The AFC North Owns Todd Bowles
May 16th, 2026
Stunning statistic.
This stat had Joe reaching for the bottle of Buffalo Trace earlier than expected on Friday night.
This Bucs year is the Invasion of the North. The Bucs will face all the AFC and NFC North teams.
Todd Bowles has had good success against NFC North teams, including two key road wins at Green Bay and at Detroit in recent years when both teams were among the best in the league. And then there was Baker Mayfield’s big debut win in Minnesota.
But when it comes to the AFC North, you really don’t want to know. But curiosity killed the cat. So here we go.
Can you believe (said in a Maxwell Smart voice) Bowles is still looking for his first victory against the AFC North as a Bucs coach? That’s right. Per Jenna Laine of ESPN, Bowles and the Bucs haven’t beaten an AFC North team (0-6) since he became defensive coordinator in 2019, and then head coach in 2022.
Bold prediction
Coach Todd Bowles will finally defeat an AFC North team in Tampa. Wait, what? Yes, an odd quirk is that the Bucs are winless against the AFC North since 2019, when Bowles became the defensive coordinator. Against the Bengals they are (0-1), the Browns (0-2), the Ravens (0-2) and the Steelers (0-1). Those are the only teams Bowles and the Bucs have not beaten in that span.
Every time the Bucs, with Bowles, have faced Baltimore, the Crows quite literally have knocked the snot out of Tampa Bay, physically beat them up. Just ask Shaq Barrett and Chris Godwin.
The loss to the Steelers in 2022 was one of the most horrific gameplans Joe has ever seen. The Steelers, quite literally, pulled dudes off the street to play cornerback because of so many injuries. With Tom Brady behind the wheel and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin healthy, this seemed like a no-brainer. Throw deep early and often and let Evans and Godwin cook those stiffs.
Instead, dolt Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich decided rather than attacking Mike Tomlin’s practice squad dudes, it would be slick to run Rachaad White right into the teeth of the ferocious Steelers run defense.
And people actually wonder why Leftwich cannot get a job in football.
Bowles approved this. Otherwise, he would have been screaming at Leftwich to start airing it out.
The loss to the Browns in Cleveland is almost too painful to relive. Coming off a bye week, Brady had the Bucs marching late in the game to either tie or win. But Bowles pulled the ball out of Brady’s hands, stating Brady might have thrown an interception.
Naturally, the Bucs lost in overtime.
The Bengals, specifically Joe Burrow, carved up Bowles’ defense in 2022. Burrow threw four second-half touchdown passes on Sunday afternoon in Tampa.
So if the Bucs are to make a playoff run, it sure would help if Bowles can find a way to end this AFC North curse placed upon him.
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May 16th, 2026 at 8:15 am
This article speaks for itself.
May 16th, 2026 at 8:16 am
That wasn’t Leftwich. That was Todd. Just like last years Carolina game. He can’t stay out of his own way. I’m all for running the ball but he is just so misguided.
He always thinks his defense can save the day. Not really working is it?
May 16th, 2026 at 8:20 am
The defense rarely scores points. And you have to score points to win the game. The more, the better! I wanna see the Bucs win a bunch of games by 14 or more again like they did in 2024…
May 16th, 2026 at 8:40 am
We are going to find out soon if a coached Todd Bowles defense can complete against the AFC North division. Past seasons is the past. Bowles needs to have his defense play to their strengths 💪. Veta Vea doesn’t need to drop into pass defense. This is an example of what not to do.
If Todd Bowles resorts to doing this, it will end his HEAD COACHING CAREER in the NFL. I know it will make alot of fans happy, hopefully this doesn’t happen.
May 16th, 2026 at 8:42 am
Well a take from an anointed “troll”, this article is just another reason why’s it’s tough to be optimistic about this season. Hopefully Diabys feedback to Bowles will actually sink in and the team will actually start practicing full speed. Over the years there’s been to many “walk throughs”, to many players on the weekly injury report and to little urgency from the coach to make adjustments. But Todd’s been doing it his way for 8 seasons as a head coach so the optimism has faded.
May 16th, 2026 at 8:56 am
Bowles record is something like 10-16 vs teams that finished the season above .500 since becoming the Bucs HC. Unfortunately as fans or “trolls” we’re stuck with what we have. So here’s to hoping a tiger can change it’s stripes
May 16th, 2026 at 9:07 am
You’re killing me Joe. Can’t you start the weekend with some lighthearted fluff? You know, like how you plan on attending the SNF game vs the bears shirtless with The ol jolly roger painted on your chest. Those 2 games, Pitt n Cle (not to mention the the Cooper Kupp catch), still raise the blood pressure. Happy weekend folks!
