Seahawks vs. Buccaneers: 5 questions about Tampa Bay with The Pewter Plank
By Lee Vowell
Bruce Arians and his success against the Seahawks
12th Man Rising: Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians has had a lot of success against the Seahawks in Seattle. How do you feel his first season has gone with Tampa Bay and do you foresee long-term success with him?
Cory Kinnan: His first season has not been at all what we were expecting. For having an experienced coaching staff that includes Todd Bowles and Byron Leftwich, the Buccaneers have looked out-coached much of the season.
Last week he made a couple of blunders that played a big role in their loss to the Titans including turning a blind eye to analytics and punting on 4th and inches on the right side of the 50 (led to a potential 10-14 point swing), and donating a challenge and timeout on a defensive pass interference call, calls that have a very low success rate of being overturned.
It now puts the Buccaneers in a bit of a bind, as they look to be on the brink of a rebuild, but just hired a 67 year old head coach. It’s too early to tell, but with Arians turning 70 in three years, and this team looking to either tread water or blow it up, at best he could potentially steer the ship in the right direction before handing over the reigns to Bowles or Leftwich.