Staying consistent.
KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles has never put sack production above “other things” in his defense, even though sacks are such a critical element in stopping offenses, especially in a passing league.
And Joe doesn’t believe Bowles is going to change his ways this Sunday when the Bucs very likely could be playing for the 2026 season.
The Bucs are 0-2. The Bucs have never made the playoffs after an 0-2 start. For teams that start 0-2, since the league expanded the playoff field to 14 teams in 2020, only 16 percent of those 0-2 teams advanced to the playoffs.
If the Bucs fall to 0-3 this Sunday, since the playoffs were expanded in 2020, only one team has made the playoffs after starting 0-3. And that’s last year’s Houston Texans.
This just in: The Bucs don’t have near the defense that last year’s Texans had.
Yesterday, Bowles was asked about David Walker’s play. He’s the guy the organization hyped so much Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was [told (politely) to pipe down](https://www.joebucsfan.com/2026/05/too-much-david-walker-chatter/) on national television he was so stoked about Walker.
Walker got a sack against the Browns last week. Then he disappeared. _How dare you make the most important play a defense can make outside of a takeaway! Get your arse on the bench!_
Joe swears watching a defense year after year that doesn’t give a damn about an edge rusher has taken untold years from Joe. And Joe is convinced being subjected to this is why in recent years he’s begun to sprout gray hair.
Walker, in two games, has a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a special teams tackle. The Miami Mauler, Rueben Bain, has one tackle in two starts.
Asked about Walker’s play against the Browns, Bowles seemed unmoved, other than his sack.
> “I mean, the sack was great,” Bowles said. “He’s got some things he’s got to learn, fundamentally, from a defensive standpoint.”
But, there is hope!
> “He’s come along at a pretty good pace for us.”
What is that pace, get him on the field full-time by Christmas? Right about the time a new coach will be signing a lease in Avila?
The Bucs’ season, and maybe Bowles’ coaching career, could be at stake in this game. It ought to be all hands on deck! Instead, Bowles just shrugged his shoulders yesterday. Just another day at office (yawn).
Oh, and Bowles later added that he doesn’t expect any changes to the starting lineups. So guys who are woefully underperforming like Alex Anzalone and Vita Vea, it appears, are safe.
But after Sunday, will Bowles be safe?
Remember: The only coach that Team Glazer has retained since buying the team in the mid-90s after back-to-back losing, playoff-less seasons was Chucky. And that man won Team Glazer a Super Bowl.
Good thing there’s no urgency for this Sunday. Just another game in the NFL. Players who produce, you sit the bench. Players that aren’t producing, you’re safe. Even if others in the building at One Buc Palace may not be.