ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals are preparing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 13, who may or may not be without starting quarterback Baker Mayfield.

“Great week, Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Going to play a really good football team. This team’s good,” Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Wednesday.

“I know they’ve lost a couple in a row here to some really good teams. A lot of really good players. A lot of respect for Todd Bowles, how he runs his whole team and what they do on defense.

“Offensively, they’re very creative. Baker [Mayfield]’s a really good player. They got a bunch of good players so big time challenge.”

READ: Walter Nolen Ruled Out vs Tampa Bay

Bowles, a defensive-minded coach who has been around the NFL coaching since 2000, has specifically earned the respect of Gannon.

“Yeah, ever since I’ve been in the league. I would use the term curious. He studies, he really does, because he’s adapted every stop that he’s been at,” Gannon said of Bowles.

“You see mid-year he’ll change things. Has his staples, but he’s very creative. He understands the run game really well [and] how to attack it. He understands protections really well [and] how to attack them. He puts his players in good spots. He’s one of the best out there, in my opinion.”

The Buccaneers are one of six teams in the NFL who blitz at a rate of 30% or higher – and they’re quite creative in how they go about their business:

The Buccaneers are one of six teams in the NFL who blitz at a rate of 30% or higher. Todd Bowles is not only aggressive, but also creative with how he brings pressure.

This is just one example. Shows seven at the line , Stroud motions TE to come to match numbers. Two A-gap… pic.twitter.com/JGvcCWb391

— Donnie Druin (@DonnieDruin) November 26, 2025

The Buccaneers are tied for 12th in the league with 27 team sacks and are seventh in pass-rush win rate at 40% per ESPN.

“Because he knows your protection rules, he’s going to exploit them. So you got to have some changeups. You got to know when things are coming. He shows the ability to get free runners on everybody. So we’re going to have to live through some of those downs,” Gannon continued.

“We’re going to have to be on it. I mean, as far as communication on the road, making sure we’re on the right people. And then Jacoby [Brissett] is going to have to know when he’s hot, when he’s warm and when he’s not. It’s hard to do that but that’s going to be a big part of the gameplan, because he’s going to generate free runners.

“We know that, that’s a known. We can’t take horrific plays. Those plays can’t be horrific plays. [If] he gets you on a third down, a punt’s not the worst thing in the world there. A sack, fumble, touchdown is, so we got to be on that.”

Offensively, Arizona has allowed the third-most team sacks at 40 and are middle of the league in pass block win rate (64%).

How do you counter such an aggressive approach?

Offenses typically will keep extra blockers or opt to chase the quick-pass game – though Gannon wasn’t a fan when asked if bringing in extra offensive lineman in on third down.

“No, you don’t want to bring in an extra o-line on third down. You guys probably wouldn’t like that, would you? Neither would I,” he said.

“Whether you’re in five man, six man, seven man [pass] pro I think the main thing is everybody being on the same page.

“Having answers within the play to pick up certain things, and when you don’t have answers on the page to pick up certain things, Jacoby’s got to know that if these guys blitz, I am hot, and where is the ball going to go?

“With that being said, those guys that are in routes, they have to understand that as well. And they got to win. And you got to win quick, because the ball is going to have to get out.”

What a fun week offensive coordinator Drew Petzing has to prepare.

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