May 16th, 2026 at 9:19 am
Bowles and Baker are going to shock the world and prove all the haters wrong=hope. Go Bucs
May 16th, 2026 at 9:23 am
Bucs win = / is J. Light ?
May 16th, 2026 at 9:31 am
I’m not expecting to beat a healthy Joe Burrow in the opener. No Buc fan should. That’s not being a troll, that’s being a realist. We’ll be lucky to start the season 2-2.
May 16th, 2026 at 9:55 am
I really think we are due Joe. Lefnut is gone and I think we have another real OC so, as long as we can get Todd to leave the offense alone? Joe Burrow does worry most teams though his turf toe may still be an issue. On paper we should be able to compete with all of them.
Go Bucs!
May 16th, 2026 at 10:05 am
Glazer fail. Todd does not deserve and should not be here.
May 16th, 2026 at 10:05 am
I’m skeptical of the team as much as the next pessimist, but most of the teams in the AFC North will have new coaching staffs this year. Todd won’t be facing superior HC’s like Harbaugh and Tomlin like he did before. Due to that I think the Bucs have a decent shot at winning two or maybe even three against that division.
May 16th, 2026 at 10:13 am
And Todd Bowles owns the Golden Corrall Buffet
May 16th, 2026 at 10:33 am
Every team with a washed up 2nd string QB or a 6th round QB owns Todd Bowles.
He simply is not an NFL caliber HC\DC. Any other organization would have cut bait after 2025.
Mike Evans took a pay cut and a tax hike just to get away from the Swiss cheese scheme.
One day, hopefully in 2027, we will all be rid of this absolute fraud.
May 16th, 2026 at 10:37 am
The Athletic predicts that NO team in the “Dreadful NFC South” will have a winning record in 2026 – so that means if the Bucs go 8-9 they’ll be in the hunt -I know that makes all you Lloyd Christmas Bucs fans perk up – Go Bucs
May 16th, 2026 at 10:41 am
Allen you dum dum, you forget that a toddler Bowles coached defense won us a Super Bowl right?
May 16th, 2026 at 10:44 am
Ben Johnson, Campbell and O’Connell are all three steps ahead of Todd. It’s not even close.
We can beat the Viking due to their horrendous qb situation but we won’t touch the lions or bears.
It’s 2-2 against the north at best.
May 16th, 2026 at 10:48 am
And now I’m asking, Where’s George Dickel?!
May 16th, 2026 at 10:57 am
7-10 season coming. I hate to say it but it’s coming, the whole thing is going to fall apart. Our football team has the talent but unfortunately it doesn’t have the discipline.
May 16th, 2026 at 11:12 am
Everyone owns Bowles. He sucks.
May 16th, 2026 at 11:16 am
Yeah, Todd doesn’t do a great job of preparing the Bucs for winning teams outside of the division. Always seems like he doesn’t have much of a game plan. Kind of like playing the Rams, he knows what Stafford is going to do, but does nothing to try to stop him. If Zac does a good job, this is Todd’s last year, so maybe there is hope for the Bucs next season. Licht can go also as far as I am concerned and take his crazy hype train with him.
May 16th, 2026 at 11:18 am
The Saints fans are back Joe.
Go Bucs!
May 16th, 2026 at 11:39 am
Anything over 7 wins will be bonus wins….
The past few years the Bucs had a slump in the middle of the season…
This season, it will start in the beginning and last through the middle!
May 16th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
People actually think that ancient history means anything
Every season, teams add new players
And the new players are not apart of this team history
May 16th, 2026 at 12:19 pm
No other argument needs to be made for Bowles to be replaced.
With that evidence in hand the owners still view Bowles through the “I am that man” myopic lens.
I suggest that Baker does not need corrective lenses for his vision.
May 16th, 2026 at 12:20 pm
@lakeland … oh it means something.
Those AFC North games provide prime examples for why Bowles should have been ran outta here already. If he falters vs them to start this season, start digging the hole.
Thankfully I don’t really remember the Browns game but I remember that Steelers game. One of the worse game plans and losses I have seen and I watched through the Lovie and Mike Smith debacle years including the primetime loss to the Falcons 10 years ago, what was that 56-14?
I always thought that Steelers game was the game where Joe references Bowles taking the ball from Brady. Not letting him sling vs that secondary was a fireable offense.
