Speaking of Tucker, the data I showed in the last post in that thread is not a good look for the pro-White/anti-Tucker crowd. Must be why nobody responded.
Nobody responded because of the stupidity of your constant cherry picking.
I never said the secondary was good. In fact I want Asante Samuel Jr AND Starks. I merely pointed out that the pass defense was 15th in Net Yards Per Pass Attempt.
Let's check how many times in the game threads you blamed the defense or Bowles for anything versus how many times you blamed Liam, Baker, or the offense for anything.
Those receipts should be juicy.
What you guys do when you're losing arguments is make up things that I didn't say.
Kinda like how you said you "never complained", only to bitch out and say, "I only complained in the 1st half".
Or, that you didn't claim to be an NFL GM.
There's bitches. There's whiny bitches. Then, there's you.
This sums up the ignornance of the anti-Bowles crowd perferctly. This is like swinging and missing, falling down and knocking yourself out.
Responding without saying anything. What else should I expect from someone who thinks the Bucs secondary was good, Coen sucks, Tucker is elite, and all the other dumb shit you've said over the years.
You've shown us who you are... A troll with stupid takes.
You said it all.
What you guys do when you're losing arguments is make up things that I didn't say. I never said the secondary was good. In fact I want Asante Samuel Jr AND Starks. I merely pointed out that the pass defense was 15th in Net Yards Per Pass Attempt.
Typical FireBowles take: I want Bowles fired, but I "forgot" the defense beat the 15-2 Lions practically by themselves but it actually doesn't even count because blah blah blah blah blah.
Speaking of Tucker, the data I showed in the last post in that thread is not a good look for the pro-White/anti-Tucker crowd. Must be why nobody responded.
All you do is quote out of context. I can scroll up and find you doing it.
The lions game was the ONLY game the defense carried the offense. Literally.
And they still gave up almost 500 yards and get destroyed in TOP. The came up clutch in the red zone and fourth down. Had they just taken points they'd have won but we caught them on a off day. Kudos to the defense for that ONE game.
You wanna talk about passing yards? Lmfao here's who we played down the stretch:
DeVito 189 yards
Young 298 yards
O'Connell/Ridder 208 yards
Herbert 195 yards (benched)
Rush 292 yards
Young 203 yards
Rattler 240 yards
Looking at this list the only impressive performance was holding Herbert under 200. The rest are laughable including almost 300 from fucking Cooper Rush.
You're a clown. This brought their average down... In fact look at our schedule and name me the prolific offenses we faced? You can count it on one hand.
Speaking of Tucker, the data I showed in the last post in that thread is not a good look for the pro-White/anti-Tucker crowd. Must be why nobody responded.
Nobody responded because of the stupidity of your constant cherry picking.
I never said the secondary was good. In fact I want Asante Samuel Jr AND Starks. I merely pointed out that the pass defense was 15th in Net Yards Per Pass Attempt.
Let's check how many times in the game threads you blamed the defense or Bowles for anything versus how many times you blamed Liam, Baker, or the offense for anything.
Those receipts should be juicy.
What you guys do when you're losing arguments is make up things that I didn't say.
Kinda like how you said you "never complained", only to bitch out and say, "I only complained in the 1st half".
Or, that you didn't claim to be an NFL GM.
There's bitches. There's whiny bitches. Then, there's you.
Is there one other poster that agrees with these steaming hot takes? Just one?
All I know is we can't have just bodies in the secondary out there, the NFL is too good to expect to win 1on1 matchups with bottom of the depth players. Other teams will definitely manipulate that. When Bowles is down on his depth his defense is in the realm of do your job and assignment which doesn't allow players to break out of their assignments and make the occasional great play because he's worried the players aren't ready yet to think about the bigger things. But when you get a guy like Sherman or Norman cerebral guys who understand their job and what the offense wants to do they are able to make the great play by setting up bait when they play that cover4/cover3.
They way Bowles defense is played is do your assignment, so that cover3/c4 beater is always gonna be there if the offense executes correctly because the corner is gonna be exactly where the offense expects him to be. If we had better corners who understand offenses and when to take risk thats when we'll get more picks. I dont think Dean is a confident/cerebral player to be THE guy, hes good for a #2, Zyon has potential but he needs faster recognition and better body control and strength when playing the ball can't let guys bully you liek lamb did. He's listed as 200 but he looks 185-190 compared to CD 200.
So if we wnat the defense to be better we need better players, but we got a bunch of day 2-3 picks in the secondary and linebacker level, so our talent is not there. Can we coach them sure but that extra element of wanting to be great is missing in our defense that dawg element
Zyon has CB1 potential and flashes but he's a CB2 most of the time.
Dean is a CB2 that battles injuries and confidence + is paid too well to only get 10 games a season.
Tykee Smith is a duel threat slot corner/safety player. IE a upgrade of Izien who is solid depth.
