Bucks head coach Todd Bowles has faced the ire of Bucks fans and questions from national and local media about some of his decision-making during Monday night’s overtime loss to the Chiefs.
It was a close game for the Bucks, but it wasn’t a cigar situation as they had a chance to beat the undefeated Chiefs at home in prime time. They fought hard, but rather than taking their fate into their own hands and going for two points at the end of the game, Bowles opted to score an extra point and force overtime. The problem was, the Bucks never got the ball back.
So, in the end, there is no moral victory to be gained from it. reality is bucks Currently losing 3 games in a row And their season is in jeopardy.
We can kiss the district championship goodbye. Atlanta currently has a two-game lead over Tampa Bay, and with an additional tiebreaker, it’s effectively a three-game lead with eight games left in the season. Unless the Falcons collapse, the Bucks will have to compete for a wild-card playoff spot instead, which won’t be easy.
“It’s tough,” Bowles said after the game. “You don’t accept losses. You don’t want to get used to losing. That’s the biggest thing and they won’t get used to losing. There were some big plays and big swings. They were better than us. We had a lot of connections. We fought, but it wasn’t enough. We’ll be ready for the next game next week.”
Tampa Bay has now lost four of its past five games. Aside from the loss to the Ravens, the team’s other three losses during that period (two to the Falcons, one to the Chiefs) were all close games the Bucks could have won. That’s why Bowles wasn’t completely down with the loss and reiterated his message to the team after the game.
“You can’t get used to losing,” Bowles said. “We’ll have another one next week. We did a lot of good things, but we didn’t do enough to win the ball game. You have to do the little things to win the ball game.”
Todd Bowles’ messages have backfired before.
I respect the confidence Todd Bowles has in his team, but I’m not sure how true this message rings. Haven’t you heard anything like this from Bowles?
The answer is yes.
Last season, Bowles declared after losing to the Bills on Thursday Night Football that the losses were “not going to snowball.”
At the time, the Bucs started the season 3-1, but lost their next three games until Bowles declared the bleeding had stopped.
What happened next? Tampa Bay’s defense committed a nasty choke late in the game against the Texans, resulting in their fourth straight loss. Although they won the following week, they lost the next two games, resulting in six losses in seven games.
In other words, it is did snowman.
To Bowles’ credit, the Bucs won four straight and five of their last six games to clinch the district championship. He showed that players can compete for him and teams can be resilient.
But the thing is, Tampa Bay had room for error in a weak division in 2023, as a 9-8 record proved to be good enough to win the NFC South. The 2024 Bucks don’t have that luxury. The Falcons are so competitive that it will take them 10 or even 11 wins to win the district championship. There are also a lot of good teams throughout the NFC, so even if the Bucks go 9-8 again, the wild card isn’t a lock.
At 4-5, the Bucs face a tough game this Sunday against the 49ers, who have tormented Tampa Bay for the past two seasons. The Bucks once again started the season 3-1, but are stuck in a hole with a losing record and could be 4-6 again with another loss on Sunday.
The good news is that the Bucks have a very favorable schedule after the bye, with games against the Giants, Panthers, Raiders, Chargers, Cowboys, and a rematch with the Saints, and they will play the Panthers twice. These are all very winnable games, and mathematically you could move the table to 11 wins and 6 losses.
But Tampa Bay’s defense, led by Bowles himself, was absolutely terrifying. It is extremely difficult to expect perfection from your team.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield said after the game, “Overall, it’s disappointing, but our guys fought.” “You only give so many chances against a team with that type of offensive power. If they win the coin toss, that’s what happens. I’m proud of our offensive line for stepping up. Todd (Todd) Head coach Bowles sent a good message: “We’re getting close.” Don’t get used to losing and try to turn this situation around. We have a home game against an NFC opponent next week, so we have to find a way to win. that’s it. “
Todd Bowles’ overtime rationale doesn’t make sense
It’s hard to support Todd Bowles considering his own comments came under fire last season, but there’s a good chance it will happen again this year. His in-game strategic decisions are another reason to not feel too good about Tampa Bay’s chances after a 4-5 start.
Josh Quapo of Pewter Report explained in great detail Regarding Bowles’ mistake last night, I couldn’t help but share my thoughts on it. That explains Bowles’ decision not to go for the two-point conversion instead of kicking the extra point to tie the game and send it into overtime with less than 30 seconds left that could have won the game 25-24. It was.
“I wanted to go to overtime,” Todd Bowles said. “We wanted overtime instead of two games because of the rainy conditions on the field. We made some shots, but we lost the game.”
Wait, what?
Tampa Bay had just scored a touchdown by going 71 yards down the field in 1 minute, 19 seconds in the rain, and suddenly it was too rainy to try to win?
Could it have been a Biblical rain only between the touchdown and the decision to kick the PAT or attempt a two-point conversion?
Who wouldn’t want to try to win a game against the undefeated Chiefs rather than give Patrick Mahomes another chance in overtime? After all, isn’t Mahomes the type of player to rise to the occasion when it matters?
Sarcasm intended.
Bowles has a habit of making bad decisions during games and making himself look even worse when he tries to justify what he did by doubling down in the press conference afterward.
There was also the time the Bucks lost to the Browns in overtime in 2022, when Tom Brady had only thrown two passes and Cleveland had only thrown three passes in the game. , Bowles tried to explain that he wasn’t aggressive until late out of fear of an interception. At that time, the whole team.
And in the 2023 NFC Divisional Round playoff game against the Lions, he didn’t take a timeout at the end of the game, saying there wouldn’t have been enough time for the Bucks to make a comeback. All the while, the Bucs could have forced the Lions to at least attempt a field goal or punt, but one or the other could have been blocked or the field goal missed.
Those were the worst moments because of the grumpy reporters after the game, but what Bowles said Monday night may have paid off. The 2024 season isn’t over yet for the 4-5 Bucks. It’s certainly an uphill battle, but if they’ve done it once before, could they do it again?
Todd Bowles’ fate as a coach may depend on it.