TAMPA, Fla. — Todd Bowles will have to be quite creative to surprise Aaron Rodgers.
Known for his complex defensive schemes and disguising his blitz packages, Bowles and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers are facing an elite quarterback who has seen everything in a distinguished NFL career. It’ll be quite the chess match when Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers face off against the Buccaneers on Sunday.
The 42-year-old Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP, has thrown three TD passes in three straight games. But he’s 1-2 against Bowles’ Tampa Bay defenses, including a loss in the 2020 NFC championship game. Rodgers threw for 442 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two scores against Bowles and the Jets in a 44-38 overtime victory with Green Bay in 2018. Warren has 490 combined yards over his past three games.
Because he’s extremely intelligent, “He’s difficult. “We’ll be ready for those. But he brings a lot of stuff you haven’t seen before, so, good disguise team, good pressure team. We’ll have to pick them up and get the ball out. His football IQ is unbelievable. He can see it when the huddle breaks. He can see a tip here or there that a lot of people can’t see that lets him know what it is, and he knows where to go with the football and he’s very bright that way. He can bait you into a lot of things. He has a lot of tricks to the trade he learned over the years.
“Obviously, Todd has a history of bringing a lot of pressures,” Rodgers said. “It’s a nightmare game-planning against him,” Bowles said. “I haven’t really thought a whole lot about it, but there’s a few places I’m glad I don’t have to go back to, for sure,” he said with a laugh. — Steelers RB Jaylen Warren had career-high 188 scrimmage yards last week and became the sixth player to have an 80-yard TD receiving and 50-yard TD rushing in the same game.
He’s extremely accurate with the football, and he can dissect things before the play even happens.
