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Fab 1. Bowles’ Brilliance

I asked Bucs linebacker Lavonte David, who was the NFC Defensive Player of the Month in September, to describe defensive coordinator Todd Bowles in one word.

“Mastermind,” David said.

If I were to ask Carolina quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who threw two interceptions and was sacked five times in Tampa Bay’s 31-17 win in Week 2, he might say, “Punisher.”

If I were to ask Broncos quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Brett Rypien, who combined to throw two picks and were sacked a combined six times in last week’s 28-10 at Denver, they might say, “Tormentor.”

Bowles is known for his high-pressure, aggressive play-calling, and that was on full display last Sunday as Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator really stepped up the blitzing in the second half, according to Next Gen Stats, as reported by Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith. The Bucs blitzed on 42.9 percent of the Broncos’ pass plays in the first quarter and then blitzed 35.7 percent of the time in the second quarter. Bowles dialed up blitzes on 88.9 percent of Denver’s pass plays in the third quarter and was nearly as relentless in the fourth quarter, blitzing 73.3 percent in the final 15 minutes.

In all, Bowles called blitzes 60 percent of the time at Denver, but blitzed just 25 percent of the time the week before against Carolina.

“It changes sometimes – it varies,” Bowles said. “It could be all-out. It could be simulated pressure. It could be zone. It’s not just a blitz thing. We don’t consider ourselves to be just a blitz team. Last week was an anomaly that it just kind of worked out that way in the second half.”

While Bowles was pleased with last Sunday’s results, he was awfully modest when talking about the success of his unit, shrugging off the term “mastermind.”

“We’re no masterminds over here at all,” Bowles said. “We’re just trying to coach good football and good football players, so we work hard every week. Sometimes you have a good game plan and it sucks, and sometimes you have a bad game plan and it works out.

“It’s not just me, it’s the coaching staff as a whole. We try to make sure we cover our bases from the week before and the week before that. We try not to look the same.”

Bucs DC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That’s the key for Bowles. Not giving opposing quarterbacks the same looks from week-to-week, quarter-to-quarter and snap-to-snap.

It’s all about disguising coverages and disguising where the Bucs’ pressure will come from. Make sure you read Fab 2 on the next page to see some of Bowles’ masterpieces blitzes in action.

“Give the offense a picture to look at, and then after that, just roll into whatever coverage or blitz that we’re doing,” said rookie Bucs safety Antoine Winfield, Jr., who was just named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for notching two sacks and a forced fumble in September. “That’s a big part of getting home and making a sack – if you are showing one thing and the quarterback is sliding protection one way and we’re able to blitz from the opposite way it just helps out us creating plays and getting sacks.

“You have to give a look first and foremost. Make it look like it’s coming one way when it’s coming from another way. That’s the biggest key in getting sacks and getting that blitzer free. Making sure that we’re able to disguise is a huge, important part of it.”

David agrees that often disguising the blitz leads to a successful blitz – one that produces sacks or pressure.

“Offenses want to identify what types of coverages you’re in, where you’re at and where certain guys are going to be,” David said. “For us, it’s a chess match – giving offenses certain looks that they may think we’re in and come back and hit them with another look that we want to be in. Teams that throw the football, the main thing is we want to get them off balance and make them go in the direction we want them to throw in. Once you get that done as far as disguising and stuff, the game is real fun because you get the quarterback to hold the ball and it opens things up for sacks.”

Bucs OLB Shaquil Barrett – Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers

David has yet to get his first sack this season, but did record his first interception due to pressure from a really exotic look that Bowles deployed in Denver (see the video of the play in Fab 2). While David still awaits his first sack of 2020, seven different Bucs players have already gotten to the quarterback this year. A total of 12 different Buccaneers notched a sack

Bucs’ Sacks In 2020
3 sacks – OLB Jason Pierre-Paul
2 sacks – S Antoine Winfield, Jr.
2 sacks – DT Ndamukong Suh
2 sacks – OLB Shaquil Barrett
1 sack – DE Will Gholston
1 sack – DT Vita Vea
1 sack – S Jordan Whitehead

Tampa Bay is tied for third in the NFL with 12 sacks, trailing only Washington (13) and Pittsburgh (15). Averaging four sacks per game, the Bucs are on pace to average 64 sacks in 2020, which would surpass last year’s total of 47 and set a new single-season franchise record. The current record in Tampa Bay is 55 sacks, which was set in 2000.

The Bucs have blitzed 56 times this year with 27 blitzes coming against Denver in Week 3. The Bucs’ 43.8 percent blitz rate is the third-highest in the league behind Baltimore (45.9 percent) and Pittsburgh (51.2 percent).

Bucs S Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Photo by: Getty Images

Bowles says that he and his staff usually devise blitzes and pressure packages during the week after studying the best way to attack an opponent on film, but that this year with COVID-19 canceling the NFL offseason, he couldn’t help but come up with multiple ways of getting to the quarterback with the extra time on his hands in the spring and summer.

“Usually it’s in season, but because we had a longer offseason you get a lot more time to watch film, think and tinker with things,” Bowles said. “So, you come up with a little more in the offseason this year.”

Mad scientist.

Mastermind.

The president of pressure.

Brilliant blitzer.

Bowles has been all of those things during Tampa Bay’s 2-1 start to the season.

“I think Coach Bowles is a defensive guru – he dials it up extremely well,” Winfield said. “For us to be successful, we have to have that play-calling that he provides – which has been amazing so far. Being able to use us in so many different ways because our defense is so versatile – we have pretty much everything in a defense. For him to just dial things up, it’s just been a great look for us and it will be our success this year – just making sure that we’re making plays out there on the field.”

Not only have the Bucs defenders been having a great deal of success to start the 2020 season, they’ve also been having a lot of fun.

Bucs LBs Lavonte David and Devin White and DC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“At any point in time, anybody’s number could be called,” David said. “Everybody’s ready. That’s the confidence coach has in us – and that’s a great thing. When we execute everything the right way everybody gets a chance to blitz.

“It’s fun to be a part of because it doesn’t give offenses a chance to know what we’re doing and who’s coming.”

And that’s by design – Bowles’ design.