37 am
Mr. Mediocre must go. This team is never going anywhere with the Cigar Store Indian running it. Every week, he makes decisions in game that are absolutely head scratching. Yesterday, it was his clock management at the end of the 1st half which was abysmal. I don’t understand how anyone defends this guy. Time for him to go. I hope Atlanta kicks the Saints a)s today. Time for some new blood with fresh offensive ideas and something other than this antiquated defense.
January 4th, 2026 at 10:38 am
To statistically dominate the way the Bucs did, including plus 2 in turnovers, and squeaking by with a 2 point victory? Seriously? How is this not a blowout?
This game was even further proof of Bowels ineptness. Some coaches know how to “steal” a game. Bowels is the antithesis of these coaches.
Making an argument in favor of retaining Bowles makes about as much sense as those who are in denial about climate change.
January 4th, 2026 at 10:39 am
Absolutely, Bowles was and still is pulling the strings on this offense. I remember when it started, right before our bi-week. Bowles specifically stated “we needed to run the ball more”. From that time moving forward our offense has been lackluster. More concerned with getting 30+ runs in vs what is working, where are the mismatches & what weaknesses can we attack? Another Stubborn coach who is unwilling to adjust to the game. Per Todd Bowles” I’m not concerned with what they’re trying to do, I’m only concerned with what I’m trying to do”. Playing not too lose, yet finishing below .500 again! This is who Todd Bowles is and he’s wasting the talent we have on this team.
January 4th, 2026 at 10:51 am
@ Rod & @ FM Dave.. well said. A driving rainstorm and erratic Baker for the past 8 weeks is why Bowles/Grizz went turtle. I get folks were mad Bowles wasn’t aggressive at end of half, but if Baker throws a mind-numbing INT there (he’s prone to do so at the worst times lately) or tries to throw 3 times and quickly go 3 & out
(LIKE IN CHARLOTTE 2 weeks ago in the exact same scenario)
then Bowles would need an armed escort home. They got 3 points, kept their lead, and most importantly, kept the woebegone defense off the field so they wouldn’t exposed any further in a 2 minute drill.
The team needed a win, period. They showed fight, energy, urgency, everything we’ve bitched about for a month. Carolina is young but not a good team with middling talent. So I’m not overly impressed, but a win is a win, I’m not rooting to lose, we’ve seen the lost decade.
If they played and play called this way today vs the Saints in similar weather conditions a few weeks ago, they win that game and are already in the playoffs. But alas.
Root for the slimy saints today, and hope for the best, and deal with the Todd watch on Monday. Go Bucs!
January 4th, 2026 at 11:13 am
The off line can’t pass block, how many times has Mayfield bailed out offense with gritty runs, when they do keep people in receivers can’t get open and Evan’s doubled teamed, getting Mayfield outside pocket long overdue but better schemes on Grizzard , that or do what they did today rely heavily on run which Bowles prefers because keeps Def off field
January 4th, 2026 at 11:31 am
@Rod Munch finally had a half-hearted compliment for Baker, yet refuses to acknowledge what each article is about- Todd.
January 4th, 2026 at 11:32 am
Baker is throwing more pics then ever, it was the correct thing to play this game conservative. The rain was crazy! Running the ball and scoring field goals worked. I still want Bowles gone and new staff.
January 4th, 2026 at 11:33 am
For all the whiners here, consider the second game yesterday between two reall talented and well coach teams-Seattle v San Fran which in a barnburner Seattle won 13-3. Prior to Baker’s injuries this year on successive weeks Bucs beat both teams. I liked those days much better because The Baker Bashers headed by that pipsqueak RodMunch were sulking and disappeared from these pages. Munch only appears when Bucs lose with his blame Mayfield rants. This is really odd since those of us who played know it is a team game. Munch, even the band you played in during high school was still a team.
January 4th, 2026 at 11:41 am
Worked toward 8 and 9
They have an attitude problem
Get Frisella and Goggins in the organization
January 4th, 2026 at 11:42 am
Munch and the rest of the whiners digest this. Tom Brady in 3 years with Tampa threw in 2 of the 3 years for more INT’s than Mayfield did in his 3 seasons. In numbers that even you might understand. Brady threw twice for 12INT’s in a season. Mayfield in his three years threw 10, 11 and last year 16.
January 4th, 2026 at 11:56 am
The Bucs scored only 3 points in the second half and barely hung on to win. If Todd Bowles stays on nothing changes just mediocrity.
What a stupid strategy for running a franchise and running alot of fans and money out of Tampa.
