Todd Bowles’ Defense Threatens To Sink Tampa’s Season
Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
All the chatter since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were embarrassed by the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football has been about who will line up at wide receiver this weekend against the Atlanta Falcons, but there is a bigger concern that this team is facing.
Since Todd Bowles was hired as the Bucs’ defense coordinator in 2019 and was promoted to head coach in 2022, the expectation has been that the team would have a good-to-elite defense. But in 2024, that hasn’t been remotely the case, and it’s time to talk about it.
From the beginning of the season, the defense has had its question marks, but their issues for a while could be blamed on injuries. After all, Antoine Winfield Jr. was hurt in the first game, and losing the anchor of the secondary would have devastating impact on most teams. Interior linemen Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey also missed most of the month of September, which many believed caused Tampa’s run defense to slip.
The problem for Bowles is that his star players are back, but the results haven’t changed. Since Winfield Jr. and Kancey’s returns, the Bucs’ once-stout defense has now given up 61 points, with the Ravens lighting them up for 41. Lamar Jackson laid waste to the secondary the entire game, and they gave up 169 yards to Derrick Henry, who ran wild all night.
With the way the defense has played this season, it’s honestly a bit shocking that they’ve still managed to have a 4-3 record. Early in the season, the Buccaneers gave up only 16 points to the Detroit Lions, which still looks impressive now, but that was the only real game where they looked remotely good. Remember a few weeks ago, when they gave up 509 yards and four touchdowns to Kirk Cousins? The hope was that more of an abnormality, but it appears now, it’s just the new norm for the Bucs.
Right now, the Bucs are 28th in scoring defense, 31st in total yards allowed, and 29th in passing defense. Their rushing defense is technically their best-performing category, but they are still 20th in football, having given up 924 yards on the ground so far this year.
Last season, the Buccaneers defense was ranked seventh-best in the NFL, giving up only 325 total points. Even then, however, there were cracks showing. They limited points, but still gave up 4,232 passing yards, which ranked 28th in the NFL. The Buccaneers’ defense was leaky last year, and they have become full-blown geysers in 2024.
Tampa could rely on their offense before, but after losing Chris Godwin for the season and Mike Evans for a few weeks, their defense becomes an even more pressing issue. If the Buccaneers had last year’s scoring defense, they could carry the offense through this part of the season. But this team knows that they need Baker Mayfield to lead the offense to at least 30 points if this team wants a serious shot, and they might not be capable of that anymore.
The road isn’t going to get any easier for the Bucs, either. Next week sees a re-match with Cousins and the Falcons, who have already torched this defense. The following weekend, they have to go against the best quarterback in the league, Patrick Mahomes.
It doesn’t appear there is going to be an easy fix for this defense, especially with the teams they are facing next, which means this is probably going to fall on the Buccaneers’ offense. Bowles can try to make adjustments to get the defense back on the right track, but it’s probably a little too late. The 4-3 record looks nice now, but be careful, Bucs fans. Unless Tampa’s offense can keep scoring 30 points a game, this season is going to go downhill quickly.
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