After a red-hot 6-1 start to the season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hit a wall - and hit it hard. Injuries have certainly played a role in their slide, but they’ve also peeled back the curtain on a deeper issue that’s been simmering for a while: the coaching decisions, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
Todd Bowles, known for his defensive acumen, is suddenly facing louder criticism than ever - and not just from fans. The frustration that’s been brewing in Tampa Bay reached a national audience during the Buccaneers’ Week 15 loss, when the Thursday Night Football broadcast team put a spotlight on the very thing fans have been shouting about for years.
Kirk Herbstreit says what Bucs fans have been thinking for years
During the Amazon Prime Video broadcast, analyst Kirk Herbstreit didn’t mince words when breaking down what was going wrong for the Bucs defense. Time and time again, Atlanta found success underneath, and Herbstreit called it out in real time.
“Man I tell you, that zone is not working out tonight for Tampa underneath,” Herbstreit said. “Whether it’s Bijan Robinson or it’s Kyle Pitts.”
He wasn’t wrong. Both players carved up the Bucs defense, with Pitts especially doing damage in the first half.
In fact, Pitts has only had two games in his career with multiple touchdowns - and both have come against Tampa Bay. That’s not a coincidence.
It’s a pattern.
And it’s a pattern rooted in Bowles’ reluctance to adapt.
The soft zone problem - and Bowles’ refusal to budge
The Bucs have leaned heavily on soft zone coverage, even as opponents continue to exploit it. That scheme can work when you have a healthy, fast, and disciplined defense - but when injuries pile up and you're missing key playmakers, staying married to that approach becomes a liability.
Bowles has earned respect as a defensive mind. His game plan in the Super Bowl against Patrick Mahomes was a masterpiece - one of the most dominant defensive performances in recent memory.
But that was five years ago. Since then, the league has evolved, offenses have gotten faster and more creative, and the Bucs’ defense hasn’t always kept pace.
What’s frustrating for fans - and now, apparently, national broadcasters - is that Bowles continues to roll out the same looks, even when the personnel on the field clearly can’t execute it at a high level. It’s not just about injuries; it’s about refusing to adapt to the reality of the roster.
This isn’t to say Bowles doesn’t know what he’s doing. He absolutely does.
But his current approach is a high-risk, high-reward strategy that’s leaned too far into the “risk” column lately. When it works, the Bucs defense can be smothering.
When it doesn’t - like against the Falcons - it’s wide open season underneath, and smart coordinators like Zac Robinson are quick to capitalize.
Boom-or-bust defense with no middle ground
That’s the story of this Bucs defense: boom or bust. One week, they’re shutting down an elite quarterback.
The next, they’re getting diced up by tight ends and running backs in the flats. There’s no consistency, and that’s what makes it so hard to watch - and even harder to defend.
The soft zone coverage is the common thread in all of it. It’s supposed to prevent big plays, but in reality, it’s giving up chunk gains to the exact types of players it’s meant to contain. That’s not just a scheme issue - that’s a coaching adjustment issue.
Bowles has the right to call the defense the way he sees fit. He’s earned that. But when the same problems keep popping up, and the same solutions keep getting ignored, the frustration becomes impossible to ignore - especially when it’s being echoed on national broadcasts.
The Bucs still have talent. They’ve shown flashes of the dominant defense we know they can be. But unless Bowles starts tweaking his approach - even just a little - those flashes might remain just that: brief glimpses of what could be, instead of a return to what once was.