Thursday, 4 a.m.
When it comes to the seven victories of the Tampa Bay Bucs, you can assign the credit to a lot of places,
Bucky Irving, for instance. He’s the most under drafted rookie in the league. Baker Mayfield, the scrappy quarterback. Liam Coen, hte offensive coordinator. The improved offensive line. Anthony Nelson, who allowed the win over Carolina with his forced fumble. Lavonte David. The list goes on.
When it comes to the six losses, however, there is only one guy to blame, right?
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Todd Bowles, who is evidently using his body to block the route to success.
They don’t like him around her. He drives them crazy. Despite making the playoffs all three of his seasons, Bowles has never struck anyone as an Andy Reid, or a John Harbaugh, or a Dan Campbell. He’s the guy the Bucs play around to win, or else he’s the guy who marches them into losses.
I’ll be honest. I’m not crazy about Bowles, either. I thought he should have gone for two against Kansas City. I think he relies on the blitz too much, which forces too much soft coverage.
So it amazes me that I’m about to type the following sentence.
But has anyone considered Bowles for Coach of the Year.
Oh, relax. He isn’t going to win it. Reid or Campbell or Mike Tomlin will. Or Gary Payton or Kevin O’Connell or Sean McDermott.
My point is this: At this point of the season, you can argue as loudly for Bowles to be Coach of the Year as you can for him to be fired.
Think about it.
The Bucs entered the season with a new offensive coordinator (Coen).
They had a team that had been dreadful for years at running the ball.
Their top receivers were quickly hurt.
So were the top safeties.
And offensive line was nothing to write home about.
The Bucs had a six-game streak where they played at Atlanta, at New Orleans, Baltimore, Atlanta, Kansas City and San Francisco. They went 1-5 in that run.
Mayfield was coming off a fine comeback year, but there were questions if he could do it again.
There was no pass rush. Still isn’t.
Yeah, if Bowles didn’t drive you crazy, you’d be crazy about him.
But Bowles isn’t glib and he isn’t funny. He isn’t witty like Bruce Arians or solid like Tony Dungy or charismatic like Jon Gruden or amusing like John McKay. Fans don’t give him much credit when he wins, and none when it’s against a team like Carolina or Las Vegas. Guess what? Other coaches struggle, too.
Still, Bowles hasn't been great. He hasn't turned Mayfield into Tom Brady or Drew Palmer into Ja'Marr Chase or Joe Tryon-Shoyika into Lawrence Taylor. In the winner-takes-all sport. of pro football, Bowles has not taken enough.
This is Bowles’ lot. Short of winning a Super Bowl, he isn’t likely to win fans over at this point. He just slogs through a bad division, barely keeping his head off the chopping block.
Oh, he’s still better than Phil Williamson or Ray Perkins or Leeman Bennett or Lovie Smith.
Gee. You think he can get that printed on a business card?