Winfield is elite but played awful last year while battling injuries sustained from garbage time.
Hayes, et al (sans Izien) are practice squad, fringe roster, or special teams players.
This is not a super talented secondary which is the only nod I give to Bowles. There's not a ton a depth.
(Which is why you don't leave your all pro star safety in during garbage time)
Bowles expresses a sentiment I've often believed reflects his mindset: “I can figure things out enough to keep us competitive on defense.” As a coach, I understand why he says this, but I also recognize how this approach could harm the team in the long run.
While Bowles is a capable leader, he isn't quite in the defensive minded league of Belichick or Buddy Ryan. To excel defensively, he needs standout players.
During the 2020 Super Bowl run, his defensive line was among the best in the NFL, featuring Shaq and JPP on the edges, with Suh and Vita anchoring the interior. It was a formidable lineup. He had a prime David and a young White before he started playing it safe to avoid big hits. With a healthy Davis, and a rookie sensation in Winfield, the defense was stacked.
This mindset is likely why his defense has gradually declined over the past four years. In today's NFL, it’s essential to have elite talent on defense to contend with offenses that benefit from favorable rules. The McVay and Shanahan schemes can thrive with less talented quarterbacks and receivers, but defenses struggle without top-tier pass rushers and coverage specialists.
It’s not the 80s or 90s, Todd. It’s time to revamp your defense. We’ll score plenty this year.
Please understand that you have blended and covered a lot of attributes of the game and tried to affix your opinion to a cover each characteristic of the multiple attributes.
1) When mentioning players from one time period (2020) and the health, age and experience is separate issue
2) When mentioning Coaches like Bill Belichick or Buddy Ryan you have two of the premiere Coaches when we've won with Monte Kiffin / Todd Bowles (least not forget Tony Dungy) so it's not about Coaching
3) You left out injuries which is always a teams weakest point no matter which team it is. We were depleted of our safeties / CB this year
4) We were the fourth youngest team in the NFL last year and bringing in the backups as well as replacement players to shore up our defense needs to be mentioned.
5) This is a total team sport, you can't place all this on the Coach and leave out the many variables that make this a cohesive team. If we stay healthy and keep our players focused and studying not just game film but playbook we will win.
6) Do mistakes happen in the game, yes but that's what makes it one of the greatest sports of all time. Human nature, the battle at the time of play and keeping focus in the heat of the moments.
I love this teams tenacity and we will win with all the right ingredients coming together.
I just need Bowles to have more talent so we can stop with the excuses.
Defensive coach I expect a good defensive team.
Offensive coach I expect a good offensive team.
@onebigdaddy - Thank you for your response. It's refreshing to see another perspective.
I want to clarify that I have a lot of respect for Bowles as a person. Honestly, I've been impressed with how he has navigated this team through adversity. However, I do have concerns about his approach, particularly his infrequent use of timeouts and his conservative stance on going for it on fourth downs. While he is undoubtedly a strong leader, I consider myself a dedicated Bucs fan who also maintains a realistic outlook.
I've had longstanding reservations about Coach Bowles' defensive scheme. It seems to have remained consistent throughout his tenures with the Cardinals, Jets, and now the Bucs. Despite the talent he has had on defense, his corners often struggle to make plays on the ball, consistently landing at the bottom of interception rankings—not due to a lack of skill (or hands), but perhaps due to scheme limitations.
I recall an interview where Bowles mentioned that during his time with the Cardinals, he was able to generate pressure and disrupt offenses with relatively unknown players. That statement has resonated with me. Having coached for 20 years, I understand the mindset of coaches—often fueled by confidence in our abilities. Ego can hurt you as a coach.
Regardless of whether we're the youngest or oldest team, or if we're healthy or battling injuries, I would like to see Bowles adapt and be more flexible with his defensive schemes. One of our best defensive performances last year came against the Lions. I posted during game week that we should take the opposite approach of Bowles' usual strategy. I suggested their best hope at success was to rush four and keep everything in front of them, forcing the Lions to dump the ball off short and rely on gang tackling. They did just that and it was an outstanding performance. Those types of defensive performances haven't come often enough.
It concerns me when a defensive coach's go to plan is to blitz more. In today’s landscape of offensive play, that approach feels more like a gamble than a solid game plan.
Rewatching All-22 and forgot about the defense bailing out Baker vs the Saints Week 18. He was imploding, again. Saints up 3 and Baker throws a bad INT, Saints take over at the TB 37 but defense holds them to a 3 and out field goal. Next drive is a Bucs three and out, started with a 6 yard loss on a jet sweep to McMillan (sign of things to come). Evans is all by himself for a walk in TD on 3rd down and Baker air mails it. Browning then drops the punt snap. Saints take over up 6 at TB 47, defense again holds them to a 3 and out.
