Bucs OC Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: So the current rumors are Todd Bowles is safe. Say he fires his geriatric defensive staff and hires some young blood. Josh Grizzard is supposedly on the hot seat, say he goes. That’s a ton of turnover on a staff, and at that point, what’s the point in even retaining Bowles?

ANSWER: That’s a good question. In order for Todd Bowles to stay on as head coach if the Glazers and/or general manager Jason Licht force him to fire a lot – or all – of his defensive assistants and possibly offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard too, then what is the point in keeping Bowles? With the Bucs finishing 8-9 thanks to a 2-7 record since the bye week and not making the playoffs, I have reached the point where I think the team is better off moving on from Bowles. I wrote a column on PewterReport.com on Monday morning listing five reasons why Tampa Bay should find a new head coach in 2026.

Bucs OC Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bowles turns 63 in 2026 and I’m not sure he would want to find a new defensive coaching staff or perhaps give up play-calling duties if the Glazers and/or Licht demanded that he do that. That might prompt Bowles to retire and avoid a situation where the organization has to fire him. Then Bowles could end his coaching career in Tampa Bay on his terms by opting to retire and he can save some face by going that route.

I don’t know if that will happen, though. Bowles did address the media on Monday afternoon, but he said that he had not spoken with the Glazers yet and that meeting wouldn’t happen until the middle of the week. The Glazers fired Lovie Smith on Wednesday night, January 6, four days after the Bucs’ season finale of the 2015 season. Dirk Koetter was fired the night of the Bucs’ season finale of the 2018 season. So the Glazers have handled their last two firings in two different ways.

If Bowles does stay on as head coach next year, he immediately begins the 2026 season on the hot seat after missing the playoffs due to that epic collapse from a 6-2 record prior to the bye week. As for Grizzard, I think he’s fired regardless of whether Bowles remains head coach or if he’s fired. It just seems like Grizzard is destined to be the scapegoat this year.

QUESTION: Does Josh Grizzard keep his job if Todd Bowles is retained?

ANSWER: That’s a good question. Todd Bowles didn’t really give an evaluation of Josh Grizzard’s first season as Tampa Bay’s play-caller, other than to say that he learned a lot. The Bucs offense clearly regressed from last year when Liam Coen was the offensive coordinator, despite keeping all of the offensive assistants onboard and turning to Grizzard to call Coen’s plays with some new wrinkles of his own. That proved to be easier said than done with Coen.

Bucs OC Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I could see a scenario where Bowles might want Grizzard to stay on for a second year because the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. With a year’s worth of experience under his belt there’s a chance that Grizzard would be a better play-caller. Perhaps Bowles would rather take a chance on that happening instead of working with a fifth new play-caller in five straight years.

If Grizzard is fired and Bowles is retained, it could create a similar dilemma that Tampa Bay faced in 2023 after Bowles went 8-9 in his first season as head coach. The team struggled to find someone who wanted to be the offensive coordinator because the perception around the league is that Bowles could be a dead man walking. Todd Monken and Dan Pitcher turned down the offensive coordinator job and the Bucs had to settle on Dave Canales because he was the only candidate who said yes. With Bowles coming off another 8-9 season, it might be hard to attract a good candidate to replace Grizzard with the head coach on the hot seat in 2026.

QUESTION: That Bucs vs. Panthers game was a showcase of why Todd Bowles is not winning a championship with the Bucs. We’ve got to be one of the worst coaching staffs in the NFL. The Glazers saw all those boos raining down with Bowles’ cowardly play-calling. Surely they can’t be okay with this.

ANSWER: After Baker Mayfield threw an interception against Carolina in the first half, the offensive play-calling got very timid. It featured 42 runs and just 22 passes from Mayfield. In the end, it worked as the Bucs controlled the time of possession and racked up 140 yards on the ground. Todd Bowles and Josh Grizzard relied on the leg of kicker Chase McLaughlin – perhaps a little too much. McLaughlin kicked three field goals and had one blocked in the team’s 16-14 win over Carolina on Saturday night in the season finale.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nathan Ray Seebeck

The rainy weather conditions certainly had a lot to do with the game plan, which called for a lot of short passes to tight end Cade Otton, who led the way with seven catches for 94 yards and his first touchdown of the year, rather than the team’s wide receivers. Mike Evans was second on the team with two catches for 34 yards against the Panthers.

The Bucs were fortunate to get a two-point win on Saturday night to snap the team’s four-game losing streak and finish 8-9. Tampa Bay averaged just 17 points per game over the last three weeks, scoring 20 points in a loss at Carolina and 17 points in a loss at Miami prior to the 16 points scored versus the Panthers in the season finale. But remember, the Bucs scored just 10 points against the Dolphins before a last-minute garbage-time touchdown.

Tampa Bay’s offense certainly underwhelmed down the stretch. And for a unit that has Evans, Chris Godwin Jr., Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, Bucky Irving, Rachaad White, Sean Tucker and Otton, it’s criminal that the Bucs offense isn’t scoring closer to 30 points per game.

QUESTION: Why did Todd Bowles preach killer instinct all season long and preach about getting these dudes healthy – especially the wide receivers. They’re all healthy and he calls the game all conservative and scared. Open up the playbook! This is painful to watch.

ANSWER: As bad as the Bucs defense has been all year, the slump that the offense was in down the stretch was just as ugly. Tampa Bay only scored more than 20 points once after putting up 32 points in a 44-32 loss at Buffalo. That came in a 29-28 loss to Atlanta on Thursday Night Football. The Bucs ended the season with back-to-back games with less than 20 points.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Sam Navarro

The offense did become very conservative and painful to watch. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard were clearly coaching not to lose rather than to win in Week 18 against the Panthers. Tampa Bay never developed a killer instinct on offense or defense this year, which was very disappointing and played a key role in the team’s 2-7 record over the second half of the season.

It was a shame that as the offense got healthier, especially with the return of running back Bucky Irving and wide receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan the point production actually decreased. Grizzard had a hard time getting the ball to the multitude of weapons he had at his disposal. Perhaps it was an offensive overload that short-circuited the unit. Regardless, the fact that the offense ended the season with a whimper likely means that Grizzard won’t be back as the play-caller in 2026.