Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by Jeffrey Jones/PR
Time management has never been Bucs head coach Todd Bowles’ strong suit. Every season, we’ve seen situations where Bowles and Tampa Bay can’t control the clock in the best way.
that continued on Sunday night They lost 26-24 to the Cowboys in prime time in Dallas.
Bucks HC Todd Bowles – Photo by Jeffrey Jones/PR
But before we get to that, we should point out that similar mistakes have already been seen this year. On Monday Night Football in Week 9, the Bucs scored late to tie the game, but there were 27 seconds remaining while Kansas City used all three timeouts. Tampa Bay got to the 1-yard line on Trey Palmer’s 19-yard catch with 33 seconds left, but Bowles called the team’s final timeout without stopping the clock.
Although the Bucs got through regulation unscathed before losing in overtime, it was still the wrong decision to give the Chiefs even a slim chance of winning before the end of the fourth quarter. By the way, this doesn’t include the decision not to make it two at the end instead of rolling the dice and playing overtime. But it’s a conversation everyone has already had.
Turning to Sunday night’s game against Dallas in Tampa Bay, Todd Bowles was called for another timeout late in the second quarter before halftime.
Todd Bowles doesn’t offer much explanation for sudden timeout
The Bucks were trailing 20-7 at the time, but chased down the field all the way toward the end of the first half. Rathard White ran the ball to the Dallas 10-yard line, and the Bucs called their final timeout with 54 seconds left. It was nice to see rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan score a touchdown on the next play to cut the Cowboys’ lead to 20-14, but three timeouts and 48 seconds were enough time to move the ball. was given to Dallas. The Bucs defense struggled in pass coverage all night.
What happened next was that the Cowboys hit Brandon Aubrey for a 58-yard field goal in six plays, extending Dallas’ lead to 23-14 at halftime, when Bowles ran out the clock. It was a masterclass in what should have been.
As much as the Bucs’ defense is to blame for failing to stop the Cowboys’ late field goal drive, the situational awareness, or lack thereof, must also be blamed. The final score was 26-24, and the Bucks lost by two points. If they hadn’t allowed a field goal late in the first half to give the Cowboys three extra points, we probably would have been talking about a Bucs win on Monday.
Bucks HC Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of USA Today
It’s one thing to watch the situation unfold. It’s another thing to hear an explanation as to why it happened. Todd Bowles was pretty quiet during his press conference on Monday, and didn’t go into great detail about why he took a timeout at the wrong time…again.
Asked about taking a timeout with less than a minute left, Bowles said, “Offensively we needed it. We needed it.”
When asked a follow-up question about why timeouts are needed on offense, Bowles’ answer was short and didn’t go into details.
“We needed a timeout,” Bowles said.
That’s it.
That’s all Todd Bowles had to say about yet another missed timeout.
This may have been the biggest fumble of the game in which the Bucks fumbled the ball three times.
It’s clear Bowles hasn’t learned from his mistakes throughout his head coaching career. Clock mismanagement remains rampant, and the defense struggles with the same issues that have hurt the team since the beginning of the year. Bowles points to fundamental issues and miscommunication each week, but it would be terrible if the same mistakes kept happening over and over again month after month.
Why Todd Bowles didn’t need a timeout
Bucks WR Jalen McMillan and TE Payne Durham – Photo courtesy of USA Today
I’m still trying to understand why the offense “needed” such a timeout with 54 seconds left. I kind of understand where Todd Bowles was coming from against Kansas City. Because the Bucs had to run 19 yards down the field after Trey Palmer’s catch with little time left, so they called a timeout to calm everyone down and unite.
However, the early timeout against Dallas with less than a minute left doesn’t make much sense.
Rashard White’s first down run went only four yards, so no one had to go that far. Sure, at times players would get piled up after a running play, but Tampa Bay had plenty of time to get everyone on their feet and call the next play, even with about 35 seconds left.
The previous two plays on downs in this set were a pass to Payne Durham on first down, followed by an incomplete pass after going wide to stop the clock. The Bucks had made plays that stopped the clock twice before, so it wasn’t like they were in bad shape.
There were several factors The Bucks talked about why they lost on Sunday Night Football And they can no longer control their playoff destiny. But hearing Bowles continue to give vague explanations for key moments of game management, repeated over and over again, becomes even more unnerving.
