Hello World, It’s Doug Martin
October 26th, 2012
Against the Chiefs, a team with a timid defense, Doug Martin finally appeared to be breaking out.
Against New Orleans, Martin had a helluva touchdown catch on a screen.
Tonight, Martin blew threw the front doors of the NFL, on the stage of the league’s own vehicle of course, NFL Network, on national television.
Yes, Doug Martin arrived. Yes, Doug Martin showed why Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik traded up late in the first round to acquire Martin.
The Muscle Hamster showed vision, waiting for blocks to develop, darting through daylight, manning up to move bodies on a one-yard touchdown run that clinched the game and, oh yeah, caught passes too.
The past two weeks, the Bucs showed they could pass the ball and the Bucs continued to do that Thursday night. But now, with Martin going crazy, the Bucs have a chance to be a very dangerous team.
The run opens up the pass and vice-versa. Now, the Bucs, as they did with LeGarrette Blount in 2010, have both running and passing.
Beware NFL defenses. Your Halloween nightmares very well could last through the holiday season.
October 26th, 2012 at 12:55 am
I was really routing for Blount when I saw him come in the game, but damn, Doug Martin is the real deal. He smoked guys left and right again. Time to let Blount get warmed up to the closer role, or he’ll be out chatting with Winslow…
October 26th, 2012 at 12:57 am
I’m going to sit here and wait for all those who said “Martin wasn’t anything special”, “he shouldn’t be starting”, and “he’s only a 3rd down back” to eat a huge plate full of crow. You all know who you are, and so do I.
October 26th, 2012 at 1:00 am
Martin had a TD run against the Saints. No screen
October 26th, 2012 at 1:00 am
“’m going to sit here and wait for all those who said “Martin wasn’t anything special”, “he shouldn’t be starting”, and “he’s only a 3rd down back” to eat a huge plate full of crow. You all know who you are, and so do I.”
You will be waiting a long time for Pete Dutcher to admit he was wrong.
October 26th, 2012 at 1:00 am
Hawaiian Buc, wasn’t it great listening to the NFL Network guys gush over Martin, even though all pregame they had 2 hours of Petersen interviews? Even LT was a bit verklempt… lol
October 26th, 2012 at 1:07 am
@ShutTheBucUp,
Yes it was. I watched the pregame show, and I had to keep checking the internet to make sure they were still playing us. It was all Vikings, all the time. Unbelievable how little respect we were given. We opened up a bunch of eyes tonight.
October 26th, 2012 at 1:09 am
Devious Doug did show some burst but he had some massive holes. I love the Penn and Nicks combo on the left side. We should be able to destroy the Raiders next week both offensively and defensively as McFadden is having a horrible season thus far.
I didn’t think Martin had wheels like he showed tonight though. He just might end up making me regret questioning his draft pick after all.
October 26th, 2012 at 1:13 am
Its all good though. Media is definitely not what this team needs. It needs some more W’s. And after tonight, going up north and slaying Harvin and Petersen, I’d say we’re due for a few more.
October 26th, 2012 at 1:17 am
I’ll admit, I was among the group that thought Doug was definitely not ready early in the season. He was struggling and they probably needed more Blount then. The past two weeks, Martin has shown that he’s “getting it” and can be something special. I still think Blount can be a great tandem with Martin if he can come into the game late without many touches and be effective. So far, Blount hasn’t shown an ability to do that very well, but it may also be something Blount needs to learn…
October 26th, 2012 at 1:19 am
How do you defend the Bucs now? Honestly. If you have your safeties play the run we get one on one and throw it deep to Mike or Vince. If you play your safeties deep we run it all over you. Only thing that can stop our offense is our offense. We have to make mistakes and self destruct. Otherwise we are scoring 25-30 a game.
October 26th, 2012 at 1:28 am
Well I don’t think we’re going straight to the superbowl after beating a ridiculously overrated Vikings team, but we’ll make some noise and turn some heads. Next year is anybody’s guess. I’m just glad we have a team worth talking about this year. And the sky is the limit
October 26th, 2012 at 2:18 am
channeling miguel:
just like i called it. after those torture test 16×110 sprints that trashed our team, those tired legs healed after the bye. i knew it all along. how do you like our butch coach now? can’t wait until oregon steamrolls another pac12 great like asu saturday. you all are gonna see that we should have done everything we could to get chip the dip kelly. our offense sucks next to his.
