I’ve defended this man all season, and this is what I get.
As I wrote in that little blurb, I have gone to bat for Buccaneers’ Head Coach Todd Bowles. I think he has gotten blamed too often for some of the losses that haven’t been his fault. Last game is a good example as I think it wasn’t on him the defense wasn’t up to snuff, but a lot of bad play by his players. But today, you best believe we got Jets HC Todd Bowles. It’s like all the progress he made this season was thrown out the window. I don’t know what happened, but apparently he just decided to stop giving a shit in the second half.
The defense was balling in the first half if you can believe. It let up the splash plays that we have gotten used to, but they also forced several turnovers and just made Josh Allen look very pedestrian. Jacob Parrish in particular was having a hell of a game as he got his first pick on one of the worst Allen throws maybe ever. Like, worse than rookie Josh Allen. But this probably doesn’t come as a shock. The defense for most the season has forced turnovers and otherwise forced stops.
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But here’s the Shyamalan twist. The offense mostly kept up. Yeah how’s that for subverting expectations. True it wasn’t pretty. they did fail to put the ball in the endzone from the two yard line. But after that, it was a great game called by Josh Grizzard. Baker Mayfield missed some key throws, but he still was good and actually had a number of key runs. Granted, he did also throw a really bad pick to give the Bills the ball at the thirty, but sometimes you just have to live with him being a gunslinger.
The true hero of the game was Sean Tucker. He torched the Bills defense all afternoon. 19 carries for 106 yards, 2 TDs on the ground, 2 receptions for 34 yards and a receiving TD. The man was doing it all to keep the Buccaneers offense moving. And to think I wanted Rachaad White in over him. White had a fine game, but Tucker was the most important guy on the field.
Now we get to the bad. Special teams coverage, where was it? Did we leave it in Tampa? It was either that or the Bills got prime Devin Hester on the kickoff. Every single time the Bucs kicked it off, the Bills got at least to midfield. I am not one for firing coaches mid-season, especially when you are in playoff contention. So believe me when I say there is no good reason as to why the ST coordinator should not be booted. He has done nothing for the Bucs all year.
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The Buccaneers defense also couldn’t stop Josh Allen. Yeah I know most teams can’t. Still doesn’t change the fact that they should’ve. He had several rushing TDs and passing TDs. He basically did what I said he would in my initial article.
But I’m sure dear reader you’re wondering what gives. Why was Bowles terrible today? As I already said myself, a lot of teams struggle to stop Josh Allen. Well let’s go to the second to last scoring drive. The Bucs were up by one with nine minutes left. Plenty of time for both teams to score. So naturally this calls for soft zone defense that looks like prevent. It was ridiculously awful. He was treating the game like the Bills were down by two scores and thirty seconds left. So naturally the Bills march down the field and score. Obviously.
Cut to the offense. It’s third and two and close to enemy territory. Seven minutes left and you’re down by 5. The run game has been working really well (over 200 yards rushing), so naturally you pass the ball there. Ok, questionable for sure. But it’s fourth and 2, so you go for it as your defense has struggled and this game clearly doesn’t have many possessions left. Oh there’s Riley Dixon punting. Yep, with the game on the line and his defense being put through a blender, he thinks that they will now get a stop. So of course the Bills score again and the Buccaneers are now down by two scores with a little over two minutes left. His decision making was off all game.
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It reminded me of this fable. Maybe you’ve heard of it. The scorpion and the frog. It’s about a frog being asked by a scorpion for a ride across a river. The frog doesn’t want to at first as he doesn’t trust the scorpion to not sting him. However, the scorpion argues that to do so would kill him as well as the frog. The frog understands the logic of this and so agrees to give the scorpion a ride. But as he is swimming down the river, the scorpion stings him. The frog asks him why, and the scorpion tells him it’s in his nature. Todd Bowles was the frog trusting the scorpion that was his defense. The defense told him they wouldn’t sting him (despite all evidence to the contrary), and he was stupid enough to believe.
If my eloquent breakdown of a child’s fable doesn’t convince you of how much of a travesty this game was, I don’t know what can. Bowles near single-handedly sunk the Bucs in this one with his poor decision making. The thing that pisses me off the most about this is that I thought he was getting better. And he was. But today was regression. There is no reason why one player missing (even your best corner) should result in your defense cratering like it did. The Buccaneers play LA next week in primetime. You can probably chalk in a loss now.
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