One of the troubling trends developing this season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is how mistakes from last season are happening again this year.
Penalties remain an issue, the run game is absolutely awful, and the defense is once again being forced to bend but not break while supporting a bad offense. Perhaps most troubling is how the coaching staff is once again, like clockwork, drawing the ire of fans and media for some truly mind boggling decisions.
Dave Canales has been called out for his play calling, something that ended up costing the Bucs dearly in a loss a few days ago to Atlanta. The coaching staff caught the brunt of backlash again on Thursday night, with Todd Bowles getting roasted over an absolutely strange two-minute drill.
Todd Bowles got ripped apart for 'gutless' two-minute offense before halftime in Week 8
After Jake Camarda ripped his helmet off during a fight and the Bucs were on the right side of a 10-point swing, things started to look like they might be breaking Tampa Bay's way. Buffalo broke a tie by marching down the field stifling the Bucs momentum with a touchdown, but there was over three minutes left for Baker Mayfield and the offense to cook something up before heading into the locker room.
What ended up being cooked forced everyone watching to lose their appetite.
A puzzling offensive drive ended with the Bucs in 4th-and-3, and the field goal unit on the field. It would have been a 59-yard attempt with under 20 seconds left in the half, and seemed like an otherwise routine way to try and get points.
Rather than attempt the field goal, the Bucs played one of the weirdest games of chicken we've seen, trying unsuccessfully to draw the Bills offsides.
What in the world just happened?pic.twitter.com/JMA9R73AnL
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 27, 2023
It didn't work, and nobody was impressed by what they saw.
That's the most gutless two-minute drill ever witnessed
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) October 27, 2023
We'll never get that 30 seconds of our lives back. Ever.
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) October 27, 2023
What the heck was that?
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) October 27, 2023
Todd Bowles in a nutshell https://t.co/GYS0L13yd7
— Jarrett Bailey (@JBaileyNFL) October 27, 2023
Todd Bowles has to go. There’s no way Licht is watching this and isn’t pissed off with the rest of us. The poor time management, personnel choices, awful decision making in every area . He shoulda went with Leftwich
— Ashlie #PAYM1K3 (@EMT_Ashlie) October 27, 2023
That’s about as pointless of a play from Tampa as I’ve ever seen
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) October 27, 2023
A few halftime thoughts:
— 𝗗𝗝 (@DJBucsFan) October 27, 2023
• Ryan Neal solidified himself as the worst safety in NFL history
• Todd Bowles needs to be arrested
• Antoine winfield deserves every single penny
Bucs approach to everything after 2 min warning was so wild lol
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) October 27, 2023
It's not the first time Bowles and the coaching staff has been called out for weirdo behavior before halftime. Last year in Cleveland the Bucs got the ball back for Tom Brady only to take a knee and let the half expire despite having timeouts to burn.
That happened again last week, when the Bucs defense forced a turnover in a tie game with 15 seconds before halftime, only to have Bowles run the clock out with a full set of timeouts to use.
Even if the Bucs had missed the kick, Buffalo would have needed a few plays to get into field goal range to try and score. If preventing the lead from growing was the rationale behind not kicking the field goal, the Bills scored a touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter, so everything about this was a total bust.