Rewatching All-22 and forgot about the defense bailing out Baker vs the Saints Week 18. He was imploding, again. Saints up 3 and Baker throws a bad INT, Saints take over at the TB 37 but defense holds them to a 3 and out field goal. Next drive is a Bucs three and out, started with a 6 yard loss on a jet sweep to McMillan (sign of things to come). Evans is all by himself for a walk in TD on 3rd down and Baker air mails it. Browning then drops the punt snap. Saints take over up 6 at TB 47, defense again holds them to a 3 and out.
Lmfao the mighty saints offense with Spencer Rattler carving up the defense in the first half.
🤡
Rewatching All-22 and forgot about the defense bailing out Baker vs the Saints Week 18. He was imploding, again. Saints up 3 and Baker throws a bad INT, Saints take over at the TB 37 but defense holds them to a 3 and out field goal. Next drive is a Bucs three and out, started with a 6 yard loss on a jet sweep to McMillan (sign of things to come). Evans is all by himself for a walk in TD on 3rd down and Baker air mails it. Browning then drops the punt snap. Saints take over up 6 at TB 47, defense again holds them to a 3 and out.
Lmfao the mighty saints offense with Spencer Rattler carving up the defense in the first half.
🤡
been hearing Carr may miss this year as well.
last mock I saw NO trading up for sanders. Yes please! Not a good year to need a qb.
Rewatching All-22 and forgot about the defense bailing out Baker vs the Saints Week 18. He was imploding, again. Saints up 3 and Baker throws a bad INT, Saints take over at the TB 37 but defense holds them to a 3 and out field goal. Next drive is a Bucs three and out, started with a 6 yard loss on a jet sweep to McMillan (sign of things to come). Evans is all by himself for a walk in TD on 3rd down and Baker air mails it. Browning then drops the punt snap. Saints take over up 6 at TB 47, defense again holds them to a 3 and out.
Lmfao the mighty saints offense with Spencer Rattler carving up the defense in the first half.
🤡
been hearing Carr may miss this year as well.
last mock I saw NO trading up for sanders. Yes please! Not a good year to need a qb.
Ok but the bucs defense held them to 19 points. Offense only scored 27.
Where would we be without the clutch defense?!?!?!
Where would we be without the clutch defense?!?!?!
Wouldn't have won 10 games if the defense was as bad as most of you think it was. Offense has too much talent to have lapses where they self destruct for consecutive drives. This why they need to run the ball more, with real runs, like Bucky and Tucker, not jet sweeps. Only 24% of the offensive snaps were Bucky and Tucker carries, should be 50%.
All I know is we can't have just bodies in the secondary out there, the NFL is too good to expect to win 1on1 matchups with bottom of the depth players. Other teams will definitely manipulate that. When Bowles is down on his depth his defense is in the realm of do your job and assignment which doesn't allow players to break out of their assignments and make the occasional great play because he's worried the players aren't ready yet to think about the bigger things. But when you get a guy like Sherman or Norman cerebral guys who understand their job and what the offense wants to do they are able to make the great play by setting up bait when they play that cover4/cover3.
They way Bowles defense is played is do your assignment, so that cover3/c4 beater is always gonna be there if the offense executes correctly because the corner is gonna be exactly where the offense expects him to be. If we had better corners who understand offenses and when to take risk thats when we'll get more picks. I dont think Dean is a confident/cerebral player to be THE guy, hes good for a #2, Zyon has potential but he needs faster recognition and better body control and strength when playing the ball can't let guys bully you liek lamb did. He's listed as 200 but he looks 185-190 compared to CD 200.
So if we wnat the defense to be better we need better players, but we got a bunch of day 2-3 picks in the secondary and linebacker level, so our talent is not there. Can we coach them sure but that extra element of wanting to be great is missing in our defense that dawg element
Bowles has openly stated he does want more depth and better players on defense on the backend. But if he has to put Izien or Merriweather out there he can make it work. Not the same if Wirfs goes down or Evans and Godwin go down.
That is the point Bowles was making. Hader to replace LT, QB and WR in the starting lineup compared to safety or CB.
But if he has to put Izien or Merriweather out there he can make it work.
Because it worked SO WELL last season!
LOL, kidding but even if you take Bowles comments at face value (not posturing) their actual offseason actions so far suggest they are trying to solidify the defense and I think his point is that the Bucs DEFENSIVE needs can be filled mostly by quality 2nd and 3rd day and beyond guys ESPECIALLY IN A DEEP DRAFT . . unlike LT and QB . . .
Although what is the over/under on the Bucs drafting either a QB or an LT lol? I think their most pressing needs on OFFENSE (if any) were all depth, so WR swing tackle and maybe G, but they even resigned Sua and Heck already, so maybe WR is the best bet at an non-defense premium pick?
The draft is such a wildcard its tough to say. Lots of chatter about a move back, but in a deep draft?