Iron sharpens iron.
KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles, the guy with his hands on the joystick of the Bucs’ defense, is known for often using an elaborate collection of blitzes that are said to drive mere mortals at quarterback dizzy and broken.
(Yet, just once since Bowles came to Tampa Bay in 2019 has he had a pass defense ranked above No. 20.)
Some offensive coaches are fortunate if they see Bowles’ devilish blitzes once every four years. Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson sees that blitzing daily.
As a result, Robinson is of the mind he’s becoming a better offensive coordinator.
“You’ve got to be ready for everything at all times,” Robinson said yesterday about practicing daily against a Bowles defense. “[It] makes you work through a lot of things maybe you wouldn’t have to work through until Week 12 when something showed up.
“You get to see a ton of defense, a ton of different looks. It’s definitely challenging on the quarterbacks. It’s challenging on the protection. It can be challenging to run the football with how sturdy they are up front.”
Dueling Bowles in practice, Robinson believes, makes the entire team better
“We got a lot of great work against them,” Robinson said. “There was some good back and forth, which is a sign of a good team. It was a lot of fun to compete against them every day.
“The defense brought juice [and] made us better. We hope that we made them better as well.
“But yeah, it’s a challenging defense to face every single day. I was certainly glad once we were done practicing against them for training camp. Now that we’re on the cards and scout team and everything, it kind of eases your mind a little bit.”
Joe always winces hearing folks — specifically network game announcers — gush over Bowles’ blitzes as if only Bowles himself has the answers to Enigma. If these blitzes are so confusing and cripple offenses, how is it so many opponents have success against Bowles’ defense through the air?
Joe seems to recall once Robinson’s Dixie Chicks offense racked up 509 passing yards facing Bowles and his intricate blitzes two seasons ago.
The way the Bucs’ defense has been sliced and diced the past few years, let’s not get Bowles confused with Joe Rochefort.