Sharp Football Analysis: It’s All On Todd Bowles
July 9th, 2025
Answers for defense?
Famed handicapper turned stathead Warren Sharp had a love/hate relationship with the Bucs last season.
One one hand Sharp loved, loved, loved the efficient offense run by former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
On the other hand, Sharp hated, hated, hated how soft Bucs coach Todd Bowles’ defense was with its pass defense.
In Sharp’s annual Sharp Football Analysis Preview 2025, he convincingly explains the Bowles’ defense sunk the Bucs’ pirate ship on way too many occasions. And, Sharp also believes, how or if Bowles can repair that defense will determine how well this otherwise loaded team will finish the season.
The real question is whether Todd Bowles can fix the defense that tanked first halves and forced Tampa into comeback mode far too often. If he can, the Bucs have every reason to believe they can win the NFC South again.
Yes, that’s a big question, given the fact that only once since he arrived in Tampa has Bowles had a pass defense that was not ranked in the 20s. And that was 2022, in Bowles’ worst season as head coach when the pass defense was No. 9.
In a passing league, if the pass defense regularly gets torched, you better have a dynamic offense to keep your head above water.
And maybe that’s what Bowles was thinking when he signed off on the Bucs drafting Emeka Egbuka. The Bucs, Bowles may think, will require enough ammo to win shootouts.