In Wednesday’s one-liners, we shared a quote from Buccaneers defensive end Da’Quan Bowers about the late Deacon Jones.
Bowers called Jones the reason defensive ends “do what we do” and Jones, who never liked seeing a quarterback standing upright, would probably be pleased to hear about the goals Bowers is setting for the 2013 season. Bowers knows that the Bucs are looking to him to provide a consistent pass rush despite picking up just 4.5 sacks in his first two seasons and Bowers is shooting to pay back that trust with a big season.
“I’m looking to be dominant,” Bowers said, via Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune. “I take the responsibility for that. Anything less than double-digit sacks is a failure for the season. … I think the way Coach [Greg] Schiano has the scheme set up, and my capabilities, and having Gerald [McCoy] draw all the attention, it could be a whole lot easier to get double-digits sacks. You just have to work as a unit and not have individual rush planes, just work as a combined unit.”
There’s no Deacon Jones on the Bucs defense or anything particularly close, but the Bucs are gambling that Bowers and Adrian Clayborn can give their defense a dimension in lacked in 2012. That means Bowers’ ability to avoid self-defined failure will have a lot to do with whether the Bucs’ season is branded as a failure.