The new Pewter Report Roundtable will debut every Tuesday during the Bucks regular season. Every week, Pewter reporters tackle a different tough question. This week’s prompt: Can the Bucks turn things around and make the playoffs?
Scott Reynolds: No, that would cost Todd Bowles his job.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
I would like to fill this space with the word “no” and call it a day. But you Pewter People deserve so much more.
Something is different about this year’s Bucks team. It’s very reminiscent of Raheem Morris’ final season in Tampa Bay in 2011. The Bucks came off a promising 10-6 season in 2010, started the following year with a 4-2 record, but then went into a complete free fall, losing 10 straight games. To Morris’ departure. The players loved Morris and played hard for him, but Morris never held them accountable enough to correct the team’s constant mistakes.
We see the same thing happening with this year’s Todd Bowles team. They play hard. they like him they don’t quit. But they haven’t taken enough responsibility to correct their mistakes, and the losses continue to mount.
Even though a playoff spot is well within reach, this team is 9-8 and must win at least five of their next six games to stay in the postseason spot, which the Bucks won. Where is the evidence that they can accomplish that? Tampa Bay has won only four of their first 11 games and lost six of their last seven. Where is the momentum to suggest something like this could happen?
If the Bucks somehow manage to pull this off, we can look back and say the next two games on the schedule tell the story. Tampa Bay must get a convincing win at home against Carolina on Sunday. At around 30-10, the Bucks should feel confident heading into Atlanta next week.
If that happens, they’ll have to beat the Falcons, who have a perfect record in this division so far with a 3-0 record. Without a win in Atlanta, the Bucs’ chances of winning the division are all but lost. The Falcons will lead the NFC South with a 4-0 record, while the Bucks will likely finish third in the division.
Unless Tampa Bay finds a way to win the division again, which seems highly unlikely, Bowles will likely be fired. new head coach It will be taken over in 2024.
Matt Matera: No, the Bucs won’t make the right adjustments
Bucs DT Kariya Kanshi – Photo by Cliff Welch P/R
As for the Bucks, it feels like we’ve been doing the same thing for a year and a half. They have made too many painful mistakes to believe or believe that they will win games when it matters most, so why should we believe they can win this division? mosquito? Even against teams Tampa Bay should be able to beat, they can’t.
The biggest reason the Bucks can’t win this division is because they didn’t make the right adjustments in two separate phases. Todd Bowles either stubbornly refuses to change his game plan even after a particular defensive system isn’t working and is exposed, or when it comes to player personnel, he just doesn’t have the time to bring in a different or better player. Either it takes too long. Because of the situation.
First of all, how many times have we criticized Bowles and the Bucs’ defensive alignment? How many times have I seen media and viewers pulling their hair out because they were afraid to give up a big play in the corner 8-12 yards from the ball? As a result, he allowed easy short gain after easy short gain, which likely resulted in a first down. For the other person?
Gardner Minshew looked like he was back in his Washington State days. Brock Purdy salivates at the thought of playing against the Bucks, as the two best games of his career were against them.
And one of the reasons teams are able to call more than 65 plays against Tampa Bay is because the Bucs don’t know how to consistently generate a consistent pass rush. Sure, sometimes Devin White or Antwon Winfield Jr. can blitz home if they dial it up at the right time. But week after week, the Bucs are using interior defensive linemen Vita Vea and Kaliyah Kanci to take down quarterbacks who should be on the edge, where Shaq Barrett and Joe Tryon-Soyinka should be among the top sackers. I rely on it.
This is the second half of Bowles’ adjustment problem, which is intertwined with the personnel side. It took far too long for Bowles to realize that JTS wasn’t up to the task of being a pass rusher. YaYa Diaby has been playing great lately, so why couldn’t this have happened three weeks earlier?
Next, let’s take a look at Marquise Watts. His 11 snaps against the Titans in Week 10 had a huge impact on the Bucs, with a quarterback hit resulting in an interception. Where was he in Week 11 when Brock Purdy had a perfect passer rating? Well, he appeared in a total of three defensive plays.
What about last game, when the Bucs only had one more quarterback hit outside of Baer and Cuncey? Watts didn’t get any snaps. Can I even touch on how everyone felt about Ryan Neal playing for too long? Finally, Bowles pressed the button to give Dee Delaney more snaps, but again it happened later than it should have.
I could spend a whole other article on the Bucs offense and its inefficiency, but I’d like to ask this – barring injuries, Bowles would go on to replace Aaron Stinney at left guard with Matt Feiler. Can you believe I replaced him with that? I’m afraid not. The offense has improved since Stinney arrived, but that adjustment probably isn’t here yet unless Feiler misses a few games.
