TAMPA, Florida – While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dismantled the Kansas City Super Bowl LV bosses, Byron Leftwich and Todd Bowles, the Bucs’ offensive and defensive coordinators, were in the spotlight all night.
Yes, coach Bruce Arians got most of the credit, and deserved, for the Buccaneers ’31-9 surprise, but the two men, both African-Americans, whom Bruce Arians gave the power to guide the Buccaneers’ offense and defense. received a lot of compliments. Make no mistake: Bowles and Leftwich played important roles in planning and running a party that lasted through the early hours of Monday at Raymond James Stadium.
That’s exactly why he hired Arians.
“Our three boys had great plans for the game,” said Arians, whose special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong is also African-American. “Byron did a great job, great of mixing the races, passing and attacking (with the running game), when we needed him and Todd had a great plan to keep them (the bosses) in front of us and to let our front heads run to Muhammad. They ran him all night. “
Surely they did.
Before we look at Xs and Bones (strategies), let us take a moment to explain why they could and could have put Leftwich and Bowles in the video, and if NFL owners were blind to their skin color, they would benefit NFL assistant coaches. Despite the efforts of Commissioner Roger Goodell to improve diversity and inclusion at the club level at field level, the latest employment cycle has left several assistant coaches frustrated again by the general lack of advancement in coaching positions.
For coordinators, Leftwich and Bowles provided virtuoso performances in the Super Bowl, which should be raised to the top of the list of signatures in the next round. Given the continuing aversion to inclusive employment in management positions, however, it is fair to ask whether owners will choose to ignore what they have achieved. God knows this has happened before. Just ask Eric Bieniemy, the bosses’ offensive coordinator.
At least, Bowles said, the overall performance of the Buccaneers on the top stage shows that Aryans hire people who know what they’re doing, and that when it comes to black assistants, that point can’t be noticed enough.
“This shows that we are good at our jobs and that inspires young people, we hope that they see us as coaches and see that we can be one of the same people (head coaches) if we become mental. That anything is possible, “Bowles said.
Objectively, his ability to train well is not disputed.
Avenging a 27-24 loss to Tampa in Week 12 to the AFC champions, the Buccaneers, the first NFL franchise to play and win the Super Bowl at its stadium, followed exactly the lead of offensive and defensive coordinators. The results could not have been better for an organization that won the second Vince Lombardi Trophy. Leftwich and Bowles pushed so many correct buttons from start to finish that the bosses looked, well, not like the bosses.
During the historic early days of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ career, NFL fans got used to the bosses taking out the yard and points in a wild rhythm. Mahomes has the ability to make several spectacular games in a single series, and the Chiefs defense has done its part. This combination allowed Kansas City to become the first franchise to play three consecutive AFC games.
To put it simply, the Chiefs, who were trying to repeat as Super Bowl champions, are among the best the NFL has, but with Leftwich and Bowles doing their job the way the world looks, not were in the last game of the season.NFL Season 2020-21.
Leftwich and defender Tom Brady (we’ll talk more about GOAT later) were clearly in sync. In the first half, Leftwich was on the pace of sending games and Brady made him look great, connecting with Rob Gronkowski for two touchdown passes and adding receiver Antonio Brown. The 21-6 lead at the break and the way the Buccaneers’ defense subdued Muhammad and nullified his deep play options, the game was over.
Bowles has superbly positioned Tampa Bay fuses to help cover against impressively fast receivers such as Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman. Tight superstar Travis Kelce could not easily escape the coverage of the short zone, as he regularly does against most boss rivals, and on a few occasions Hill, Hardman or Kelce created a short separation, Muhammad did not have the time requirement. to connect with them.
As Bowles planned, Arians said.
“Patrick wasn’t going to beat us running,” Bowles said. “It simply came to our notice then. Keep watching him and see if we can make some plays. “
In addition to Bowles’ superb plan, the Chiefs clearly missed linebackers Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz. After suffering an Achilles tendon injury in Kansas City’s victory in the AFC Buffalo Bills Championship game, Fisher was out of the Super Bowl. Schwartz had been out of action with a back injury. The combination of two weeks of Bowles training and the offensive deficiencies of the bosses without Fisher and Schwartz proved to be too great for Kansas City.
The Buccaneers are one of the few teams able to constantly generate strong pressure without sending blitz packs based on the front line, especially behind Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaquil Barrett. Bowles had exactly the pressure he needed and made adjustments in the second half of Week 12, a game in which Hill smashed the Buccaneers’ perimeter earlier and several times to keep the Chiefs out of the end zone. Indeed, this is a next level achievement in itself.
Mahomes completed just 26 of 49 passes. He finished 270 meters through the air (a weak average of 5.5 meters) and two interceptions. Tampa Bay fired Muhammad three times, including once by Barrett.
Mahomes seemed to run back 10-15 meters on each piece of the game in vain attempts to extend actions that, uncharacteristically for bosses, did not work well. Some Perspectives on Muhammad: In the last three seasons, including the Playoffs, Muhammad ranks first among NFL quarterbacks in wins, passing touchdowns, yards, games of 300 or more yards, attempted yards, and QBR Total.
The decisive rematch went to Bowles.
“The most important thing was trying to cancel the first reading,” Bowles said of the battle with Muhammad. “He can run and play with his feet, but I didn’t even want him to stay in his pocket and throw short passes all day. The defensive line pressed him, made him run and make him feel uncomfortable and that was essential for us. “
Usually, Muhammad’s signing actions come from a variety of arm angles. However, against the Buccaneers, he was forced to use his entire repertoire to throw the ball out of bounds to avoid being caught. With the Bowles on offense from start to finish, it was a bad night for the player who appears to be Brady’s heir.
Now back to Brady. On his way to winning the fifth Pete Rozelle Trophy for the Super Bowl MVP, Brady completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. Perhaps some will point out that Leftwich had an easy job sending the pieces to the greatest defender in history (Brady extended his total records to 10 Super Bowl appearances and seven wins). Brady has played 18% of all Super Bowls played, so he definitely knows how to behave at this time of year. Leftwich and Brady, however, are in their first year together, after Brady spent 20 years building his career in the Hall of Fame with the New England Patriots. At the beginning of the current season, the Buccaneers had offensive problems, which had to be solved. They fixed them and obviously everything went well. As Arians mentioned, to his delight, Leftwich also relied on the hasty attack: Tampa Bay rushed for 145 meters (average 4.4 meters). Leonard Fournette led with 89 rushing yards (5.6 yards on average), including a 27-yard touchdown that extended Tampa Bay’s lead to 28-9 in the middle of the third quarter. In video conferences with reporters after they finished their jobs, the Tampa Bay players, one after another, praised Leftwich and Bowles for both their leadership as men and their ability to coach. Despite being led by an incredible coach and the greatest player in history, Tampa Bay would not be at the top of the mountain without Leftwich and Bowles, they noted. “Coach Bowles put his players in the right position to win,” said defender Sean Murphy-Bunting. “Believe in them (as people) and believe in their abilities. It doesn’t work in the script. “He just clings to her and stays with you. It always motivates you, it always gives you very good information that you are out of the field in real life and you can use it to be a better person “, he added. Leftwich and Bowles are coaches. They are men’s teachers and leaders, and after doing their part to help the buccaneers send qualified bosses and finish the NFL season, they are also Super Bowl champions. Are you careful, NFL owners?