Bucs Mailbag: When Will The Bucs Fire Todd Bowles?

Managing your family’s wealth means more to Amuni Financial than simply allocating your assets. It means legacy planning, brokerage & advisory services, retirement accounts, college savings accounts and insurance services. With 40 years of experience, let Amuni Financial help you plan ahead and stay ahead.

Call Amuni Financial at (800) 868-6864 or visit Amuni.com.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.  Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: So you still think Todd Bowles is going to get a full year? When are the Glazers going to say enough is enough and fire Bowles? We are a poorly coached team. Bowles is not holding anybody accountable. We make dumb mistakes, and now our defense is bad. When is enough is enough?

Bucs GM Jason Licht, co-owners Darcie Glazer Kassewitz and Joel Glazer, head coach Todd Bowles and senior football consultant Bruce Arians – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I’ve maintained all year that based on their track record, the Glazers give every head coach they’ve hired at least two full seasons to prove that they can lead the team and show some improvement. I get that fans want instant accountability and Todd Bowles to be fired for the team’s 4-7 record, which includes losses in six of the last seven games. But I think the Glazers let this season play out for two reasons.

First, the Bucs are only one game out of first place in the NFC South, which is a division no team really wants to win for the second year in a row. The Glazers will allow Bowles the chance to right the ship and win another division title, as he did last year with a dubious 8-9 record.

Second, if Bowles does not show enough progress and the team continues to lose, the Bucs could benefit from having a higher draft pick in the first round. Having a higher draft pick could mean having the chance to pick a better player – perhaps a quarterback in the first round. And that might help lure the right replacement for Bowles in the offseason.

The Bucs win either way. Either Bowles turns this thing around and goes on a winning streak to make the playoffs, which would make the Glazers and most fans happy, or the team crashes and burns and there is a new head coach in Tampa Bay next year, in addition to possibly another first-round quarterback.

QUESTION: Why wait until the end of the season for the Bucs to fire Todd Bowles? Everyone keeps saying this division is there to win. Maybe they spark something by his firing (i.e. the Raiders)? Dude is trying to figure out checkers and the league is playing chess.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: The only problem with firing Todd Bowles in the middle of the season is if doing so creates a short-lived spark that results in the Bucs maybe winning eight games instead of five or six with Bowles, hypothetically speaking. The Bucs would miss the playoffs either way and instead of picking in the Top 10 the Bucs have a pick in the middle of the first round instead. Either way Tampa Bay is forced to hire a new head coach, but has a lower draft pick as a result.

And what would happen if the Bucs fired Bowles and say promoted assistant head coach Harold Goodwin to lead the team as an interim head coach? Let’s say the Bucs won five of their remaining six games – most of which could be classified as winnable games. Would that put Goodwin in automatic contention for the head coaching job in 2024? Would that be acceptable to you?

Or would you want the team to hire someone else in 2024? But if that new head coach hits a road bump to start his tenure in Tampa Bay, the Bucs would be open to a bunch of second-guessing from some fans, who might suggest that Goodwin – or whoever the interim head coach would be – should have been retained instead.

QUESTION: Does Todd Bowles know that he is allowed to call timeouts? Does he think that since he is calling the defense still that it makes him the defensive coordinator instead of head coach so he isn’t allowed to call timeouts?

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Todd Bowles’ game management has been suspect dating back to last season for sure. Jets fans might contend he’s never had a great grasp of clock management and when to use timeouts. The Bucs rarely use timeouts in the first half, and Bowles often heads into halftime with all three in his pocket. The problem is, he can’t save them for later in the game or for next week.

In Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis, Bowles should have used his timeout of the second half after Calijah Kancey’s sack that came with four minutes left. That set up the Colts with a third-and-23. Instead, the clock dwindled down to 3:17 before the next play, which was a 12-yard run that set up a punt. The fourth down started with 2:32 left in the game and Tampa Bay took over with 2:21 left and all three timeouts, plus the two-minute warning.

After hitting Trey Palmer for a gain of seven yards to the Tampa Bay 42, Baker Mayfield’s pass to Chris Godwin for seven yards down to the Tampa Bay 49 was negated by an illegal shift penalty on Rachaad White as the Bucs were trying to snap the ball quickly before the two-minute warning. If Bowles had used a timeout or two, the Bucs wouldn’t have had to hurry and would have picked up the first down rather than get penalized.

