Todd Bowles' Decision Making
As time waned during the fourth quarter of the Buccaneers' 24-16 victory over the Cowboys, Todd Bowles decided to go for the killshot touchdown from the 1-yard line with the Bucs leading by two scores.
Many fans seem to have a problem with Bowles' sudden aggressiveness. Personally, the Youngbuc has zero problem with it. While a field goal would've theoretically put the game out of reach, Bowles showed confidence in his guys to get just one measly yard. Based on how the offense was running over the Cowboys all night and how well the defense was playing, forcing the Cowboys to go 99 yards seemed to be a no-brainer.
Unfortunately, the Bucs could not get that yard. Even more damning, the Cowboys proceeded to march down the length of the field and score a touchdown. That made the game unnervingly close towards the end.
Now, hindsight is always 20/20. Todd Bowles could've simply kicked a short field goal and secured a victory. But he went for an emphatic dagger and showed faith in his players.
The Youngbuc thinks not going for it there would've been bad for the morale of an offense that was churning all night. The Bucs were winless up to that point. The last thing they would've needed would be a hit to their morale or confidence.
Fans have consistently criticized Bowles for game management errors and not being able to read the flow of the game. In this situation, he read the flow correctly but came out on the wrong end. That happens when you take risks. Hopefully this doesn't deter him from making those gutsy choices in the future.
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