Former NFL exec asks if Todd Bowles is the problem in Tampa Bay

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to be considered one of the NFL's biggest disappointments so far with a 3-4 record while having dropped four of their past five games. The most recent of those defeats, a 21-3 loss to a bad Carolina Panthers team, was the ugliest of them all. 

Former NFL executive Joe Banner wonders if the problem is the change in a head coach going from Bruce Arians to Todd Bowles. 

Banner wonders if Bowles, an excellent defensive coordinator, is trying to do too much as a head coach and the impact that is having on the team's struggling offense. 

He’s one of the smartest defensive coaches in the NFL, and his units are always tops in the league. But I wonder if he’s trying to do too many things at once now, a common mistake for many head coaches. 

One of the reasons teams worry about hiring a defensive-minded head coach is because of how they’re trained. They try to shorten the game, reduce the point total and yards allowed. That’s how they get measured as a coordinator. It is totally different when you become the head coach and are involved in more than just one facet of the game. 

Banner also pointed to Bowles' tough record as head coach of the New York Jets as a concern. 

There is probably an element of truth to Banner's point as it relates to the transition from coordinator to head coach. The NFL is full of coaches that excelled as assistants but simply did not make good head coaches (Dick Lebeau comes to mind as a very prominent example). But you also can not discount the personnel issues that Tampa Bay is working with on offense this season.

The offensive line has been completely decimated by injuries, as has their wide receiver depth chart. And for as good as Tom Brady still is and for as great as he has been throughout his career, he is still 45 years old. Brady can beat any opponent on the field but the one opponent that no player ever beats is "Father Time." Eventually, even the greats start to slow down. 

Combine that with a decimated roster by injuries and there should be an expectation for struggles. 

Tampa Bay has managed just 21 points over its past two games against teams with a combined record of 4-10 on the season, while the offense has been one of the worst in the league for the season as a whole. It's not great. 

Bowles took over as Tampa Bay's head coach after Arians abruptly stepped down this offseason. 

The only good news for Tampa Bay right now? For as disappointing as the season has been, and for as bad as the offense has looked, it is still tied for first place in a very weak and very winnable NFC South. It just seems to be a far cry from the Super Bowl contender it has been the past two years and is expected to be this season.