Bucs Remain Only Team To Stop Blount
October 4th, 2011
America, welcome to LeGarrette Blount.
The man gets stronger as games go on. If Adrian Clayborn is Raheem Morris’ part-man-part-beast “Boy Dog,” than Blount is some cross between a human and an F-150. Other than the Bucs, no team can claim it has stopped Bount in his career.
Again, Blount got his touches last night and look what happened. He broke one, and was punishing to the point that Ronde Barber and various postgame pundits on NFL Network were talking about how it’s obvious that the Colts’ defense didn’t want to tackle him. Looking back, it almost seems like the Bucs committed a crime against humanity for burying Blount on the bench against the undefeated Lions.
Joe hates to jinx Blount, but he hasn’t fumbled this season, and Joe suspects Blount would have little trouble ramping up the Bucs offense another notch if he saw more action on third down. Obviously, he’s the most dangerous weapon they have coming out of the backfield, even in the passing game.
Last night was to showcase the no-name, rising Bucs on national TV, and it’s Blount who walked off the field with superstar status and 127 yards on 25 carries. The hurdling got him out there in 2010, but now everyone knows he’s a unique and versatile weapon in the NFL.
Joe just hopes the Bucs know how to use him to win games and keep him fresh for the playoffs. Last night, seemed just about the right formula.
October 4th, 2011 at 8:56 am
If Olson would learn how to play call a complete game and realize what a great weapon Blount is, this team would be blowing teams out. Olson continues to kill this offense with his conservative approach until the Bucs are behind and then we are miraculously a great offense. This guy continues to handcuff this team. With the weapons we have on offense there is no reason why we can’t be an elite offensive team. He is stopping Freeman and company from being true superstars they deserve to be.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:02 am
It was really a nice surprise to see Blount in on a lot of passing situations, and even caught 1 for 14 yards, he’s learning, and as long as the O-line can protect Josh without needing help from the back, Blount should be used more often in those situations. When I realized both Blount and Freeman were as big as or bigger than all of the Colts defensive starters, I knew the Colts were in trouble.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:21 am
Feed the man the rock 30 times a game
October 4th, 2011 at 9:27 am
Don’t jinx him with the fumble comment Joe! Last night I said the same thing about field goals and the guy hit the upright.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:29 am
Brad , Olsen called a good game. Don’t be an idiot . Part of the reason Blount succeeds is that we remain two-dimensional , and teams have to respect the threat of Josh Freeman.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:32 am
Gruden sure seemed proud of his offensive line last night. He loved to talk about how effective Blount was when running behind Joseph and Trueblood.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:33 am
Blount is really impressive. I like your comparison with Clayborn, because they are both gritty football players. I hope to see them develop into “Anquan Boldin/warrior” type players.
With that being said, Blount is a beast. I’m with you, Joe, Blount should get 25 carries a game because he only gets stronger as the game goes on.
Ronde is spot on with the psychological advantage gained of watching the opposing team’s D “not want” to tackle your RB.
If the Bucs are going to try and get where they need to be, the playoffs, then the equation should dictate 25 carries per for the “Blount Force”.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:46 am
You know when we talk about Blount, it is often about him being a powerful runner, but if you go back and watch his TD run, he has surprising speed for a man his size.
October 4th, 2011 at 11:14 am
I love that headline!
October 4th, 2011 at 11:43 am
The guy is a beast, can you imagine he learns to catch the ball out of the backfield. He is lethal in open space. Once he passes the line he’s unstoppable. I love the run he carried Brayton for 4 yards, by the way that spot was horrible he got that first down.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Well, now is the time the Bucs should start using him more in the passing game. Especially given his clear effectiveness and Graham’s inability to make plays and even catch.
My only issue with Blount(not sure if it is him, the OL, or a combination of both) his numbers are never consistent. The first half saw plenty of 2-3 yard runs. It wasn’t really till the 4th quarter that he started getting good yards consistently.
Some of this might be that our opponents do not want to hit him any more after by the end of the game as they are tired physically, tired of missing tackles, and thinking about how to take him down.
Of course, a lot of his early game ineffectiveness could be annulled if he is in the game on clear passing downs as well.
Make it happen, Olsen.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
I met Mike and blount on my trip for MNF, got miles autograph on a sweet 8×10 Kodak!
October 4th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Diary dont be a homer or a homo. I agree Olson calls great plays when were behind but has no creativity when starting games and is very predictable. If the dude would trust his offense to start games then we wouldn’t have to worry about coming back all the time. He needs to trust his team and be aggressive early. He’s the only reason this team always gets off to slow starts. So u don’t be an idiot and watch the game. He is the only dude that stops Blount. Everyone knows that but your dumbas$..
October 4th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
I think Chucky said it best last night. The coaches are afraid to take the leash off freeman, because they feel the rest of the teams weapons are to young to keep up with what he can do.. But it is proven time and time again in the 4th quarter. Where they FINALLY take the leash off and tell him to just win the game. Then BAM we have what looks like a top 10 offense. Maybe we should trust these young guys. I say by mid season we need to take the leash off the entire team and just let em play. They’ve shown that not only can they handle the responsibility but they play at an elite level when doing so.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Favorite play last night (thinking of the respect opposing teams give Blount) was when it was a play action boot leg. The front 8 totally bought into thinking Blount was going to get the ball. And Freeman just slips out the back door. Just to see nearly the entire D bite on the fake shows how much they respect what Blount can do.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Wimpy Ruud,
“You let me know when those sacks finally start coming.”
———
Just thought I would let you know, the sacks have started coming. I love it how you talk all this trash about GMC, yet when he plays well you say nothing. Very weak, or should I say wimpy. You want to argue he wasn’t a force last night? Or even better, you want to argue that he wasn’t double teamed? I just can’t figure out if you ARE Thomas, or the two of you are BFF’s.
October 4th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Yeah what do you have to say now Wimpy Ruud. Suck it.
October 4th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
McCoy had his best game . I would hope so, as banged up as the Colts O-line is….
October 4th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Way to wiggle out of a compliment like a girl! Only a girl hates to admit when they are wrong, especially when you should want to be wrong. Pathetic. Tell your BFF we miss him. As hard as you try, you could never be the idiot that Thomas is. But go ahead, keep trying.
October 4th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
One thing that will make us a more effective offense is to continue to run the lead power instead of that little fake jump pass counter, where Blount has to take a side step the line doesn’t fire off but does some semi pass block, I notice that play never gains yardage because Blount is not heitting the line at full speed due to the sidestep and the Defense gets push because we are not drive blocking, we need to keep running the lead power. As for the pass game we need more slants so we get YAC and if Free could start to hit more recievers on the front shoulder, as it seems a number of his passes are just a little behind which is causing some of the drops and inability to run after the catch. That’s my two cents..