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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions Pewter Report This Week’s Bucs Mailbag Twitter account. Every week, submit your questions to the Bucs Mailbag via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are your Bucs questions we’ll answer in this week’s edition:
Question: Why do so many media pundits and fans think Todd Bowles is a bad coach?
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles and OLB Yaya Diaby – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR
answer: For the national media, it probably dates back to his time as head coach of the New York Jets. In 2015, Bowles inherited a team that was 4-12 when he took over, and Bowles and the Jets went 10-6 in his first season as head coach. But New York narrowly missed the playoffs that year, and then a combination of poor performance and contract issues with Ryan Fitzpatrick put Bowles and the Jets in a bind, going 5-11 for two straight seasons. The Jets then drafted Sam Darnold in the first round in 2018, but the team finished the season 4-12 and Bowles was fired after finishing with a 24-40 record without ever making the postseason.
Since taking over for the abruptly retired Bruce Arians in 2022, Bowles has improved slightly, going 17-17 in the regular season, 8-9 in his first year in 2022 and 9-8 in 2023. Bowles is also 1-2 in the playoffs as Tampa Bay’s head coach. I think some in the media feel the 2022 Buccaneers were a real disappointment because of the team’s losing record in Tom Brady’s final year. However, the main reason Brady didn’t perform as well in 2022 was because of his very public divorce, which was undoubtedly a distraction.
It has little to do with Bowles, who did what was best for Brady and allowed him to miss more than a week of training camp, attending Robert Kraft’s wedding in New York on Friday night before flying to the team’s 20-18 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Some say Bowles squandered Brady’s final season in the NFL, but it had more to do with Byron Leftwich doing a terrible job as a play-caller that season.
Bowles was bound by the conditions to hire Leftwich as Arians’ replacement as offensive coordinator that season, and Leftwich was so bad he hasn’t even been able to find work as a coordinator or quarterbacks coach in college or the NFL since Bowles fired him after the Wild Card playoff loss to Dallas.
But to Bowles’ credit, the coaching staff this season seems better than ever and more talented than the past two seasons. The players absolutely love the coach because he treats them like men and with great respect. The coach also won back-to-back NFC South championships with two very different Bucs teams: a much older team in 2022 and a team full of rookies and second-year starters from last year. If Tampa Bay can achieve double-digit wins, win the division again and advance further in the playoffs, Bowles will get the recognition he deserves.
Question: The offensive scheme looks good, even without starters. The offensive line and running back process seems right. Wide receivers were open in Jacksonville, but there were incomplete passes. It worries me that the defense is allowing third-down-and-long situations like it did last year. Why does this keep happening?
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles and co-defensive coach Casey Rogers – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR
answer: In Jacksonville, the Buccaneers’ offense and defense did not look good, either in the joint practice or the game. If you include practice, I think the Jaguars would have won 3-0. This was a good wake-up call for the Tampa Bay team. They haven’t “got there” yet and shouldn’t take the crown. The Buccaneers team needs to continue to strengthen and progress over the next three weeks to be ready for the season opener on both offense and defense.
Notably, the Buccaneers are resting and rehabbing several of their stars, especially on defense. Todd Bowles’ squad was without its top two pass rushers in outside linebacker Yaya Diaby and defensive tackle Kalijah Kansi, as well as starting strong safety Jordan Whitehead and outside linebacker Joe Tryon Soyinka. Those four key starters could immediately bolster the defense when they return.
My concerns about practice are that inside linebacker KJ Britt looked good against the run, but I’m not sure he’s made the progress the team hopes he will in pass coverage. And the other inside linebacker, 34-year-old Lavonte David, isn’t the agile, quick-witted cover linebacker he once was. The team’s best cover linebacker, Servosia Dennis, hasn’t played the past two weeks with an injury and won’t play in this week’s preseason finale. I’m also a bit concerned about the amount of times wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. and tight end Evan Engram got behind the Buccaneers defense in practice.
I’m not too worried about the 20-7 preseason loss at Jacksonville. Most of the young defensive backs who failed to cover were not on this year’s 53-man roster. I know the number of third-and-longs the Buccaneers allowed to the Jaguars was infuriating, but let’s keep two things in mind here.
First, the Buccaneers are keeping their cards close in the preseason and aren’t going to play the coverage they will in real life during the regular season. And second, it was co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Casey Rogers who called the plays Saturday night, not Bowles. I don’t think coverage is Rodgers’ forte. I think his forte is the defensive front and applying pressure up front, as evidenced by the team’s five sacks against the Jaguars.
