“They Panicked”
September 12th, 2011
Moments after the Bucs-Lions game ended yesterday, Joe wrote about the ridiculousness of LeGarrette Blount only having five carries despite a very tight game on the scoreboard for most of the day.
Today, former Bucs quarterback Shaun King said of the Bucs abandoning Blount and the running game, “They panicked.”
And Raheem Morris offered a rather similar take today during his news conference saying the offense the Bucs need to be successful starts with Blount bludgeoning people, racking up yardage and setting up play-action passes.
“Maybe as a coach I went too early to the two-minute offense,” Raheem said.
Interestingly, before Blount was a starter last year, the Bucs pounded Cadillac Williams over and over again despite little success. Cadillac had 49 carries for 126 yards over the first two games. The consensus from the Bucs’ coaches was that it had to be done.
So what happened yesterday?
September 12th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Shell shocked is more like it. Thank goodness for the big kick return by Sammie and Talib’s pick. Other than that, the Bucs did nothing. all that 4th quarter yardage was from the Lions taking the foot of the gas to coast to the victory.
September 12th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Freeman looked awful and unprepared. I know its the beginning of the season, but come on. Silver lining..all NFC South teams lost Week 1. Everyone is 0-1.
September 12th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Watching Freeman yesterday trying to live up to the hype people have been building about him got me to remembering Daunte Culpepper and how he had 1 really great year and then digressed to the point of being cut, passed around from team to team and now out of the NFL….
September 12th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Panic is what happens to young teams. A few vets on the squad would be a remedy for that. Sadly, our Vets panic more that the rookies! Black, Joseph, Hayes,Trueblood, and Talib all realize another season has started- and they still aren’t very good at playing Football. Gotta be scary!! At least most of them are being overpaid to play badly! That’s gotta eaze the tension a little, anyways!
After the way the O-Line, LBers, and secondary played yesterday, hell, I’d panic too!! With all the jobs on the line this year, I’m surprised One Buc Place doesnt smell like urine. A few more games like that, and heads will be a rolling!
September 12th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Everyone is panicking about the offense. There is a simple remedy. Hurry up! When Freeman is in the hurry up, he shines. The oc should take this loss. The biggest advantage of playing a dome team is the elements. We could have neutralized Suh by the third quarter by just going to the hurry up in that heat. As far as the defense, they were tired. This is the first game plus the offense was as predictable as a Hollywood love story ending.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
The Blount neglect was by far the most disgusting aspect of a repulsive game yesterday. When we were up, we should have pounded them. I just don’t get it.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
this to me was the most sickening part of the game. it reminded me that no matter what, olson is and forever will be from the jon gruden coaching tree. down by a score does not mean that you abandon the run.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Cadillac Williams had near 100 yards rushing for his new team yesterday. Tampa should have kept him, and our OLD O Line Coach. Blount had holes to run through against Detroit last year, anyone remember ? He gained 115 yards against the Lions last year. Last game vs Detroit was close, this was an ass kicking.
September 12th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
First of all Tye.. Your an idiot. Freeman will be fine. The problem was the coaching staff did not have this team prepared and Olson looked lost.. I think he should start updating his resume. And Dominic not only didn’t get anyone in FA, he made the team weaker by not retaing Caddy and Ruud for at least 1 more season. If this team is all about 5 and only getting sure handed Stocker (not) as the only weapon for Freeman then Dominic has failed miserably. I was actually buying what they were selling at first but watching how bad we looked without any solid leaders makes me very nervous. Dominic has really set himself up to fail. If he would have at least got a couple 2nd tier players to challenge certain positions it would look nowhere as bad as it looks with him getting no FA. Every loss is going to be heavily scrutinized by the fact the team could have upgraded several positions with the NFL’s biggest FA period in the history of the league. Dominic might have to join Olson in the unemployment line.
September 12th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
It is nice to get a little insight into who is calling the game plan. Olson calls the plays but clearly Raheem has a ton of influence on what and how the plays are called.
Not sure how I feel about Raheem sticking his nose into the offensive play calling. Do what you do best, Raheem, and that is defense. Don’t try to stretch yourself as a HC, DC, and now an OC!!!!!
September 12th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
real men Don’t PANIC….they thrive in “the moment”…
carry on…
September 12th, 2011 at 5:48 pm
I remember Jon Gruden abandoning the run in a playoff loss to the Giants when we had just driven down pounding the rock in the first quarter to score. In the end we passed the game away. Not having Blount touch the ball more than 5 times yesterday was a joke and I have no idea how Raheem and Olsen can justify it. Before Blount last year we sucked. Without Blount yesterday we sucked. What is Olsen not seeing that everybody else does. The guy has talent needs the carries to get it going. I think Raheem and his defense let the team down so Blount could not stay on the field. McCoy was saying after the game how they were caught off guard by the 2 and 3 step drops. Why????? He said we needed to adjust in the game. Well the coaches would be responsible for scouting tendencies and changing play calls during the game. Come on Raheem get it going we need Blount on the field!!!!!!
September 12th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
football has always been about running the football on offense and…
stopping the opponent from the ability to run the ball on your team….
IT all starts with the understanding of that principle…
Breaking the opponents success at stopping your run can last long into the contest…once broken it becomes easy…THE BUCS broke !
September 12th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
@Brad
Is it really necessary to hurl insults?
That’s a head-smacker! We waited all game for them to go into hurry-up and he didn’t go into two minute offense until the game was nearly over!
September 12th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Stick to defense whaT he knows best??? ROFLMAS high school gym teacher is what Morriss is good for look at his resume!!!
September 12th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
@jlynch
Um…that point is no long valid considering he has 2 years experience as a head coach in the NFL.
And he’s gotten better from season to season.
September 13th, 2011 at 12:02 am
@jlynch That was a terrible rebuttal. Try again, lil’ tyke. You’ll get it one day.
And change your call sign. No one believes you are “jlynch”.
September 13th, 2011 at 10:46 am
Nobody is going to want to watch this team when they showcase “stars” like Earnest Graham and Kregg Lumpkin.