May 16th, 2026 at 12:25 pm
DoooshLaRue Says:
May 16th, 2026 at 10:13 am
And Todd Bowles owns the Golden Corrall Buffet
I thought Todd was a Duffs man. Maybe he has expanded his culinary knowledge.
May 16th, 2026 at 12:28 pm
All of this is nonsense to the players
Games are actually won or loss on the football field
May 16th, 2026 at 1:48 pm
So players don’t need coaches during games? I had no idea.
May 16th, 2026 at 1:53 pm
“Everyone owns Bowles. He sucks.”
Not what your mom says 😘
May 16th, 2026 at 2:09 pm
Jack drinks his own pee. 🤣
May 16th, 2026 at 3:40 pm
@Lakeland… you are mostly right there, just noise to the players. They prepare the same for every game but they do look at stats, trends and obviously have opinions about game plans as they are the ones out there battling, not the coach who forms said game plan.
Players also have teams that they perform well against and stadiums they perform well in. On the flip side they may have bad games against some teams and in some cities.
It’s a thing. There’s nothing scientific about it, it just happens. If a coach has a similar trend … players notice.
May 16th, 2026 at 3:45 pm
I got a interesting tidbit. Since Baker has become a NFC South Qb in 2022, he is 30-34 overall.12-7 in the NFC South, 18-27 outside the Nfc South. I think that is just as or more important then the AFC North, owning Bowles.
Your starting Qb has one 62% of his starts in a historically weak division. Only 40% against everyone else. 2022 is when Baker came to the Nfc South and 2022 is the year the Nfc South began to deteriorate. It’s on a 4 year run where it is the worse division in the worse divisional stretch since realignment in 2002.
If you think i’m cherry picking, i’m not. “Born again Baker” in Tampa is under.500 outside the division in his 3 years here in the regular season and even more so if you throw in the playoffs.
I know the Cult is going to say “Well Carolina was god awful”. Well, were they? or did as usual Baker hold a team back? baker was 1-5 that year in carolina. he had CMC as Rb1 and DJ Moore at wr. Most tsites had the panthers Ol ranked middle of the pack and PFF even gave the panthers Ol a top 5 grade in pass blocking. Baker as you know was BY FAR the worse Qb in the nfl in 2022.
Remember, Carolina was 7-10. 1-5 without. 6-5 without. Darnold was 4-2, Pj Walker was 2-3 and Bakey Bake was 1-5. What a surprise. I know the Baker cult acts like 2022 never happened.
May 16th, 2026 at 3:59 pm
Quick Reminder:
Todd is the head coach
Baker is the QB
Cry all you want, daily, all year long but that’s NOT changing anytime soon. 😭
May 16th, 2026 at 4:27 pm
Ooooh but the winds of change are creeping up @ONE BUC!!! And btw, define SOON……
May 16th, 2026 at 4:41 pm
jump off the bucs band wagon now or face at least ten ruined weekends next fall!!
May 16th, 2026 at 4:48 pm
Nope. 2020 and 2021 felt pretty good. I think i would like to experience that again. I apologize but not accepting mediocrity and not having a defeatist attitude has worked out pretty well for me in my own life, so I’m applying it to the team i have supported for FOUR decades. I will never, EVER believe Bowles is the best HC we can get and (lol) most importantly, Baker is the best we can do @ Qb. No F’N way.
I thought the first 2 years of the Brady era would have raised the bar around here-and that was not even prime brady. That soon we went from SB or bust to scrapping to win this putrid division. Im not going anywhere.
May 16th, 2026 at 5:53 pm
Thanks for bringing up those awful awful moments Joe. Now I’m in a bad mood.
🤨
May 16th, 2026 at 6:26 pm
mj Says:
May 16th, 2026 at 4:41 pm
jump off the bucs band wagon now or face at least ten ruined weekends next fall!!
———————-
So start being miserable whiners now, ahead of time? That’s your strategy? 🤣
May 16th, 2026 at 7:23 pm
Bye Baker Bye Bowles – you are correct – a lot of these folks on here are newbies and just didn’t experience the Lost Decade – I moved to Tampa during the Testaverde years and suffered until Dungy arrived and the magical 2002 season – then watched a basically MEDIOCRE team until Brady arrived – these other palaverers on JBF have a high tolerance or maybe appetite for mediocrity – you are correct in that the 2026 Bucs are not the 2002 Bucs or the 2020 Bucs – not even close
May 16th, 2026 at 7:23 pm
Rookie and third rate QBs own Todd Bowels! lol
May 16th, 2026 at 8:41 pm
Licht is a bobblehead: I dont get it. I remember Eric Curry and Trent Dilfer being drafted in the first round back to back years. I remember the 95 draft with Sapp falling to us at #12. Its very,very obvious to me its some Baker/OU fans here that will be gone when he’s gone.
