Bowles says fixing Bucs defense won't involve him giving up calling plays

TAMPA, Fla. — Fixing Tampa Bay's struggling defense won't involve wholesale lineup changes, nor will Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles consider another play caller other than himself.

“We look at personnel changes every week and see what’s best for us," Bowles said Monday, reflecting on a stretch in which the Bucs have lost three of four games and allowed 27 or more points in each outing. No opponent scored more than 26 through the first four games, which helped produce a 3-1 record.

“Sometimes we can’t do anything, but we’re doing everything this week to try to put the guys out on the field that will hopefully help us get better and kind of go from there,” Bowles added. "If we don’t have them, we don’t have them, but if we have them on the team, we’ll definitely try to put them in there.”

The coach was asked specifically what's preventing the defense from playing up to its potential and whether he might entertain the idea of having someone else call defensive plays moving forward.

The Tampa Bay defense has been one of the NFL's stingiest since Bowles joined the team as defensive coordinator in 2019. Injuries have been a factor in this season's decline, however the coach refuses to use playing without key players for significant stretches as an excuse.

“What’s not happening is we have about four or five plays a game where we either miss a tackle or we’re not dropping where we’re supposed to and we give up a big play,” Bowles said. "I’ll continue to call plays.”

What he's counting on his players to do is clean up mistakes, communicate and play better, regardless of who's on the field.

“The problems are in the locker room, but the answers are in the locker room,” Bowles said after Sunday's 31-26 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

“It's hard when you're playing against the Bucs and the Falcons at the same time,” he added. “You cannot beat two teams.”

What's working

If there was an encouraging aspect about the team's second loss to Atlanta in less than a month, it was the offense showed it can score without injured receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Baker Mayfield completed a career-high 37 passes to nine different targets and finished with 330 yards and three TDs passing. The offense gained more than 400 yards for the fourth time in eight games and the Bucs are averaging 29.4 points.

What needs help

Mayfield leads the NFL with 21 TD passes, but he's also thrown nine interceptions — seven over the past three games.

Bowles was asked what Mayfield can do to cut down on turnovers.

“Just understand when we’re in scoring position and try not to force every ball,” Bowles said. "You know, sometimes it’s not there, sometimes you can make a great throw but not force every ball and just get it to the guy that’s open. Sometimes three points is better than a turnover.”

Stock up

Tight end Cade Otton had a career-high nine receptions for 81 yards and two TDs against Atlanta. With Evans and Godwin out, he was targeted a team-high 10 times.

“Cade is a guy that sometimes get overshadowed by the rest of the skill group that we have, but he does a ton of the dirty work, does a lot for this offense," Mayfield said.

“I think, as a collective, we all wanted to raise our game. Obviously Mike and Chris are a huge part of our offense, so we really took a collective approach,” Otton said. “The ball came to me a little more, and it might be someone else next week. We just all have to be ready to make the play.”

Stock down

While Bowles insists RB Sean Tucker has earned a bigger role in the offense, the second-year pro hasn't touched the ball much since having 192 yards from scrimmage and scoring two TDs in a lopsided win at New Orleans three games ago. He had two carries for 3 yards and caught one pass for 12 yards against Atlanta. The previous game against Baltimore, he carried five times for 29 yards and had one reception for 9 yards.

Injuries

Rookie S Tykee Smith (concussion) was inactive against Atlanta. Bowles said it's too early to speculate on his status for this week.

Key number

Five. The Bucs ranked last in the NFL in rushing each of the past two seasons. After getting 102 yards against the Falcons, Tampa Bay has now run for 100-plus yards in five consecutive games — six overall in 2024. It's the first time the Bucs have a streak of five straight 100-yard rushing games since 2015.

Next up

The Bucs play at Kansas City next Monday night, then return home to host San Francisco. That will finish a challenging stretch in which they play three of the four teams that appeared in last season's conference championship games.