Buccaneers: 4 individuals most at fault for primetime disaster
By Rob Leeds
Todd Bowles
Todd Bowles has received a large amount of credit this year for the Buccaneer defense, but he dropped the ball last night. Tampa Bay’s defense has been trending down for the previous few weeks, but last night was the clear breaking point.
The last two weeks have told the story of a defense that is slow or unwilling to adapt to circumstances, and Todd Bowles is the main reason why.
The Buccaneers have two phenomenal man corners in Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean. These two can lock most receivers up at the line of scrimmage, which should buy the pass rush enough time to get to the quarterback against most offensive lines.
So this begs the question; why is Bowles having the corners play almost 10 yards off the receivers? Derek Carr, Daniel Jones, and Drew Brees have carved the Buccaneers up on short slant routes to receivers for three weeks now, yet the defense has shown no signs of changing.
No matter how talented Tampa Bay’s pass rush is, it does them no good at all if quarterbacks are able to get throws off in two seconds every play to uncovered receivers. Every spectator watching for the past three weeks has recognized that this game plan makes little sense, so Bowles should be far ahead of the curve.