Todd Bowles' time management failures in the playoffs are becoming an annual tradition.
The Buccaneers' coach made a strange choice in a timeout during Sunday night's 23-20 home loss to the Commanders in the wild-card round, but he failed to capitalize on his team's chances.
Bowles wasted critical time in the final minutes of the game and then took two timeouts, including a delay due to what he called a “personnel issue.”
He also wasted time on the Buccaneers' final drive of the first half.
Bowles' selection ultimately didn't doom the Buccaneers. That's because the Buccaneers scored a touchdown in the final sequence of the first half, and Washington could have wasted time on its final drive regardless of the timeout. However, Bowles did not put his team in the best position for success by running the clock.
This whole sequence came on the heels of the questionable strategy of not using a timeout at the end of last year's divisional round loss to the Lions.
The first delay came after Austin Ekeler caught an 18-yard pass on the first play following the two-minute warning, giving the managers a first down at the Buccaneers' 27-yard line.
Logan Hall tackled Ekeler with about 1:51 remaining, but the Buccaneers did not call their first timeout until 1:41 remained.
Bowles seemed to respond after this play that there was an issue with the defensive lineup that led to the delay (his answer did not specify which play).
“Before the last play, we wanted to call a timeout and see where they were going to call a timeout, but there was a personnel issue,” Bowles said. “So we called timeout later than normal.”
Ekeler then ran 8 yards on the next play, but Bowles did not call a timeout, instead opting to use 1 yard after the defense stuffed Ekeler on third down.
“It's only a yard to a first down, so we had to let it play out and use it there,” Bowles said.
Jaden Daniels then ran 4 yards on the next play to secure a first down and hit the turf with about 48 seconds left, giving the managers a near-stalemate in the game.
Bowles did not call his final timeout until 40 seconds remained.
In the first half, with less than a minute left in the second quarter, Bowles allowed about 13 seconds of time overtime after Mike Evans led the Buccaneers into the red zone with a 10-3 lead.
Evans scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive, but that lost time gave Tampa Bay less time to try to tie the score.
“I'm proud of the way they fought,” Bowles said. “Obviously it was disappointing and we don't want the season to end like this. We don't want to get blamed. We had a chance to win this ballgame, but obviously it wasn't good enough.”