The fact our coach is not a young upstart, but a experienced, 60 something coach with ample experience yet is under.500 for his career and.500 here being flanked by a 31 year old,sub.500 journeyman, undersized qb on team#4 is astonishing to me.
And I actually understand the 2010s. we had young Qbs and the division was a gauntlet. From 2009-2020 every team in the division went to a SB and had a MVP winning Qb except the Saints who had Drew Brees and he never won a MVP but is widely regarded as a top 10-12 Qb all time.We are not likely to witness that ever again in our lifetime.
What these “fans” don’t realize is 8-9 is closer to 5-12 then competing for a SB. Only way i would feel good about 8-9 is if we had a young, hotshot rookie or 2nd year Qb with talent/upside and game.
This whole Baker “underdog”, “chip on his shoulder” crap is tiresome and stale quite frankly. How many fans of 5-8 win teams at home playing the “if” game at home right now? Bain can turn into prime Myles garrett overnight. Trotter can be prime Fred Warner overnight. it really wont matter.
Licht refusal to draft a Qb at any point is weak and pathetic. All this to cater to the ego of a limited, undersized journeyman Qb. See, here’s the thing…the people you replace them with are not 100% lock to be better, but what you have is a lock to not get you to the promised land.
Did the Colts upgrade from Wentz immediately? No. But they had the good sense to know he wasn’t the guy, they just dint find “the guy” after. You guys fell for it. With our owners, 8-9 wins keep you employed. a 10 win season gets you 3 more years of goodwill. Buffalo just went 11-6, won playoff game and came within a eyelash of the AFC title game. Fired the coach days after the season ended.
As a season ticket owner, I want a better product. This 3 year Baker/Bowles “error” has not been fun. When i develop homes, i don’t look for “decent” or “passable” materials or quality. Nor do I compare myself to the shoddy developers. i compare myself to the best.
I literally told a buddy today when i describe my company as a”pro bowler” not “all pro” and Im busting my tail to go from very good to elite. Thats why im not particular of this product. I feel like I should get a discount on ticket prices and concessions with Baker as our Qb.
I pay the same basically as a guy in Buffalo who get to watch Josh Allen or a guy in KC who gets to watch Mahomes. i appreciate you being a adult on here tho. Its a rarity. This aint gonna cut it. If they cant win 12 regular season games (in this garbage division) and get to a tile game, I want it blown up-as should anyone calling themselves a fan. On top of that, if Baker cant get a top 6-8 MVP finish i want him gone too…I already know he cant and wont.
Brady even getting here at 43 was “must see”. I didnt miss a game. Now with Baker, its hit or miss.I give away tickets alot now unless its a prime time game or the other team has a QB i really want to see in person. This mediocrity is garbage and that stadium is EMPTY or filled with the other teams fans alot more then you guys want to admit.
May 16th, 2026 at 8:58 pm
Mike Tomlin may be our next head coach.
May 16th, 2026 at 9:18 pm
UGGGH. I guess that’s a upgrade???? A old school, steel jaw coach who brings Glorilla out. Was hoping for a young, offensive minded type to pair with a young Qb. But Vrabrel did well with Maye.
Didnt Tomlin go a decade tho without a playoff win? I think who we have at Qb is more important then who the HC is but Tomlin ecade playoff win drought is the type thing we trying to escape.
But even bowles would be a better HC with a better Qb. If he had a Lamar, Allen or Mahomes, he’d magically become a much better coach.
May 16th, 2026 at 9:40 pm
Baker is 0-1 against the NFC North, a 41-31 loss to the Ravens. All of the other losses were Brady teams.Few, if any, NFC teams have positive records against Lamar Jackson.
May 16th, 2026 at 9:50 pm
BBBB the Bakermunchers will be on your jock soon with this nice piece of football literary works of art
May 16th, 2026 at 10:27 pm
After this season, Bowles will be 4-9 against the AFC North. Maybe 3-10 but no worse than that.
May 16th, 2026 at 10:32 pm
Sorry- 4-6 or 3-7 at worse. Let’s also sweep our division this year.
May 16th, 2026 at 11:20 pm
Bowles sucks and he’ll really suck even more THIS season.
Hang on everyone this going to be one helluva bumpy ride to the bottom.