What is wrong with forcing punts?
Joe is old school when it comes to defensive football and makes zero apologies for it.
Joe understands Bucs coach Todd Bowles salivates over picks. Joe salivates over three-and-out defensive stands.
Punts are turnovers, too. A three-and-out should give a team decent field position. And a three-and-out will certainly save on snaps and wear and tear that your defense has to endure.
Those snaps add up in the fourth quarter and certainly do add up come December and January.
The Bucs’ defense, simply put, was terrible at forcing three-and-outs in 2024.
Per handicapper-turned-stathead Warren Sharp, as cited in his _[Sharp Football Analysis 2025 Preview](https://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/warren-sharp-book-2025-football-preview/)_, shows the Bucs’ defense forced a three-and-out drive some 28 percent of the time. That ended up as 28th in the NFL. Or, fifth-worst.
We all know the Bucs played solid run defense. So this was on the pass defense. And fixing the pass defense will go a long way to helping the Bucs in their quest to make a playoff run.
It still blows Joe’s mind that since Bucs coach Todd Bowles arrived in Tampa Bay in 2019, only once has his pass defense not been in the 20s (the last two years, No. 29).
Bowles is a defensive guy. Won a Super Bowl ring as a starting safety. It’s time for Bowles to use that valuable experience to make the necessary changes so his pass defense is no longer the team’s albatross.