The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense under Todd Bowles has always been aggressive in rushing the quarterback. Some would argue Bowles blitzes too much, some would say he does so at the wrong times.
For Bowles, it’s always been a matter of matching his scheme with the talent on the roster. Bowles aggressive scheme has worked for the most part during his time in Tampa.
Recently Bowles spoke with the media and was asked if philosophy or personnel most factored in when deciding to blitz.
“A little bit of both. I’m more of an aggressive guy by nature, but you’ve got to be smart with it as well. You can’t hang the secondary out to dry all the time, and you’ve got to speed up the [defensive] line sometimes. It all depends on the gameplan – what we think we can take advantage of. But, I don’t think you can get there just rushing four [and] I don’t think you can be successful just blitzing. We’ve got to have a mix of it and we try to do that.”
When you’ve had players like Lavonte David, Devin White, Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaq Barrett, Antoine Winfield Jr., and on and on, it’s a little easier to be aggressive. I would expect more of the same from the Buccaneers this season. Especially with the team getting younger and more athletic on the defensive side of the ball.
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