Two plays later, on a third-and-4 that shouldn’t have happened, Mayfield was sacked and fumbled. Then the game was essentially over with 1:29 remaining, as the Bucs couldn’t stop the Colts from picking up a first down. Good thing the Bucs had two of their three timeouts left to end the game, though!

QUESTION: At what point do we see Kyle Trask? Baker Mayfield isn’t the answer.

Bucs OC Dave Canales and QBs Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: Probably not until the Bucs are mathematically out of the NFC South race. Unless Baker Mayfield’s ankle sprain is severe and swells up on the plane ride home from Indianapolis, which could happen. Sometimes high ankle sprains aren’t truly diagnosed until the next day when the swelling occurs and the adrenaline wears off. Mayfield even spoke about that after the loss to the Colts.

As for Kyle Trask, who came in for a couple of plays at the end of the first drive when Mayfield got injured, I don’t think the Bucs are ready to turn the offense over to him and bench Mayfield. With 17 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions, Mayfield has played well this year. Not great, but certainly not bad. He is not the reason for the team’s 4-7 record, nor is he the reason why the Bucs offense has struggled to put up more than 20 points per game this year.

Mayfield may not be the answer for the Bucs past this year, but Trask may not be, either. And until the Bucs are officially out of the playoff hunt, I don’t see Trask taking over. While fans and perhaps the front office might be curious to see if Trask could be the answer at quarterback moving forward, Mayfield is a team captain and has the respect of all the players.

Todd Bowles, Dave Canales, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and others aren’t concerned about next year, nor are they invested in finding out if Trask can be a starting-caliber quarterback. They all want to win now and try to make the playoffs. Yanking Mayfield out of the starting lineup now likely won’t spark the offense because of Trask’s inexperience, and it could cause a division in the locker room while the Bucs are still alive in the postseason hunt.

QUESTION: Do you think we’re drafting a QB? Baker Mayfield isn’t terrible, but he isn’t our franchise leader. Dave Canales needs to leave, too.

LSU QB Jayden Daniels – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Baker Mayfield is actually a very good leader. He’s a team captain for that reason – his leadership. But I think you’re suggesting that he’s not a franchise quarterback and shouldn’t be the QB moving forward.

Whether the Bucs extend a contract extension to Mayfield will likely be determined by who the head coach next year. If it’s Todd Bowles, there is a good chance he might want Mayfield back. If it’s a new head coach, there is an increased chance that Bowles’ replacement will want to draft a quarterback – perhaps in the first round.

This year’s draft class is stacked at the quarterback position with as many as six possibly going in the first round. After Sunday’s 27-20 loss at Indianapolis, the Bucs are now 4-7 and currently have the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft as a result.

QUESTION: With the run game being semi-successful, does Dave Canales’ play-calling look better/more promising?

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Yes, at times the play-calling and the execution look better. And it was nice to see Rachaad White finally get his long-awaited 100-yard rushing day in Indianapolis, as Tampa Bay ran for 125 yards and averaged 6.6 yards per carry – largely due to White’s career-long 38-yard run.

But Tampa Bay still struggles in the red zone, and the fact that the Bucs had to settle for two field goals early on in Indianapolis remains an issue. The Bucs scored 20 points against the Colts, but had they punched it in twice instead of settling for two field goals they win the game, 28-27.

Scoring on opening drives also remain a challenge. Tampa Bay now has three scores on opening drives this year, but all three scores are only field goals. The fact that the Bucs offense has yet to score a touchdown on the opening drive where Dave Canales scripts the first dozen plays or so is stunningly bad 11 weeks into the season.

QUESTION: Is Tristan Wirfs’ injury bigger than we know? He allowed two sacks today.

ANSWER: The short answer is yes. Tristan Wirfs is nowhere near 100%. He’s dealing with a leg injury, but has not missed any practice time or games. He was listed on the injury report with an ankle injury all of last week, but he was a full participant in practice each day and didn’t carry an injury designation heading into Sunday’s game against the Colts.

It was troubling to see Wirfs give up his first two sacks of the season to Indianapolis’ Samson Ebukam, including the costly sack-fumble at the end of the game. But better days are ahead from Wirfs when he gets healthy. He’s already shown he can be an All-Pro left tackle this season in his first year at his new position.

The post Bucs Mailbag: When Will The Bucs Fire Todd Bowles? appeared first on Pewter Report.