Todd Bowles is taking too long to make changes to this team on multiple levels. This would cost the Bucs a playoff berth and a chance to win another district title.
Bailey Adams: “The Bucks seem to have nowhere to go”
Bucks head coach Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of USA Today
The Bucks are clearly within striking distance of an NFC South title, at least mathematically. They are just one game behind first with six games remaining, four of which will be against divisional opponents. This includes a head-to-head matchup with the Falcons and Saints, the two teams ahead in the standings.
This division exists to be won, but it will take a consistent run in the second half of the season and some big wins against similarly placed teams. And I don’t believe this team has it.
Does what this group has shown all season make it worth believing in a late-season charge for a division title? The Bucks have not won back-to-back games since Weeks 1 and 2 They have lost six of their last seven games. They are, They lost 6 of 7 games to a team that started with 3 wins and 1 loss.
Tampa Bay makes too many mistakes and is too inconsistent to string together wins. A win against the 1-10 Panthers is no longer a sure thing. But even if that happens this week, can this team really go to Atlanta to beat the Falcons next week? Even if the Bucks win both games and go to 6-7, I still I don’t believe they can beat the Packers next week at Lambeau Field. They are well below .500 and won’t be able to handle the necessary catch-up game down the stretch.
In fact, this team must win at least four of their final six games to qualify. They might not even be able to do that, meaning Tampa Bay would have to go 5-1. Neither finish seems to be in the cards, which is a shame because the Falcons and Saints aren’t good teams. It’s just that the Bucks are proving to be worse. Therefore, a new head coach will be appointed this offseason, giving the team a fresh start.
Josh Quaipo: No, no, nada, zilch, none.
Bucks ILB Devin White and Bills RB James Cook – Photo courtesy of USA Today
I think a team with the best quarterback play, the best receiver duo, and a defense mostly intact from their Super Bowl appearance not too long ago can break out of a moribund division full of franchise wannabes and franchise veterans. right. . But no. Not the Bucks.
Despite getting the best from free agent bargain Baker Mayfield, surprisingly good play from an offensive line that placed four players in different positions than the previous year, and their first He played as well as one would expect from the match. The Bucks continue to shoot themselves in the foot week after week even after draft picks. They have appeared in almost every game played this year.
Heck, they were even with the 49ers for most of that game. However, continued mismanagement of games and clocks has caused this coaching staff to lead a competitive (NFC South) roster to the 4-5 wins needed in the next 6 games to win this division. I just couldn’t believe that I could pull it up.
Is it fear-based decision-making or backward-looking thinking about time-out usage and time management that prevents Todd Bowles from minimizing risk and scoring more points? Whether it’s an overall fixation on an outdated way of approaching the game, the proof is not only in the losses that have piled up over the past 15 months, but in the pudding that shows how those losses have piled up. It’s inside.
I don’t see any change in the immediate future of this franchise. So I’m not confident they can make the grades necessary to win the division’s sorry excuse.
Adam Slivone: “It’s still possible, but I don’t think it will happen.”
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and HC Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of USA Today
Now, if you had asked me before Sunday’s game against the Colts, I still would have said, “Yes, the Bucs can still make the playoffs and possibly win the division.” No one expected them to beat the 49ers, but they put up a solid effort and won 20-6 against the Titans. But after their recent losses (sixth in their last seven games), it seems unlikely they can turn around and win the NFC South.
For the Bucs to turn around and prove they can compete, Tampa Bay needed to beat a team in Indianapolis with a backup quarterback. A snowball is starting to form against the Falcons, and whether Todd Bowles wants to admit it or not, it’s snowballing to the point where it’s questionable whether the Falcons can bounce back.
I believe on paper the Bucks still have the best roster in the division. There’s a lot of star power on both sides of the football team, but when it comes to coaching and execution, the results don’t back it up. As was the case last year, in every game other than the Saints in Week 4, they were unable to perform convincingly for four quarters and did not play quality football. With that in mind, I don’t think they’ll go from 5 wins to 1 loss to 9 wins and 8 losses. Indeed, it will be difficult to repeat the record of 8 wins and 9 losses in 2022.
At this point, it’s hard to confidently call Tampa Bay a favorite for the remaining games, including a matchup with the 1-10 Panthers, who recently fired their head coach and have a bleak future. With two more games next month against the Packers and Jaguars in Lambeau, they need to go out there and prove they’re more than the team currently sitting at No. 7 in the draft order.
However, this does not mean that you cannot claim in installments. If the players want it enough, play disciplined football and take advantage of opportunities during games, they are capable of doing it. I don’t think that potential will ever be realized.
