Sullivan Needlessly Quit On The Run
September 16th, 2012
Joe referenced this in the instant postgame post below, but it bears further analysis.
Mike Sullivan is in his first-ever season calling plays and his performance bears scrutiny.
In the third quarter with only 39 seconds left, the Bucs started a new drive with a 27-16 lead following a Giants’ long drive and momentum-grabbing field goal. Time to show your identity by running the football, rest your defense and eat clock, right? Nope.
Despite running on the previous drive with Doug Martin on five consecutive plays and burning clock and wearing down the Giants defense — even Troy Aikman referenced the punishing effects of running late in games — Mike Sullivan went to the air on first down this time, which he did most of the game.
Joe was livid.
The Bucs are supposed to have a run-first, punch-you-in-the-face identity, but they quit on that when they needed it most. Why not ask Donald Penn, Carl Nicks and Doug Martin, who had solid games, to put the damn game on their backs with 15 minutes left and a two-score lead? You’ve also got a fresh LeGarrette Blount sitting on the sidelines ready for a punishing run or two.
But Freeman threw a dangerous ball on first down up the middle incomplete to Vincent Jackson. Then Freeman dropped back again and forced a ball in traffic to Jackson that was picked off.
That needless 18-second drive was a killer.
Sullivan got too damn cute. Sure, he made good calls pumping the ball down field and actually pulled a successful end around with Preston Parker, but Joe’s got to give Sullivan a bad grade for this game. Dallas Clark was a missing weapon until the final drive, and he didn’t use his backs well.
Yes, Joe realizes the Bucs defense endured an epic torching, but Sullivan didn’t help their cause much.
September 16th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
The complete lack of use of Blount is starting to make me upset. He didnt even get 1 snap. I understand a benching to make a point or a holding back to be cautious of an injury, that’s fine if thats what it was.
But all indications were that Blount was healthy and ready to go. There must be a problem here. We needed to run the ball with BOTH Blount and Martin, and we frankly did neither.
This is unacceptable, and something needs to be done before they Cowboys.
September 16th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
Yes it was a dangerous pass to VJax on the play before the first Freeman interception. But the refs are supposed to err on the side of caution with player safety, and that has been a flag in almost every other instance the last two years. Not saying that is why the Bucs lost, but it definitely contributed to the complete swing in momentum.
September 16th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
I don’t know. The run looked nearly ineffective most of the game. I guess I need to see the box score. Martin only looked like he had a couple of good bursts. I guess maybe he has a chance to break one if they keep stuffing it forward. But, I kinda agreed with Sullivan’s call. That being said where the hell was LGB? I guess they have given up on him? I am going to have to assume that he has a serious problem with his head work or his health. I kept thinking they would at least let him run into the line a few times with fresh legs in the 4th to see how he looked.
September 16th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
The running attack was hardly punishing today. 20/66 yards. It was a pretty balanced game 21 rushes/28 passes with a majority of the passes coming on the last 2 drives. I just don’t think they mixed it up enough. My beef is that it was too predictable for a majority of the game.
However, I d take a day like today over any game last year. At least these issues are fixable.
September 16th, 2012 at 5:50 pm
Quit on the run?
That’s all we tried to do from the start of the 3rd quarter until late in the 4th!
September 16th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Joe:
Up 27-13 in the 3rd, ALL we did was run on our 2nd series:
1st and 10 at TB 31 D.Martin up the middle to TB 34 for 3 yards (R.Bernard, K.Phillips).
2nd and 7 at TB 34 D.Martin right end to TB 41 for 7 yards (J.Pierre-Paul, C.Blackburn).
1st and 10 at TB 41 D.Martin left tackle to TB 45 for 4 yards (R.Bernard, J.Pierre-Paul).
2nd and 6 at TB 45 D.Martin left end to 50 for 5 yards (A.Rolle).
3rd and 1 at 50 D.Martin left guard to TB 49 for -1 yards (J.Pierre-Paul, M.Kuhn).
4th and 2 at TB 49 M.Koenen punts 33 yards to NYG 18, Center-A.Economos, fair catch by R.Randle.
Read the post, Snook, not just the headlines. –Joe
September 16th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
You nailed it Joe, that series was a huge gaff
September 16th, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Joe, you gonna try to skewer this OC like you did Olson?
This is what is dangerous about your daily blog… you start believing your angles until you can make them self fullfilling prophecies.
September 16th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Joe here,
@Buc Fan #237 and @Snook — It seems like you guys either didn’t read this post or have horrible reading comprehension.
