There’s no question the Bucks needed a week to get back on track.
After coming out of the gate strong, Tampa Bay suffered some tough losses during the most difficult period of the team’s season. What made their loss even worse is that their last three games were decided by less than a touchdown. Injuries continued to pile up. Every week.
Head coach Todd Bowles hopes that taking a break to reset both mentally and physically will ultimately lead to better results.
Bucks coach Todd Bowles: It’s time to ‘recalibrate, take a step back and look at everything.’
Bucks HC Todd Bowles – Photo courtesy of USA Today
The bye week couldn’t come at a better time for the Bucks, who lost 23-20 to the 49ers in the final seconds on Sunday. The team has been on a roll for the past two weeks, but costly mistakes have kept them from pulling off the upset that would have boosted their chances of making the playoffs this season. They still have a ways to go to qualify, but they will need to finish strong in their last seven games.
The team needs to approach this week as an opportunity to improve, and head coach Todd Bowles has given them plenty of time to get ready.
“[We’re] We’re trying to get everyone healthy and we’re going to recalibrate, so we need some time off,” Bowles said Monday. “They’re off after Wednesday anyway. They’ll be off for four days. One day of practice won’t help, so after Tuesday they’ll have the rest of the week off.” Hopefully, how many Or become healthy. Some of the guys that are playing are devastated, but I hope they get healthy and can readjust and take a step back and look at everything. The coaches have done some scouting on their own and we’re going to do some things to better plan and be ready for the stretch run. ”
On the surface, Bowles’ decision, like others in recent weeks, is questionable. It makes sense to give a team that has won recently a day off, but a team that has been underperforming for the past month shouldn’t be given a day off. Their defense has been struggling so far, so it might have been a benefit for them if they had been able to take an extra day to make adjustments to their unit during walk-through practice and get everyone on the same page at team meetings. .
Below is a list of issues plaguing defenses these days. From communication issues, coverage periods, lack of assignments, tackling to the defensive scheme itself, it’s questionable whether many of these issues (if any) will be resolved over time. The coaches probably know best and the players will come back well-rested and better prepared to play healthy football.
Bucks HC Todd Bowles – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
“The players have to take care of themselves. That’s the most important thing,” Bowles said of his emphasis during the bye week. “When I came back…I saw all the offense and defense and special teams that was going to happen. It’s just a matter of executing.”
The Bucks suffered a blowout loss, but now have a great opportunity to rack up wins. Upcoming games against the Giants, Panthers and Raiders will be a chance for him to gain confidence, especially getting back to above .500. Each team has its own quarterback question. things look positive, There is some hopebut they are given nothing.
“There is no doom and gloom for us,” Bowles added. “We lost two tough games, three if you want to count, but schedules don’t get easier. This is the NFL. You can’t play against guys with a tight schedule. Everyone’s a first-round pick. If we come back from hiatus thinking the schedule is easy because we have players like that and they’re all well-coached, we’re going to lose every game. We’re going to lose every last game. .
“We have to come back and take care and do what we have to do to win regardless of the opponent and if we want to be one of the good teams we have to beat good teams and that’s what we’ve got to do. I understand how we feel, but it’s not hopeless or depressing.”
Baker Mayfield believes in groups, but they need to ‘come together’
Bucks OC Liam Cohen and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
Baker Mayfield managed to keep the Bucks in games despite losing much of the offensive power around him. Mayfield will have to keep that job going for the next few weeks after losing left tackle Tristan Wirfs to an MCL sprain, but he still believes the players around him can step up and turn things around.
“We have to get healthy,” Mayfield said. “For a week [to] become healthy [and] Get ready to do this stretch [run.] Labonte [David] I perfectly understood that in the future I will need everything, both in practice and in games. All that’s left to do is assemble it. We keep saying we’re getting closer to it, but that has to be the message.
“You have to believe in it, and we have to execute. We have a group, the fight in what we’re doing at the end of the game, the effort never fails. It’s not a question of, “Okay, there it is.” Now let’s go to the execution.’ Plain and simple. Do your job. This will quickly turn things around. ”
Mayfield has a reputation as a fighter and should be given the benefit of the doubt after leading his team through a similar situation last year. Now is the time to reflect on the problems and come back prepared with solutions to solve them.
“I think that’s the case right now,” Mayfield said of the team’s need for physical and mental rest. “Physically, yes, our situation in the team is just the injuries and other things that we’ve had so far. But mentally we’re broken after the results of the recent games. We need to step away from that. But don’t forget what these games cost you and come back prepared to fix it.”
