TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said the fact that his team didn't use its final timeout in the Bucs' 31-23 divisional round loss to the Detroit Lions doesn't It was a matter of coaching etiquette.
Rather, he said, it was a recognition that “the game was over.”
“It's not a gentlemen's agreement,” Bowles said Monday. “They were within field goal range. We would have had 12 seconds, calculated, after using that timeout to recover. Then we would have been down 11 points, so it doesn't make sense. You kind of know when the game is over. The game is over”.
With the Bucs trailing 31-23, quarterback Baker Mayfield was intercepted by Lions inside linebacker Derrick Barnes with 1:39 left. Lions quarterback Jared Goff took a knee on three consecutive plays, taking a final knee at 37 seconds. Center Frank Ragnow snapped the ball with 14 seconds left on the play clock.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said he was aware the Bucs had one final timeout left and could have left the field.
“Yeah, look, well, first of all, we didn't handle all that well on our end. We should have bled it more than we did,” Campbell said. “Look, I'll be the first to admit it. And that's on me. But yeah, we knew they had a timeout left, and I realized I wasn't going to ask for it. And so, that's… that's how it ended. “
Had Bowles used his final timeout, the Lions could have attempted a long field goal or punted. Bowles assumed the field goal would have been scored, but there were no guarantees that Lions kicker Michael Badgley would have made the kick from 49 yards out, as Badgley is 5 for 13 (38.5%) in his career. with shots of 50-. more yards. On kicks of exactly 49 yards, Badgley is 3-for-4, with the only miss coming against the New England Patriots in Week 15 of the 2021 season.
A missed field goal would have resulted in a turnover and could have put the Bucs within striking distance at their own 39-yard line with 30 seconds left. A punt would have pinned the Bucs deep and still given them a chance for a Hail Mary, although they would have needed a successful 2-point conversion to go to overtime. The Bucs failed on their previous 2-point conversion attempt after Mike Evans' 16-yard touchdown reception with 4:41 left.
Bowles said, “I don't know what's the point of using a timeout if you can't take advantage of it.”
This isn't the first time Bowles hasn't used timeouts. In the Bucs' 23-17 overtime loss to the Cleveland Browns in 2022, Bowles did not call a timeout after a third-down stop by Lavonte David, just before David Njoku scored a 12-yard touchdown on fourth. and 10, what they have preserved over time in their final possession. Bowles' explanation was that he didn't want to give the Browns more time to prepare a play.
The Bucs got the ball package with 32 seconds left after the Browns tied it at 17-17. Again, instead of using a timeout, Bowles had his team rush to the line of scrimmage and run a play, which consumed 12 seconds on the clock before the ball was snapped. It wasn't until after a 26-yard completion to Julio Jones on second-and-9 that Bowles used his first timeout with 8 seconds left.
