Buccaneers: 4 individuals most at fault for primetime disaster

Bruce Arians

No one would’ve ever anticipated this at the start of the season, but Bruce Arians may not be the coach to lead the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl. His performance so far this year has lacked in numerous areas, and Arians’ decisions on the field are directly leading to one of the most talented teams in the league underperforming on a weekly basis.

More from The Pewter Plank

• Devin White posts cryptic message to Lavonte David on Twitter
• ESPN predicts surprising outcome to Devin White trade saga
• Updated Buccaneers depth chart after signing two players from rookie minicamp
• Todd Bowles sends clear message about Baker Mayfield’s role with Bucs
• The Athletic is wrong about Bucs one ‘must-watch’ game in 2023

Arians doesn’t call the plays on either side (although he is responsible for the plays called), but the easiest area to critique the head coach is challenges. Arians may be the worst head coach with challenges in the entire NFL.

Bruce Arians consistently throws the red flag on plays that even the announcers don’t know what he is looking at. The second-year Buccaneer head coach has challenged almost every type of penalty or spot under the sun, yet he is rarely ever close.

Perhaps Arians has received a different explanation than the average fan, but he continually fails to realize that having enough evidence available is one of the necessities to overturn a call, not just the word of a player.

The challenges have been awful, and Arians should have his flag taken away and locked up, but he is also responsible for his offensive and defensive coordinators. Both sides of the ball have failed to adjust weekly, and Arians should receive some blame for that as well.