McCoy Demanded Defensive Changes
September 24th, 2012
Against the Giants, the Bucs relied on all kinds of defensive line stunts and pass rush games, plus repeated failed blitzes, to generate pressure on Eli Manning. And Tampa Bay was torched as a result.
This didn’t sit well with Gerald McCoy, so he told his hometown Oklahoman yesterday.
Seemingly taking a direct order from Warren Sapp, Gerald McCoy said he played defensive coordinator before yesterday’s loss in Dallas and demanded that coaches rely on the defensive line to beat the opposing offensive line and attack the quarterback like rabid dogs.
“I represented the D-line and went up to coach and said, ‘Give us an opportunity to go straight at them instead of going sideways on all these stunts,” McCoy said. “I said, ‘If it don’t work, it don’t work and we’ll go back to whatever.’ We took advantage” against Dallas.
McCoy was dominant yesterday, with four tackles, two sacks and a brain-jarring, fumble-inducing hit of Tony Romo that should have been a Bucs touchdown if not for the heinous replacement officials fleecing the Bucs. Michael Bennett also had a ferocious two-sack day that showcased his relentless drive.
The Bucs’ run defense also was extraordinary.
Clearly, McCoy’s recommendations were on the mark. Perhaps he’d be willing to lend his expertise to Mike Sullivan?
September 24th, 2012 at 10:03 am
I thought Bennett had 3 sacks?
September 24th, 2012 at 10:10 am
McCoy is a stud D-lineman and he showed it yesterday!
September 24th, 2012 at 10:15 am
That front 7 was ridiculous yesterday, they dominated! Mason Foster is not being talked up as much but man he has been awesome this year!
September 24th, 2012 at 10:19 am
Gerald is impressing me more & more he’s truly earning his spot, our First rounder is starting to look like one !
September 24th, 2012 at 10:23 am
Can we Hire Sapp As D.C.?
September 24th, 2012 at 10:25 am
Thomas getting banned saved him from eating crow.
September 24th, 2012 at 10:26 am
Give it to Blount
Assistant would be nice! Our current guy is doing pretty good!
September 24th, 2012 at 10:26 am
Wow Pete I missed Thomas getting banned, I was waiting for his skewed view of McCoy
September 24th, 2012 at 10:28 am
btw…McCoy is now engaged to be married. Grats!
September 24th, 2012 at 10:35 am
Great call McCoy!! Maybe V-Jax should approach Sullivan and tell him that his vanilla offense is NOT going to work.
Maybe Martin could say ‘stop calling 22 up the gut” to Sullivan too!
September 24th, 2012 at 10:35 am
That whole front seven was impressive. McCoy & Bennett played lights out, Clayborn was very good, Miller was better than solid, and Foster & David were constantly making tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage.
This is not your dad’s Raheem Morris defense, that’s for damn sure!
September 24th, 2012 at 10:36 am
At one point the camera zoomed in on GMC staring across the LOS at Romo and he looked like he wanted to kill him, that is something we haven’t seen from him before.
September 24th, 2012 at 10:42 am
NEWS FLASH!!! PAY MICHAEL BENNETT LIKE RIGHT NOW!! we cant let this guy get away in Free agency you know there will be plenty teams coming after him if we do not sign him to an extension during the season..
September 24th, 2012 at 10:45 am
It’s time for Freeman to go to the coach and say, “unchain me – let me make plays with my legs, roll me out, let’s sling it, it’s a passing league.”.
September 24th, 2012 at 10:46 am
…and FWIW, Schiano said it was the best pass rush to date, out of the 3 games.
September 24th, 2012 at 10:52 am
I said before Schiano was hired that is was a passing league.
I bought into Schiano when hired and what he wants to do and I like the coach and staff.
That said, it’s a passing league and we did not once, NOT ONCE, even try a 4 or 5 wide set to see how the Cowboys would react!!!
I firmly believe Freeman is so coached not to take chances, be conservative and protect the ball, that it’s hindering his abilities. Sure he gets some blame, rightfully so, but I want to see us open it up a little.
So 5 wide would be VJax, Williams, Benn, Underwood and Clark – think about that for a minute….
September 24th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Freeman has only looked good when in the 2 minute offense, he looks confused or very indecisive the rest of the time. Needs to be more open and free with the play calling.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:02 am
We keep blaming the officials on the BS fumble for TD. It is a valid point, I used against my brother in law all day yesterday, but it was an easy call to miss. There were tons of crappy calls all day, and non calls all day, the coaches are coaching how to get away with crap, and the playersd are doing it. Upon further review I would love to use the crutch of…horrible call by the scab refs, but it would have been an easy miss even with an all star crew.
The Bucs offense needs to gameplan for more than just the first drive. They execute and nail it and that is AWESOME! Then they come out, telegraph the run, the draw, the pass….We can’t be this vanilla. I would rather see Josh heave it 60 yards on 3rd and 9, if they pick it, thats a nice punt, if we catch it we succeed on a big play.