Q: What is going on with Kariya Kansi? Will he be ready for the start of the season?
Buccaneers DT Kariya Kansi and OLB Yaya Diaby – Photo: Cliff Welch/PR
answer: Buccaneers defensive tackle Kalijah Kansey is nursing a minor knee injury but is expected to return. The Buccaneers have been without starters for their first two preseason games, but even if Kansey returns to practice this week, it’s hard to imagine the team taking a risk on him against Miami on Friday night. Kansey is not wearing a knee brace, which is a good sign.
Even if he is cleared to practice, it is unlikely the Buccaneers will have him participate when the Dolphins come to town for a joint workout on Wednesday. The Buccaneers are being cautious with several defensive starters, and Cansey will join outside linebacker Yaya Diaby (ankle), outside linebacker Joe Tryon Soyinka (neck) and strong safety Jordan Whitehead (thigh) as well as inside linebacker Servosia Dennis (upper body), who sat out the preseason.
It’s also questionable whether the Buccaneers will risk defensive tackle Vita Vea, inside linebacker Lavonte David and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. to play them on Friday night in the preseason finale. We’ll see how it goes.
Question: Should fans be worried about Chase McLaughlin’s kicks?
Buccaneers K Chase McLaughlin – Photo courtesy of USA Today
answer: Yes, the fact that Chase McLaughlin has made just one of three field goal attempts this preseason is concerning. He made a 35-yard field goal in the preseason opener against Cincinnati, but missed a 51-yard attempt after it hit the right goal post. And it was even more concerning on Saturday against Jacksonville, when he missed a 42-yard attempt that went wide left. But McLaughlin has made all three of his extra-point attempts, and was perfect last year.
“Any time a kicker misses a field goal or an extra point, it’s concerning to me,” Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said after the game Saturday night. “He was great last year. We’ve just got to figure that out and get on with it.”
Asked Sunday whether he would bring in a replacement for McLaughlin in training camp after his shaky start, Bowles said, “It’s a little late to bring in a contender. Chase has been pretty consistent. If he can improve on the areas he needs to improve, he’ll be better going forward.”
McLaughlin was a very reliable kicker for the Bucks last year. A career-best field goal percentage of 93.5%. He completed 7 of 8 passes of 50+ yards. Last year, McLaughlin earned the nickname “Money McLaughlin,” and he used that success to earn a three-year contract extension worth $12.3 million, earning an average of $4.1 million per season. The contract also includes $6.5 million in guaranteed money. Now it’s time for “Money McLaughlin” to earn his money and recapture the form he had last year.
Q: Now that Baker Mayfield is in Year 2, has your opinion of him as a person and as a quarterback changed or evolved? If so, how? It’s only been a year, did the Buccaneers know what they were getting in Mayfield, or do you think they view him as a player in a much different light heading into 2023? We knew he was going to be the starter when he didn’t play in Week 2 of the preseason last year.
Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield and head coach Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of USA Today
answer: My opinion of Baker Mayfield changed last year. At the beginning of the season, I said he’s not a difference maker as a quarterback. In my postgame two-point conversion column, I wrote this after the Week 8 loss to Buffalo: He was more of a point guard distributing the ball than a scoring guard who could make big plays with his right arm that could lead his team to victory.
But Mayfield led the team in a comeback win at Atlanta, then posted a perfect QB rating and four touchdowns in a blowout win at Green Bay the following week. After he passed for 283 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-12 win over the Jaguars on Christmas Eve, I changed my mind and declared him a difference-maker. He also had a big impact with three touchdown passes in Tampa Bay’s 32-9 home win over Philadelphia in the wild-card playoff game.
I thought Mayfield was a very humble guy when he came to Tampa Bay as a free agent last year. He went from being the face of the Cleveland franchise to a journeyman quarterback in just one year. He was traded to Carolina, then acquired on waivers by the Los Angeles Rams, then signed a one-year deal for $4 million in Tampa Bay. He humbled himself along the way, and he just showed up and worked hard last offseason. He integrated into the team quickly last year, and the rest is history.
To me, Mayfield is a very easy guy to work with. He can be a bit of a challenge, but I appreciate his sharpness. This team needs that, and it helps them. Mayfield is more team-oriented than any other player, and I think he’s grown a lot over the last three years. It’s no wonder he’s been embraced so warmly by his Buccaneers teammates, Buccaneers fans and the city of Tampa.
