Bucs head coach Todd Bowles tried to explain his logic (or lack thereof) about not calling a timeout after the first play of the final possession in regulation in Sunday’s 23-17 overtime loss to the Browns.

Instead of just owning his clock management mistake, Bowles stepped on an accountability landmine, and his answer to a question posed in his day-after press conference blew up in his face.

When asked why Bowles didn’t call a timeout after a screen pass to Rachaad White gained just one yard, he claimed he wanted the team to play for overtime rather than risk a potential Tom Brady interception because he believed in how his defense was playing.

You know, the Bucs defense that just surrendered the game-tying touchdown?

Browns TE David Njoku and Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs got the ball back with three timeouts and 32 seconds left in regulation. Instead of saving 17 precious seconds that ticked away between White’s 1-yard catch and Brady’s 26-yard throw to Julio Jones on the next play, Bowles failed to call a timeout to stop the clock to give the Bucs more time left to get into field goal position.

“Or it could have been an interception as well,” Bowles said. “We said if we didn’t get yards on the first down on the first play we wouldn’t call timeout. We would probably let the clock run. If (Brady) saw something, he could throw it. But we didn’t get any yards on the play – we got one or two yards with Rachaad and we were backed up. If we would have thrown a pick and the ball would have went the other way and they would have kicked the winning field goal, so I didn’t do it.”

Wow.

Did Bowles really say that?

Did he really say he was fearful that Brady was going to throw a pick?

Was Bowles suddenly having flashbacks to Jameis Winston playing quarterback in red and pewter back in 2019?

Do you know how many interceptions the Browns defense has this year?

Three.

Just three – in 11 games.

And none of those came against the Buccaneers on Sunday.

That’s just a bafflingly bad statement by Bowles.

Bowles’ Reasoning For Bucs Not Using A Timeout Doesn’t Make Sense

Remember that Brady did throw the ball on second down and threaded the needle to Julio Jones for 26 yards down to the Cleveland 48. But without using a timeout after first down, the Bucs only had eight seconds left when the team finally called their first timeout.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

“He threw it on second down,” Bowles acknowledged. “He saw something and he got it in there and we called timeout.”

Yet by Bowles’ same reasoning, that second down throw from Brady could have picked off as well.

So why risk throwing it on second down at that point if that’s the logic?

“Yeah it could have been,” Bowles lamented. “It was a risky throw. But he got it in there. Tom’s been making those throws. But we felt good going into overtime the way the defense was playing, and we felt we had it right there. So that’s the call we made.”

Brady has only thrown two interceptions this season and is the best QB in the league at protecting the football so far in 2022. Keep in mind that Brady leads the league with 470 attempts – and yet just two interceptions!

This is mind-numbingly poor logic on Bowles part.

And of course the Bucs could have lost the coin toss in overtime and given up a touchdown to lose the game, so playing for overtime was far riskier than the chance of Brady throwing an ultra-rare interception to a team that simply can’t pick off passes.

Remember that Bowles could have used the first of three timeouts before their final drive on Cleveland’s game-tying drive. Bowles could have preserved some precious game clock after Lavonte David made a tackle in the field of play on third down. Over 20 additional seconds elapsed before Jacoby Brissett found David Njoku for a leaping, one-handed touchdown catch in the back of the end zone on fourth down.

“It could have been, but we didn’t want them to talk about it,” Bowles said. “We wanted them to just line up and play. So we let it go.”

It seems like the Bucs are playing ultra-conservatively on offense under their defensive-minded head coach.

“I don’t think we play conservative on offense at all,” Bowles said. “You could say that in hindsight about this game. But you don’t think about those things as coaches. You make the best decision possible based on everything that has been going on and you kind of go from there. We had not been moving the football. We had nine [drives that ended in punts with six three-and-outs]. So it wouldn’t have been wise to try to call that one. So I made it, I can live with that and I’m okay with that.”

No risk it, no biscuit has definitely left the building.

Bruce Arians has retired and apparently took all the biscuits with him and didn’t leave any for Bowles.

Seems Like Bowles Doesn’t Trust Bucs Offense

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

This wasn’t the only questionable game management decision Bowles made during the loss to the Browns. Bowles also punted the ball from the Cleveland 37 rather than go for the first down on fourth-and-2 earlier in the fourth quarter. Getting a field goal on that drive probably wins the game for Tampa Bay because it makes it a 10-point, two-score lead.

“The defense was playing well, and the offense wasn’t playing it (well) and moving the ball as well, so we tried to play to the strength of our defense and get the ball back if we can back them up,” Bowles said.

Bowles was then asked in the press conference if he trusts his offense – an offense that only averages 18.2 points per game and converted just 4-of-15 (26.6%) third downs in Cleveland.

“I do,” Bowles said.

But he certainly didn’t trust them on fourth-and-2 based on his decision to punt the ball, and he didn’t trust the offense to go try to get the game-winning field goal with 32 seconds left based on his failure to call a timeout.

What Bowles should have done is owned the mistake. Just come out and say, “I should have called timeout there after first down – that one’s on me for poor clock management.” Instead, he tried to reason away his decision and came across looking bad in the process.

For a coach who has been preaching accountability all season to his players, not holding himself accountable after this game management gaffe is not a good look for Bowles.