Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles delivers blunt admission about facing Joe Burrow, Bengals offense in Week 1
The Cincinnati Bengals open their 2026 regular season Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles offers a candid assessment of what it takes to prepare for Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ receiving corps ahead of the Week 1 matchup.
The Cincinnati Bengals open their 2026 regular season Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’s nice to know the opposing team is having issues facing the task at hand for them: stopping Joe Burrow.
Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles, known for his defensive-mindedness throughout his career, offered a candid assessment of what it takes to prepare for Burrow and the Bengals’ receiving corps ahead of the Week 1 matchup.
“It gives you a headache more than anything,” Bowles said Monday to reporters. “Preparing for guys like that, it’s exciting once you get there, but you know, those guys can give you a headache. They’ve given everyone headaches.”
Bowles breaks down what makes Burrow so difficult to defend
Bowles has spent years scheming against the NFL’s best quarterbacks. It’s why he’s still the guy in charge in Tampa. His respect for Burrow is incredibly evident.
But Burrow doesn’t just waltz onto the field and cause internal turmoil for defensive play-callers. Bowles went into detail about what separates Burrow from the rest of the league’s signal-callers.
“It’s not just the accuracy. It’s his intelligence and the way he moves in the pocket,” Bowles said. “He can run without running and can buy time just sliding his feet. He can get seven yards if he has to get seven, he can get 10 if he has to get 10. He’s so accurate on the outside, especially with his fade balls, especially the back shoulder. Or the deep one over the top, and he puts it where only his guys can get it, and they do a great job going to get the ball. So there’s probably nothing he hasn’t seen. So we just got to try and play sound football and execute.”
Bowles recognizes that containing the Bengals’ passing attack starts with limiting Burrow’s ability to extend plays with subtle footwork. The 29-year-old can scramble when needed and certainly isn’t a statue, but his pocket movement and spatial awareness have always been among the best in the league. It can neutralize a pass rush without any grand escape.
I think this is what has gone severely underrated about Burrow throughout his career. He’s an elite pocket passer not just for standing strong in the face of pressure, but knowing how to avoid it and keeping his feet clean. It’s gotten lost with the inordinate sacks he takes on do-or-die downs or because his offensive line has struggled for most of the last six years.
Stopping Burrow’s pocket mastery is extremely difficult unless the rush just eviscerates Burrow’s offensive line. That’s what Bowles will be counting on Sunday.
Cincinnati’s offense has never been the problem
For all the Bengals’ faults over the past few seasons, their offense with a healthy Burrow has never been the source of controversy. Cincinnati boasts a lethal combination of quarterback and wide receivers with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and others capable of dusting the average secondary on any given week.
The Bengals are also game planning against a dangerous Tampa Bay duo of their own. Quarterback Baker Mayfield and second-year wide receiver Emeka Egbuka began growing their connection early last year, and there’s still plenty of potential between them. But Bowles knows his defense has its hands full before worrying about what his own offense can produce.
A reminder from the last time these teams met
The last time the Buccaneers faced Burrow was late in the 2022 season during one of Tom Brady’s final NFL games. The Bengals fell behind 17-3 at the half and scored 17 unanswered points in the third quarter. Burrow threw for just 200 yards but had four touchdowns, all in the second half alone. Chase and Higgins each caught one themselves.
Cincinnati and Tampa Bay are completely different teams four years later, but the task for anyone facing Burrow’s Bengals remains the same. Bowles is still very much aware of what makes the Bengals tough to beat.
