Todd Bowles issues message on possible coaching changes
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered another debilitating loss on Sunday when the team failed to score a single touchdown against the Carolina Panthers, falling 21-3.
READ MORE: Tom Brady has funny response to roughing the passer penalty
This loss may be the most surprising of the Buccaneers' defeats due to the fact that the Panthers were onto their third-string quarterback, PJ Walker, and have started to sell off their top player assets - Robbie Anderson and Christian McCaffrey.
The Buccaneers were unable to get anything going all game on the offensive side of the ball. Mike Evans' dropped wide-open touchdown was perhaps telling of how the whole day panned out for the Bucs. The defense did all it could to keep the team in the game, but when the offense can't get anything going then it becomes that more difficult to win the game.
Following the loss, head coach Todd Bowles said there is no plan to make any coaching changes, in terms of personnel, but rather that they as coaches will need to make the correct adjustments to put the team in a position to be successful again.
“I would not consider changing coaching, but we need to change some of the things we’re doing,” Bowles explained. “We definitely need to change some of the things we’re doing, and we’ve been discussing that. It can’t happen overnight, but we got to do a lot better than what we’ve been doing as a whole.”
Making a coaching change in the middle of a season is never ideal, but it is obvious things need to change, and soon, if they want to salvage anything the rest of the way.
Bowles continued, “We’re not playing well as individuals. We’re not playing well as a team. We’re not coaching it well all the way around. Not scoring enough on offense, not stopping them enough on defense. As a result, we have to wear this on our sleeves. They got to be grown men. We’re going to see what we’re made of. How many people can handle adversity, and this is about as dark as it’s going to be right now. And those guys who are going to step up are going to show up this week in practice."
“Our leaders are going to lead. Our coaches are going to coach, and we’re just going to dig and keep our head down. It’s a prideful football game and that’s really all you [have when you] come into the world, when you start playing this game is either you can or you can’t. We’re going to see what we have going forward, see how many people crumble when it’s dark and see how many people step up and start playing better and start coaching better.”
Bowles is right. This is about as dark as it can get for a team that was expected to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender to start the season. Things have to turn around and leaders need to step up. This is no longer a Bruce Arians football team. It is Todd Bowles' football team. If he wants to retain that title, then he will also need to make some hard decisions and moves that will put this team in a better position to win now.
READ MORE: Tom Brady has funny response to roughing the passer penalty
Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the season.
