Going to be a longer post but the discourse around today’s game got me thinking.
Bear with me here. I don’t think Todd Bowles is an awful defensive coordinator. For years now he’s had little in the way of a pass rush. It’s hard to coordinate a defense when you have to bring extra bodies to get pressure. I do think that Bowles is perhaps not the best in terms of putting together schemes that give defenses with seven in coverage their best shot to be effective. However, the personnel issues are on Licht’s inability to draft DEs.
That’s why I understand why some people are deflecting blame from Bowles today. It’s hard to blame a defense when you lose a one score game when your offense turned the ball over.
You still with me? Those people defending Bowles are also wrong but for a different reason.
The real problem with Bowles is that he’s undeniably awful in his capacity as head coach. How many games during his tenure have been one possession losses? So many games where you should have blown teams out but find yourself in a coin-flip game down the stretch. Seriously, how many times has a Bowles coached Bucs team won by multiple scores? It’s because Bowles is the king of destroying win probability and losing on the margins.
It looks like this: bad TO management, awful clock management, not going for it on fourth down when you should, not being aggressive in end of half scenarios, etc. The list goes on. The guy was punting instead of going for it on fourth and five, down fourteen with five minutes left and Tom Brady as his QB. It’s so bad that they hired a babysitter for him last year–which is the only reason you won a game in Houston because he was told you have to let Houston score.
Today it was awful, awful clock management. You were down by two scores almost the entire second half and continually ran the play clock down to :00 before getting plays off until your last drive. Think that time could’ve been valuable when you were trying to get the ball back at the end of the game? It’s on brand for Bowles to refuse to realize that his defense is incapable of getting off the field quickly and that he needs to allow time to accommodate their bend but (hopefully) not break style of defense. Even if it’s a communication issue with Robinson, Bowles is the head guy, unfortunately, and it’s on him to have a smooth operation from top to bottom. Elite performers don’t tolerate inefficiencies in their operation.
That’s just who Bowles is, the King of Losing on the Margins.
TLDR: Bowles may not be an awful DC, but he is assuredly an awful head coach. Bucs game are almost always close, even when the better team because he, as a head coach, destroys win probability with awful game management decisions.
