Bowles is a bit of an enigma and an anomaly. He's extremely soft-spoken. He lets his work and preparation do the talking---which is exactly why he fits perfectly with BA. BA is huge on preparation and as long as he in front of the microphone, that's really all the public talking he likes.
What Bowles may have working against him is (a) the tendency in the NFL for teams to prefer offensive-minded head coaches (because the relationship between the HC and the QB is of paramount importance) and (b) some may perceive that Bowles lacks the charisma, articulation and gravitas to be an effective head coach.
What makes Bowles current situation so tantalizing for him is that he knows he has to spend 24/6 this week preparing for the Panthers, but he also knows that he is going to have to be 100% prepared for his HC job interviews, which means having a strong handle on that team's personnel, philosophies and direction.
Could the lapses in defense the last two weeks be related to Bowles being distracted? I think it's a reasonable question. I don't know the answer and i won't speculate, but clearly this defense is not what it was a few weeks ago. Hopefully that will change this week.
Regarding offensive-minded HC candidates---there is some rumblings that John Fox is on the hot seat in Denver. Fox is defensive-minded HC. Now that the Falcons and 49ers have asked permission from the Broncos to interview OC Adam Gase---it very might be that the Broncos will let Fox go in order to promote Gase.
The Cardinals were showcased on Sunday Night TV versus the Seahawks---and for teams who are interested in Todd Bowles, they must have been concerned about the way his defense gave up multiple chunk yard plays and a bunch of points. Poor start and poor finish. One game shouldn't speak for a whole volume of work, but for any owner or GM who wanted to take a good look at Bowles and therefore honed in on this game---it likely gave him pause.
Regardless of whether Bowles returns or not, BA&SK need to take a close look at this defense, personnel and scheme-wise---because the question is does this defense have what it takes to thwart mobile QBs such as Wilson and Kaepernick? In the past two weeks it has given up 160 rushing yards just to those two QBs and many of those yards were on runs with wide open spaces and slower players chasing after them.