The Defense! Say it twice DEFENSE!! Looked awesome, they were struggling with horrible field position all day long, did not allow any BS, and GMC broke faces yesterday. Can’t wait to see what they do next week. No matter what anyone says it is much more entertaining and encouraging than last year. There is no Quit in this group. Schiano calling timeout and crashing the line looks silly, but he is teaching No Quit!!
September 24th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Thru 3 games Suh has 6 tackles, 2 sacks, and 0 forced fumbles. McCoy has 8 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 forced fumble. Nice.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:26 am
Most of the game Freeman didn’t have time to throw it 60 yards.
Plus…his pass catchers were not catching anything.
I’m not going to say Freeman was blameless…but he wasn’t the only factor in this loss.
I think what we’re missing here is the fact that the team is close in every game. We are right at the edge of greatness. All we need is no more injuries and for the offense to start clicking.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:27 am
McCoy is starting to become a leader on and off the field this is the McCoy we drafted and had high hopes for, and he doesn’t come with the baggage Suh comes with.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:30 am
I agree with some of the above posters. Mason Foster has improved every game this season and was dominant against the run yesterday. He made play after play in the backfield and I am very excited about the direction of the front seven.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:37 am
Since Thomas isn’t here to eat crow, I’ll eat up the whole plate. I didn’t comment much, but I agreed with him about McCoy. I’m more than happy to admit it, and I hope I keep eating it, cuz this is the best crow I’ve ever eaten!
September 24th, 2012 at 11:39 am
This man is playing like a monster. I hope it continues and I really hope McCoy stays healthy. While we’re at it; I hope Dom is working on a contract extension for Bennett. What a stud.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:39 am
I here you Pete, it is aesome to see them competing. If they open the offnse up they can be dominant. Special teams also needs work, the muffed punt, the Bryant return both led to points.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:41 am
Schiano and Sheridan both said after the Giants loss that they should’ve run less stunts and games and done more one-on-one rushing, so I wouldn’t give Gerald and Sapp ALL the credit. And I could be mistaken, but the slobberknocker sack he put on Romo was off a stunt I believe. Deleted the game so I can’t check it too make sure, but pretty sure it was. Defense overall played lights out and were in position to make a play virtually every snap. Seemed like their DB’s did a better job of pass defense though. Our guys were there, but the Dallas receivers still seemed to be able to make the catch for the most part. Know the team is 1-2, but playing like they are at this stage of the process is impressive to me, and gives me hope for the rest of the season and beyond. I’ll take playing like this and losing by a combined 13 pts. on the road at NY & Dallas over the pathetic display that was Buc football last year any day. Definitely on an upward trend.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:49 am
I will eat crow for Thomas as well. I really thought that McCoy was going to be a bust. Speaking of Thomas 2.2, I have to say I kind of miss him.
I don’t blame Joe for what he did, but Thomas kept it interesting around here.
It is always interesting to hear other opinions, that differ from the Homers, even if they are wrong.
September 24th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Is it concerning to anyone but me that our D-Lineman is having to double as the Defensive Coordinator?
September 24th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
I agree with Teflon Don give Bennet a contract asap!
September 24th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
1976Buc Says:
Is it concerning to anyone but me that our D-Lineman is having to double as the Defensive Coordinator?
We’re on the same team right? It’s a good thing and it probably happens more than we think. McCoy gets out of his comfort zone, credit to Sheridan for trusting them.
Mad props to GMC, Bennett, Foster and the rest of the front 7. What an effort.
September 24th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
The problem I see with the offense is our inability to convert on third down. Every third down Sullivan calls a draw play or a checkdown pass. Really starting to frustrate me.
September 24th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
I’m the Giants game we opened it up some and Freeman looked pretty good, so I dont think the sky is falling yet. I mostly blame overly conservative play calling. Hopefully next week Sullivan will open it up against a suspect Redskins secondary.
September 24th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
*in
September 24th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Buxter, my point is why did it take McCoy going to tell him. My 15 year old daughter could see things were not working. I’m not saying players should not have input to a game plan. What I am saying is that with the preseason and 2 regular season games under his belt why wasn’t Sheridan already changing up the defense? I think Sullivan is going through the same motions on offense and should not have to be told 3 yards and a cloud of dust does not work in the NFL.
September 24th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
This is the best news possible. Not only is GMC tearing it up, he’s taking on a leadership role. The best players on the team need to be able to discuss these types of things with the coaches, and the coaches need to listen. But I do agree that this was about as obvious as the fact that we are going to run up the middle on first down. I have never seen Suh run stunts all the way around the opposite DE. When you have a talent like GMC, keep it simple and let him do his thing. Don’t over-coach or over-scheme him. It really can be as simple as “go get the ball Gerald” and he would do just fine.