Todd Bowles is going to be under more scrutiny after bad decision comes back to bite him during Bucs-Falcons game
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles has been under a lot of heat since the Baltimore Ravens matchup. The conversation has centered around his decision to keep the Bucs starters in during the final minute-and-change of the Week 7 matchup. The Bucs were down by two scores with about a minute-and-a-half to go, with no […]
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles has been under a lot of heat since the Baltimore Ravens matchup.
The conversation has centered around his decision to keep the Bucs starters in during the final minute-and-change of the Week 7 matchup. The Bucs were down by two scores with about a minute-and-a-half to go, with no timeouts. Eventually Chris Godwin suffered a season-ending injury and the rest is history.
That's in the past, especially since the Bucs have to take on the Atlanta Falcons and subsequent opponents, moving forward. Unfortunately, Bowles made another decision that is guaranteed to put him under the microscope, once again.
The Bucs faced a 4th and 3 from the Falcons' 34 with 1:09 left in the first half, down by a touchdown. Instead of going for it, Bowles opted for a 52-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin. The Bucs kicker made the attempt, reducing the Falcons' lead to four points, but it was a bad decision from Bowles and it didn't take long for it to bite him, as the Falcons managed to drive down the field and make a field goal in order to push the lead back to a full touchdown.
The pace/trends of the game is what the made decision so bad. The Bucs defense was getting shredded all game long and it was a manageable down and distance, being a 4th and 3. At worst, if the Bucs don't get the first down, the Falcons start at their own 34.
The key with that last part is the Falcons started the following drive at their own 30. Bowles' decision made a grand total of four yards in field advantage. And, the Bucs still needed a touchdown in order to get on the positive side of the scoreboard.
All around, it was completely worth going for it. Especially when considering If the Bucs got the first down, they could've drained more time off the clock and still attempted a field goal if they couldn't get into the end zone.
Sure, Bowles needs to trust his players. But at that point, no one was going to blame him if he went for it.
