Buccaneers' Todd Bowles should be able to breathe easy after claiming division

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are your 2023 NFC South champions. It's the third straight division title for the Buccaneers, which is the first time that's ever happened in franchise history. It's also the fourth straight playoff appearance for the team, which makes it the longest current streak in the NFC. That's a lot of good. […]

Craig Smith — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer

Jan 7, 2024 5:58 PM EST

That's a lot of good. A whole lot.

But there was a razor-thin margin between those accomplishments and a disappointing end to a season and failure to grasp a division that no one seemingly wanted to claim. Nine points, to be exact.

Indeed, the story would be massively different had the Buccaneers not been able to prevail 9-0 on Sunday against the 2-15 Carolina Panthers. Missing out on the division would have been bad in and of itself, but losing it by being outhustled and outplayed by a Saints team that had been struggling and then losing to a two-win team with a rookie quarterback? If the Glazers had handed a pink slip to Bowles, it would have been completely justified.

The complaints from the fanbase have remained steady over the last two years. Bowles seems too passive on the sideline. His teams are too mistake prone and penalized. He's too conservative late in games, and his late-game management skills at times leave a lot to be desired.

Those complaints – fair or not – got louder when the team was in the midst of a stretch of six losses in seven games during the middle of the season. After the Bucs' 27-20 loss to the Colts to drop to 4-7, Bowles' job security became the subject of widespread scrutiny. Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud reported after the Colts' loss that Bowles would get the final six games to decide his fate, rather than being fired during the season – something the Glazers have never done.

As it turns out, that patience paid off. The Buccaneers answered with six wins over their final seven games, with the only loss being in their sleepwalking 23-13 loss to the Saints last week. They finished with a clutch late-game drive to win against the Falcons. They won convincingly at Lambeau Field against the Packers. They blew the Jaguars off the field. And they found a way to win on Sunday with a defense that flashed a championship look from years past.

Now, the Buccaneers – who many pundits pegged for just a handful of wins this year – are heading back to the postseason again, a destination that Bowles is responsible for taking them two of their four years in a row. Like his style or not, Bowles has done good enough of a job to where he should be allowed to try to make it four straight division crowns and five straight in the postseason next season.

We'll see soon enough if the Glazers agree.