Buccaneers NFC South rival quarterback gives big compliment to Todd Bowles

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers extended head coach Todd Bowles this offseason. Some Bucs fans wondered if that was a good idea, but NFL quarterbacks around the league have frequently attested to why Bowles is so hard to play against.

Often touted as a defensive mastermind, Bowles was the engineer behind Tampa Bay's Super Bowl-winning defense in 2020. And while that defense has struggled in times past, his mind for the game and innovation in his playbook have made him a vaunted defensive playcaller across the league — and that's something Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins knows all too well.

Cousins has played the Bucs three times in two years, and although he's 2-1 in that span, he had some great things to say about Bowles. Cousins was one of three quarterbacks featured in Netflix's second season of Quarterback, and one clip showcased his preparation for playing Todd Bowles the second time in 2024 — and just how hard it is to prepare for him.

"I heard Jon Gruden say on his YouTube channel, 'I'd rather go to the dentist to get a filling than play Todd Bowles on a short week.' And I thought that was a good summary. The pressure's so much, and he does it from a variety of looks that on a short week, you just don't have a lot of time to talk about it and cover it, to go back and look at what you're gonna end up facing."

Bowles had some bad injury luck in 2024, with a good portion of his secondary going down over the course of the year. Not only could it be healthier in 2025, but the team also added multiple defensive pieces in the draft and brought in edge rusher Haason Reddick in free agency. Should the team be healthier this year, Bowles can give opposing offenses even more looks and get more versatile with his scheme.

Cousins won't be playing Bowles this year as it stands — he was benched for Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. — but he'll get a good look at that revamped Bucs defense when the two teams face off in Week 1.