“Next Man Up” Worked Well
September 25th, 2011
Bucs coach Raheem Morris likes to talk about “Next man up,” meaning whoever replaces a fallen starter just has to suck it up and do his job.
Today, two players lived up to Raheem’s motto.
The first of course was Dekoda Watson. Entering the game with Quincy Black as a starting outside linebacker, the Bucs were ranked 31st in stopping the run.
Today, with Watson as an outside linebacker, filling in for the injured Black, the Bucs looked like the Bucs of old, holding stud Dixie Chicks running back Michael Turner to a mere 20 yards on 11 carries. That, Joe is certain, is manly. The Dixie Chicks ran right — obviously trying to take advantage of Watson — almost exclusively in the first half, to no avail.
Then in the second half when the Falcons were driving and Cody Grimm was carted off the field with a knee injury, safety Cory Lynch came up big. He batted down a Matty Ice pass on third-and-15 from the Bucs-15 that was headed for the open arms of Jacquizz Rodgers.
“Next man up” sure worked for the Bucs last year. It sure worked for the Bucs Sunday.
Man Up.
September 25th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
i dont care about contract issues or something like that, dekoda watson has shown much more than quincy black and he deserves to be the starter!!!!!
September 25th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
I am proud of our young Tampa team. We showed amazing depth today, and both Watson and Lynch played very well.
September 26th, 2011 at 1:36 am
Watson killed it. I think he had three pass deflections. He was covering everything this side of Mars.
Quincy who?
September 26th, 2011 at 6:34 am
“The falcons ran almost exclusively to the right”
That’s the book on us the last two years. Everybody runs to the right. The Falcons were just amazed to find we actually had a LBer over there, instead of Quincy hiding underneath a fullback. Huge improvement in the run defense. We only gave up atound 30 yards.
We can cut Quincy now. No reason to waste time. My point has been proven.
By the way- Foster played so much better than he should have! The guy was a monster. Along with Haywood, we finally found some Lbers
September 26th, 2011 at 7:33 am
Be quiet Capt Tim.
Can’t you see Joe is trying to defelct attention away from Mason Foster ??