Bucs Nation
As the holiday season winds down and we look toward the new year, the Buccaneers gave their fans something for Christmas that nobody wants, a big lump of coal. One thing that has become clear are that real changes need to be made to this team over the coming months because what is happening right now should not and cannot be acceptable.
After a 6-2 start, the Bucs have completely plummeted and now sit at 7-9 after their fourth straight loss on Sunday to Miami and now find themselves no longer in control of their own destiny ahead of Saturday’s gigantic contest between Tampa Bay and Carolina. The Bucs could win that game against the Panthers and still lose the division if Atlanta beats New Orleans on Sunday. They have completely lost control of the division they had full control of just weeks ago and they have no one to blame but themselves. The team has said for weeks that they have everything right in front of them and for awhile that was true but four straight losses, including three of those losses being to teams already eliminated from the playoffs when you played them will have you scrambling at the end of the year just like Tampa Bay is.
The Bucs look like a team without a lot of answers for what’s going on right now and it starts with the head coach. Todd Bowles has done an admirable job the last few seasons and stabilized things after the Tom Brady era. He was able to find success and even win a playoff game in a year where everyone figured Tampa Bay would be a rebuilder. Bowles deserves credit for that, but I think the time has come to seriously evaluate whether or not he is the right coach for this football team. Bowles has been with the Buccaneers for seven seasons now, three of them as defensive coordinator and four as head coach. So in year seven of the system, why is it so often that mainstays in this defense like Lavonte David, Antoine Winfield Jr, Vita Vea and Jamel Dean constantly look bewildered as to what’s happening on certain plays. These are veteran players who just don’t seem to have a clue what’s happening on some of the most critical plays of the game. It’s not all on Bowles of course. He can’t go out there and cover the opposing team’s top receiver or successfully tackle the ball carrier, but this is his defense and mistakes like that shouldn’t be happening game after game.
It may just simply be time for a new voice for this team. Last year when there were calls for Bowles to be replaced by Liam Coen, it was tough to see that after a 10 win season and another division title but no matter what happens in the final game this year, Bowles’ team will finish with a below .500 record for second time in his four years as the team’s head...