September 16th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
I figure it will get better by week 4. I’m patient. At least until after the bye (week 5).
I agree with Big Picture though…the lack of use Blount is getting is pathetic. Ware isn’t that good and Martin cannot do it all. Even Dunn had Alstott.
September 16th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Martin didn’t look as crisp as he did in week 1. I truly feel we NEED Blount and Martin to be running the ball. Martin is a very good RB but he can’t do this alone.
Starting the 4th quarter with the lead we had. We should have got Blount’s fresh legs into the game and just pound the rock on a tired defense.
September 16th, 2012 at 6:33 pm
@Joe
Reading comprehension is fine. Just because Sullivan was aggressive on ONE series in the second half doesn’t mean he “quit” on the run.
This was the only series I was actually happy with. They played like they were up by 45 with 3 minutes left for ALL of the 2nd half.
You got plenty of run calls from Sullivan, Joe. Just because he didn’t do it on one series doesn’t mean he “quit”.
September 16th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
“You got plenty of run calls from Sullivan, Joe. Just because he didn’t do it on one series doesn’t mean he “quit”.”
—-
Kind of ironic that you say that, yet list the plays on ONE series. Snook is going to be very active this next week. Just so you know, it’s Command + C, followed by Command +Z to copy and paste the same stuff, because that’s all you’ve done so far today.
September 16th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
“won if the Bucs played to win instead of playing not to lose in the second half.”
Yeah, but after that it was run-run-pass until we’d lost the lead. And we NEVER took any kind of shot down field untill we were behind & had to. Just once I’d like to see this team step on another team’s throat & just plain ‘Put them away”. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it, from a Bucs standpoint. Still, it was exciting all the way, &, at the least, I saw fight in them all the way, a pleasant change from last year. I think we need a little more seasoning on the kids. I’d also have liked to see a shot down the field, a time or 2, before we had to. I don’t think it would’a been as successful as it was late in the 4th, but might’a relieved some pressure on the run game.
September 16th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
And all we’ll hear from Hawaiian is how he’s happy with losing…
Mike Shula called. He claims we stole his offense in the 2nd half.
September 16th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
14 passes and 9 runs in 1st half. Led to 17 offensive points.
7 passes and 12 runs in 2nd half before NY tied the game. Led to 3 offensive points.
Hmmmm…….
Sullivan quit on the run? No, he quit on the pass.
Joe, you made an entire post about Sullivan quitting on the run for one series. Yet, passing is what led to 17 1st half offensive points. Nice try.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Like a few other posters I felt like running the ball wasn’t effective. It was like watchng Dungy ball with Warrick Dunn getting pounded up the center. We were not going to run agaisnt the Giants. I was screaming at the TV to pass on first down and when they did that with Dallas Clark it worked. Where the f*ck was Dallas Clark before anyway? He got the longest play of the week last week and was quickly mothballed. We just cannot get an OC that I like. In 25 years.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Always the coach. Never the fact the players don’t execute the plays. Freeman threw a pick. Coach. your fault. Eli threw 3 picks. His coaches fault?
September 16th, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Joe, I disagree. We really hadn’t run the ball very effectively up to that point in the game. We had a few decent runs here and there, but I don’t think we were running the ball effectively enough to warrant running more in the fourth quarter.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
@BucFan20
We’re not blaming the INT on the coaches. We’re pissed about the poor play calling and Sullivan refusing to grind the clock and use Blount. Freeman wasn’t driving us and Martin was getting little to no yards. When your play calling is obviously NOT working like that, it’s time to CHANGE it up. This is a two back league. Our defense played lights out in the 1st half. After numerous 3 and outs and an inability to close it out by the offense, the defense isn’t going to hold up. And that’s exactly what happened. We had a flashback to the Raheem defense, and let’s just hope Sullivan is not Greg Olsen clone.
September 16th, 2012 at 8:45 pm
Joe, I agree with you on the play calling on both sides of the ball especially when they know the Giants so well. You don’t leave it up to the secondary when you have no pass rush and you don’t stop the clock to give Eli more time. Bucs need to come clean with Blount. He could have been useful in the 4th qtr. Also, Freeman throwing pick off his back foot was a killer. We’ve seen enough of Freeman in 4 yrs to know he doesn’t have IT. Let’s see how this squad reacts to this tough loss. Just hangin with the elite is not the goal. We need a franchise turning victory and today we gave it away.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Snook,
Where am I saying I’m happy. Although you say otherwise, you struggle with comprehension.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
This is a rough one took walk away from knowing we had it. I really wish they’d stop being scared and use Freeman on 3rd and short. Sullivan needs to work with Freeman on reading Defenses better, I don’t really feel he takes control and changes recievers route to beat coverages. And when are we going to run the no huddle? Think we can do some more damage if we bust that out. Alright Bucs yougot to beat Dallas you have too!!
