When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Bruce Arians split ways after one Super Bowl win and two playoff appearances in three seasons, many wondered how the franchise would improve from there. However, head coach Todd Bowles has come in and performed admirably, with Baker Mayfield’s help of course.
The Bucs have made the postseason in each of the past two seasons, winning the NFC South each time. Now the Buccaneers head into Week 18 needing a win to secure their third division title in as many seasons. However, there’s a sense that his job may not be as safe as many would expect.
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Todd Bowles’ job may not be safe if Tampa Bay Buccaneers miss playoffs
Usually, when you make the playoffs, your job is safe. That’s been the case with Todd Bowles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers thus far. Yet, now there’s a chance that Bowles could be coaching for his job today against the New Orleans Saints.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, the Buccaneers’ head coaching situation “bears monitoring” if Tampa Bay loses to the Saints this afternoon.
“From the moment Bill Belichick consigliere Mike Lombardi started pushing the phony notion that Todd Bowles might retire, some have wondered whether ownership might retire Bowles in the same way it retired Bruce Arians. Or maybe they’d do a Bowles/Liam Coen swap, similar to the decision to fire Lovie Smith and promote Dirk Koetter before anyone else could hire Koetter as their head coach. If the Bucs win the NFC South, however, Bowles is going nowhere. If they come up short today, losing to the Saints while the Falcons beat the Panthers, the situation bears monitoring.”
PFT’s Mike Florio on Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Saints don’t even have Derek Carr or Alvin Kamara today, so it’s hard to imagine them beating a Buccaneers team that has everything on the line. Then again, Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi is trying to put together the best resume possible in hopes of landing the full-time head coaching position in New Orleans. A convincing win that kept their NFC South rivals out of the playoffs would surely be a big feather in his cap.
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