Todd Bowles needs to fall on the knife and save the franchise from another decade of past Bucs wandering in the desert 🏜
January 4th, 2026 at 12:15 pm
I see the children are still trying to draw parallels between one of the greatest QBs ever and a QB that if they had to redo his draft class based off NFL career success he’d be a day-2 prospect rather than first overall.
It’s like saying your Ford Edge is the same color and has four wheels, so it’s got to be as good a vehicle as as BMW 🤣🤣🤣🤣
STOP THE MADNESS, you’re polluting the threads with your intellectual diarrhea
January 4th, 2026 at 12:20 pm
WarrenBrooksLoser,
Never really understood why some kids got sent to the van in grade school. Now that I have seen your posts, I understand. Are you allowed to vote in national elections?
January 4th, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Meanwhile el serpiente 🐍 has the horrible Jags at 12 and 4. Just 8magine if we promoted him and got a real defensive coordinator that’ isnt s5uck in the 2000s and required the d line to cornerbacks
January 4th, 2026 at 1:49 pm
Why is it that when the Bucs win a strategic close game, it is by the skin of their teeth, but when they lose one, it’s not by the skin of the other team’s teeth? Serious NFL games are closely contested, not like many lopsided college games. I have been often dismayed by the Bucs’ yielding valuable points at the ends of both halves. When the Panthers had the ball with less than two minutes in the first half and were driving, I was worried. With the interception, I was hoping we would keep possession for the rest of the half. The weather and the umbrella defenses were against downfield passing. But a steady advance on the ground with short tosses safely got us into field goal range, and establish a lead that the Panthers never caught up to. Their only score in the second half was a Hail Mary that still left the Bucs safely keeping the skin of their teeth.
January 4th, 2026 at 1:50 pm
Is there a wayward 2nd rate English soccer team that our ownership could persuade to take Bowles to go coach across the pond??? His “never go for it” conservative coaching style & Charmin soft defensive scheme seems like a perfect fit for that kind of Futball game….Not so much for American Football.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:10 pm
A stopped watch is still correct 2 times a day. Bowles “rock fights” won’t be successful when facing teams that can eviscerate you with fast starts – like the Rams did earlier this season. Bowles does not like to unleash the offense when his defense isn’t playing weakened offenses. If we somehow make the playoffs, we will see teams that beat Carolina like a drum.
No longer a believer in this head coach.
January 4th, 2026 at 2:27 pm
I didn’t agree with not taking a shot at the endzone before the half but the rest of the conservative calls made sense due to the weather.
Did anyone else notice in the 2nd half it seemed like every time the Bucs were on offense it started pouring rain and stopped when the Panthers had the ball. It felt like a microcosm of the season.
January 4th, 2026 at 5:24 pm
So the consecutive division title streak comes to an End!
Now? If you’re gonna keep Jason and Bozo? Fine keep em ? BUT JASON WILL HAVE TO, BY THE GLAZERS command? Find a couple of REAL EDGE RUSHERS!!!! AND STOP BEING SO DAMN PICKY ABOUT ONLY DRAFTING BOY SCOUTS!!!!!!! draft some mean nasty SOB’S FOR A CHANGE! TAKE THE DECISION ABOUT WHO TO KEEP OR REPLACE out of Bowles hands. Get a different DC AND SPECIAL TEAMS COACH AND DEFINITELY FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET MORE QUALITY RESULTS OUT OF GRIZZARD. TELL BOWLES HE HAS NO CHOICE IF HE BALKS FIRE HIS ASS! JUST LIKE THEY DID WITH DUNGY YOU HAVE TO MAKE SOME HARD CHOICES IN THIS OFFSEASON IF YOU WANT THIS TEAM TO IMPROVE otherwise you risk losing a big chunk of your fan base and having like 15-20,000 empty seats like in the early to mid 2000’s, SO GLAZERS??????? DO THE RIGHT THING!!!!
January 4th, 2026 at 5:48 pm
“No risk it, no biscuit.” was our last coaches motto. Now we have ultra-conservative TB as head coach, and it shows. Its actually why I’m not sure what I think about Grizzard. I just don’t know how much of the conservative offense (with 80% first down runs for example) is Grizzard’s playcalling vs. Bowles directions. Remember, 3 weeks ago against Carolina, it was TB who in the pregame interview said “we want to run it 30 times and control the time of possession”. That’s TB’s mentality so one has to wonder what kind of leash was on Grizzard.
Fire TB and hire Kubiak, who’s the only offensive coach in this year’s carousel. Maybe a better offense will keep Evans around for another year.