Everything You Need From Todd Bowles’ Monday Presser
Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
You know how bad the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked in yesterday’s 26-7 loss to the Denver Broncos. If you’re looking for accountability, then you’ve come to the right place, because Todd Bowles isn’t sugarcoating it. “It’s as bad as I thought it was,” the coach put bluntly on Monday. “We didn’t play well in any facet of the game — offense, defense, or special teams.”
While it’s an emotional let-down after last week’s statement win against the Detroit Lions, the Bucs still head into Week 4 with a 2-1 record and a share of the NFC South lead. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the New Orleans Saints took their first loss of the season because the Philadelphia Eagles — who are coming to Tampa next week — shut down a red-hot Derek Carr and Company.
What can we expect to see from Tampa on Sunday? What are they focusing on? Let’s dive into the rest of Bowles’ presser to see if we can glean hints.
The Playmakers Need the Ball
Until Rachaad White (66 rushing, 164 all-purpose yards) gets back to last year’s form, the Bucs have three playmakers on the field: Bucky Irving (154 rushing, 182 all-purpose yards), Chris Godwin, and Mike Evans.
On Sunday, they got a combined 20 touches on 56 plays. And that was up from the 17 combined touches in Week 2. We talked about Mike Evans (two catches, 17 yards Sunday) not getting the ball, particularly in deep situations, and Bowles agrees that he’s being underutilized. “We’ve got to get him involved more,” he simply stated.
Same with Irving, who got nine carries despite averaging nearly seven yards per run over the weekend. While Bowles rightfully pointed out that Tampa being down by 14 points early took the run game off the table, they had to find ways to get Irving the ball. His limited snaps, according to Bowles, were not related to any limitations as a pass protector. “[His playing time] has nothing to do with anything,” Bowles insisted, before conceding, “Rachaad is probably a better pass-protector, at this point, but Bucky has definitely earned more reps.”
Who’s To Blame?
Bowles was clear about the team’s sloppiness, and he was clear that they made several mistakes on the day. What he wasn’t clear about was where he pin-pointed the root of the issues.
Baker Mayfield got sacked seven times on Sunday. Was that because of Mayfield, or the offensive line? “A little bit of both. A little bit of both.”
OK, were you out-classed because of mental mistakes, or were you physically out-matched by an 0-2 Denver team? “Some [mistakes] were mental, some were physical.”
What does your pass rush have to do to actually bring down the quarterback? “They’ve got to get there. We need more push on the inside to help [the edges] out on the outside. We’ve just got to keep working at it.”
True, it’s probably not a strategic advantage to spell out everything that got wrong, and not singling anyone out is probably best for the locker room. Still, it’d be nice to know if there was a better solution to their issues than working harder.
Not Burning the Film
What are the Bucs going to take into next week from this embarrassing loss? While Bowles told the team to “not [get] too low on the losses,” after Sunday, he’s going to use this game as a learning experience, rather than dismissing it as a throwaway game. Moving on means having to confront what went wrong in Week 3.
“We’ve got to get ready to go after we watch the tape and correct everything,” Bowles explained. “Get the taste out of their mouth [then] get to work.”
Will they be bolstered with returning injured players? It’d help, but Bowles being vague about injuries has to leave Bucs fans a little wary. “I know they’re getting closer, I just don’t know how close.” We’ll find out more as the week goes on, but regardless of who’s in the lineup, Bowles’ expectations clearly remain high.
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