In the end, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fought admirably, but they didn’t have enough for the dynamic Jayden Daniels. When push came to shove, the Washington Commanders quarterback was simply the best player on the field, with a doinked field goal for the win feeling so earned.
However, it’s hard not to wonder what the outcome might have been had Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles used his timeouts properly.
Bowles forgetting to preserve time happened in two key sequences during this thriller.
The first came at the end of the first half when Bowles let over 10 seconds run off the clock after the Buccaneers reached the red zone. With just 17 seconds, the Buccaneers essentially had to be perfect execution-wise. Fortunately, for Tampa Bay, it ended up scoring a touchdown to knot proceedings up at 10-10 at the break.
Still, Bowles’ bizarre timeout decision-making was enough to continue thinking about.
This came to a head with the Buccaneers’ defense on its heels with the game on the line. As Daniels smoothly guided Washington into a winning position, Bowles seemed all too content to let the clock run with multiple timeouts in his back pocket. At a certain point, the Commanders clearly wanted to leave no time on the clock before a field goal attempt. They had grown that comfortable about their chances. Bowles seemingly didn’t realize this shift, which only wasted time for the Buccaneers at a moment when they really could’ve used another possession, no matter how long.
That’s right, dearest readers, Bowles let more than 10 seconds run at the clock at the end of both halves. That is egregious with your team’s season on the line. How do you let that happen?
Bowles’ explanation doesn’t make it any better.
It is his responsibility to ensure the Buccaneers are organized and prepared for every situation:
Here’s Todd Bowles on why he called his timeouts the way he did on the game’s final defensive drive — said he wanted to see what Washington did and that there were some personnel problems: pic.twitter.com/w3yp7aKnex
— River Wells (@riverhwells) January 13, 2025
The Buccaneers did not deserve to win against the Commanders. But it sure would’ve been nice to see what would’ve happened had Bowles been dialed in with a better timeout strategy.
This is a good lesson for all of us. Don’t take game management from coaches for granted, especially in the playoffs.
