Todd Bowles is close to making history with the Buccaneers
It is hard to truly underscore just how weird this year has been for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This team is on the verge of winning the NFC South again, has a Comeback Player of the Year candidate at quarterback on a $4 million deal, and the odds of winning a playoff game are better […]
It is hard to truly underscore just how weird this year has been for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This team is on the verge of winning the NFC South again, has a Comeback Player of the Year candidate at quarterback on a $4 million deal, and the odds of winning a playoff game are better than last year despite taking a step back in most tangible areas on the roster.
Baker Mayfield went from being a guy that could lose his job in the first month to a fringe top-ten quarterback. And Mayfield isn't alone.
At one point, head coach Todd Bowles looked like he was all but out as the leader of this franchise. Now, with another NFC South title nearly locked up, Bowles has saved his job and is about to make history with the Bucs as a division champion for the second time in his first two years.
Love him or hate him, Bowles is about to do something that no other head coach has done in the history of the Buccaneers. That is worth appreciating and makes it obvious just how likely his return is.
It is worth asking just how the Hell this happened.
It would be fair to say winning the NFC South last year was a given. That Buccaneer roster was built to compete for a Super Bowl with Tom Brady at the helm.
The talent was there from the opening jump, and injuries were almost always met with excellent deals that pushed the cap hit on to later years (like this one) to help go all-in last year.
The results weren't great, but the Bucs did win the NFC South.
As Tampa gets ready to do the same thing again this year, it would be disingenuous to the conversation to leave out just how bad the rest of the division has been. None of this needs to completely take away from Bowles and what he has done with limited resources, but lets really look at what Tampa's rivals are doing to change the status quo.
The Falcons have drafted several offensive skill players with very high picks and refuse to use them (see Bijan Robinson). This has led to an extremely stagnant offense under Arthur Smith that has crumbled under the weight of most opposing defenses (with the Bucs being an exception).
When you add in a weak quarterback and a defense of their own that isn't perfect, the Falcons did not get better this season and don't appear primed to get better next year either.
The Panthers just made one of the worst trades in NFL history, have no weapons, no assets, and fired their head coach. They won't contend in the division again for at least a decade.
And finally, the Saints have a mediocre quarterback, one of the worst head coaches in the league, and a ton of dead cap space that is about to hit them like a tidal wave.
The Saints would have to fire their head coach and find a way to move off a somewhat-expensive starting quarterback, and these moves don't seem like they will help make the Saints better anytime soon either.
In all, the NFC South came into this season as the worst division in football. Bowles and the Bucs should've won the division regardless of their shortcomings, and now it looks like they are going to keep winning it too.
No one ever wants to take away from a good coaching performance, but it is funny to see Bowles still has a job because of his rivals.
Buccaneers have no choice with Todd Bowles
The Buccaneers can’t let this go on.