September 16th, 2012 at 9:51 pm
@ Patrick.
That was just an example of the player not getting the play done. Runs were going nowhere. If Blount had been getting as much as Martin people would have been …… you know. Would Blount have helped? Who knows. That’s why we are not coaches. Maybe the coach because he knew how fast Eli could strike went for more points and expected his player to execute the plays. That is what I was saying. It is up to the players to execute, keep drives alive and keep other Offense off the field. That did not happen.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Snook’s doing a great job, I get to type a lot less.
September 16th, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Unbelievable that you have Blount in your quiver and you don’t at least test the ramparts with him when you’re up by a couple scores. Also, they have taken away about half of Freeman’s game by trying to make him a pure pocket passer. The idea almost makes me laugh. Almost.
September 16th, 2012 at 10:38 pm
This is supposed to be a two headed monster run down your throat offense. Where in the hell was Blount? Bucs have a fresh bruising back for the second half or if they just use him for the 4th quarter even to eat the clock with the lead instead of tiring out the defense. The Defense looked great the first half but was bent over in the second because they were gassed because the offense couldn’t do much the entire game. Only reason the Bucs were in this game as much as they were was because of the defense. What happened to all these good weapons the Bucs picked up this off season to allow them to go deep. Freeman didn’t go deep often nor is he using Williams in the slant well like he did in 2010. The Bucs need to take a little bit of the success from what they did in 2010 and plug it into the New Schiano Order football scheme and pop these “elite” teams in the mouth especially on their own turf and surprise the league again and prove that they belong in this league. They have shown they have the talent but can’t find a way to use it for an entire game unless they have demoralized the other team. Can’t let up with teams like this or any team. Let’s go Bucs, be that team that can’t be underestimated and if the other team does underestimate you flex that muscle and put up some serious points instead of kicking FGs all game long.
September 16th, 2012 at 11:01 pm
Step Back
Breathe
Relax
The Bucs at an away game against the SuperBowl Champions scored 34 points and even had a lead for a bit. They also scored a 4th quarter TD to tie the game. Would you have expected that from last year’s team.
They played well in a slugfest – and witnessed firsthand how a championship team doesn’t quit. It’s a steppingstone.
(And there seems to be a problem with posts not going through – crossing fingers.)
September 17th, 2012 at 12:04 am
Couldn’t disagree more Joe.
September 17th, 2012 at 2:08 am
Was saying the same thing Joe, They had a nine point lead entering the fourth quarter and didn’t step on the throat with the power running game. Bullsh*t playcalling.
September 17th, 2012 at 6:44 am
I think if someone told us that the Bucs offense would put up 27 points we would say that would but great….and unlikely. However they did and they looked good. Either NYG’s run D is much improved or Martin is no Blount. I have to disagree with Joe and say the run was NOT very effective. The ran the ball quite a bit on the two drives previous to the first int and punted each time. Once the refs started allowing free releases to NY’s WRs the Bucs needed to be more aggressive. They should have never stopped being aggressive. Nearly every time the Bucs took a shot it was successful.
So to me the Bucs’ problem wasn’t the play calling by Sullivan on the one drive Joe is mentioning, but taking their foot off the gas previously. The way Josh was passing and our WRs were constantly beating their DBs, Josh could have had similar stats to Eli had they kept pouring on the coals.
September 17th, 2012 at 8:13 am
Joe, I agree. We should be running the ball. Thats the time you need to be using a fresh LGB, Don’t know why we didn’t. If the man is in the doghouse or hurt, why is he in uniform, and M. Smith inactive?
They need to let Free play his game, and part of his game is running when the situation warrents it, which he seems reluctant to do. He also looks like he’s trying to force the ball to VJax, just my opinion.
Guess I’ll cut these guys a little slack though, after all, its only our 2nd game, and they are still getting used to eachother.
Michael says ” What happend to all these good weapons the Bucs picked up this off season to allow them to go deep? ”
I think we have the weapons, just need to use them a little better, we’ll get there, its still early.
September 17th, 2012 at 11:12 am
Slander. He should’ve stretched the field more than he did. Trying to pound the ball against the best D-Line in the league is ludicrous. Giants defensive backfield is easily their weakest point on the team. Why were we doing Benn’d arounds.