The Buccaneers just dominated the Dallas Cowboys in prime time by using the same strategies as the Bucs teams of the golden years.
Todd Bowles just set the clock back in his first game as the head coach of the Buccaneers, and the results were absolutely something to celebrate.
The Bucs made the Cowboys look like one of the worst teams in the NFL with a stifling defense and a run game that was near-unstoppable.
None of this has really been the norm in Tampa for the past few years.
The theme for the past two years of the Buccaneers has been a dominant passing attack and a defense that helps when it plays well, and an offense led by Bruce Arians and Tom Brady had a way of overcoming most challenges.
This pass-first, pass often attack got the Bucs to the Super Bowl, and then the defense showed up when it mattered with one of the best performances in NFL history.
This is generally a common strategy in the modern NFL, but Bowles chose to buck that trend and go back to a tried and tested formula to earn the win in Week One.
Rather than leaning on the pass and hoping the defense could make sporadic stops, the Bucs came out and played like their teams of old. The run game was unstoppable with Leonard Fournette getting 127 yards on 27 rushes. The defense played one of their best games in years with only three points against.
Tough defense and a run game of old (fullback and all) was too much for the Cowboys. They broke under Todd Bowles’ game plan, and it has been fun to see the similarities between this team and the one that won the Super Bowl all those years ago.
Bowles had a clear plan, implemented the perfect scheme, and the Bucs ran away with a win. The rest is history, literally.
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