Todd Bowles Defends Dave Canales’ Struggling Bucs Offense

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Dave Canales, Buccaneers offensive coordinator

It’s just the way it goes in the NFL. If a team is struggling overall, it is the coach who bears the brunt of the criticism. If a unit is struggling, though, criticism will fall on the coordinator, and with the offense struggling badly in Tampa, the OC has been feeling some heat. But on Monday, head coach Todd Bowles backed Dave Canales’s Buccaneers offense, preaching patience.

Canales was hired away from Seattle in February to replace Byron Leftwich, taking the Tampa job despite having not been a play-caller since he was coaching in high school 18 years ago. The Bucs have several offensive problems, and play calling has been just one of them.

But Bowles said he sees growth there.

“It’s not just going to be for him the first time; it’s going to be every year as a play caller, regardless of whether you’re first time or not,” Bowles said on Monday, via the team’s website. “You’re going to learn some things, and you’re going to go through some things. You’re going to have some great games, and you’re going to have some clunkers. We had a clunker yesterday.

“Dave [Canales] is a very smart guy, very positive guy, I believe in him 100%, the offense believes in him 100%, and we’re going to be fine.”

Dave Canales’ Buccaneers 2023 Offense: Same as 2022

Through five games, the improvements the team had been awaiting have not materialized. There has been more optimism around the Buccaneers with new quarterback Baker Mayfield at the helm. But after a scant six points scored in Tampa’s Week 6 loss to Detroit on Sunday, the decision to bring in a first-timer as a play caller is looking tenuous.

Not much has gotten better from last year to this year offensively, from a statistical standpoint.

The Bucs were dead last in rushing average last year, picking up 3.4 yards per carry. This year, they’re still dead last, except they’ve dropped to 3.0 yards. They’re 29^th in rush yards, down from 22^nd last year.

Tampa is 25^th in scoring (88 points), same as last year, and ranks No. 25 in yards (down from 15th) and No. 30 in first downs (down from 13^th). In the final analysis, then, not only have things not improved under Canales, then, they’ve actually gotten worse.

Bowles: ‘We Had a Clunker’

Despite his vote of confidence in Dave Canales’ Buccaneers offense, Bowles admitted that the current state of the attack is not what the team had in mind when Canales was hired.

“No, it’s not, and we will get better at it. Like you said, it’s five games in,” Bowles said. “We had a clunker yesterday, no doubt about that. You want to score touchdowns in this league, and we didn’t score touchdowns. We’ll work at it, and we’ll get better.”

One question Bowles faced was whether the Bucs are doing a good enough job getting the ball to their best players, especially Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Godwin has made 5.4 caches per game, which ranks 22^nd in the league, and Evans has made 4.8, which is 34^th.

“It’s easier said than done,” Bowles said. “You want to feature the right guys, but you also want to include everybody, as well. I think we can expand on that, and we will.”