October 26th, 2012 at 2:18 am
ok, my balls dropped and i’m myself again. great game bucs and martin!
October 26th, 2012 at 2:19 am
I’m still waiting for you Pete Dutcher. Don’t think you are getting away this easy!!!!
October 26th, 2012 at 2:25 am
Hawaiian Buc Says:
October 26th, 2012 at 12:57 am
I’m going to sit here and wait for all those who said “Martin wasn’t anything special”, “he shouldn’t be starting”, and “he’s only a 3rd down back” to eat a huge plate full of crow. You all know who you are, and so do I.
______________________________________________________
hahaha I was just about to post something similar.
You forgot “only good for three yards” “we need someone that can break runs” “this is why you don’t spend 1st round picks on a RB” among others that I remember. Eat up morons.
October 26th, 2012 at 2:32 am
@Lurker,
LMFAO… This offense is starting to gel and should be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. Martin is the real deal and I like the element that he brings to the Bucs. Freeman is growing before our eyes as well. I love it.
October 26th, 2012 at 2:42 am
@ Hawaiian
Yep, Martin had a nice game. They’ve adjusted the offense to help him out. I stand be my claim that he lacks patience. They are doing a ton of delayed hand offs to him because he struggles to let things develop in front of him. He is also now finally starting to get past the first guy that gets a hand on him instead of getting arm tackled.
He has gotten better since the first three or four games of the season. More than anything though, they adjusted the scheme to take more advantage of his ability in space and use him more in the passing game. I think those are two things I’ve suggested before in the past.
I guess when you watch the game from up on top of your stack of soap boxes it must look like none of the Bucs players have any flaws though. Good for you.
October 26th, 2012 at 2:46 am
“lacks patience” wtf! Were we watching the same game?!?!? He just had the 4th most yards in Bucs history, wake up.
October 26th, 2012 at 2:49 am
A little less then half his yards came after contact too (65yds, 5th most in the NFL this season) so flush that can’t break tackles crap down the toilet.
October 26th, 2012 at 2:55 am
@kh
Cadillac Williams has shoes in the Hall of Fame for how he started his career as a rookie. Is it alright if I remain skeptical about rookie RB’s?
Besides that, I just explained how they’re trying to help him read plays by delaying the hand off so he doesn’t take the ball and plow into the back of his offensive line. I don’t know how much more clear I can make that.
If that helps him to be more productive, then by all means, let it continue. I want to see our run game dominate as much as the next guy.
October 26th, 2012 at 2:56 am
whats next? that he doesn’t have vision….he clearly had patience as he ran up the hole and cut back outside to the left even after gaining 5 and ended up springing it for a 30 yarder…and who needs patience when you run that hard, i doubt Jim Brown was patient( and no i’m not even close comparing Doug Martin to Jim Brown)
October 26th, 2012 at 3:03 am
Nah Cadillac is in the past, I don’t think you’re being skeptical, you’re being ridiculous in the face of one of the best performances in Buccaneer history by a RB. Nitpicking his performance makes no sense.
Also, Martin has shown amazing patience waiting for the hole to develop, just about every analyst makes note of this, including Mayock a few times tonight. When Martin finds a hole he hits it hard, if it doesn’t look like a hole is going to open up he hits the line hard anyways, something that can’t be said for all the RBs on our team.
Martin was shredding the stout Vikings defense in the first half every time he touched the ball and they were not all delayed hand-offs, a lot of them were simple traps with Lorig lead blocking and guards pulling.
October 26th, 2012 at 3:14 am
Never nitpicked his performance from tonight. I think he had a really nice game. What I did point out was the adjustments to our running game scheme and screen pass game that have obviously been put in to take advantage of Martin’s abilities. I also pointed out that Martin has gotten better since the first three or four weeks. I’m not exactly sure what’s confusing about that?
October 26th, 2012 at 3:27 am
That’s truly ridiculous gotbucs. In fact, if you were watching the game, Mayock (who is by far the best analyst in the NFL) mentioned several times how patient of a runner he is. But then again, maybe he’s sitting on soap boxes with me. I’m sure you know more than him, right?
He has been due for big games, and it finally happened. The passing game being opened up has benefited him. The blocking has been considerably better. Ever since Larsen got out, he’s exploded. Coincidence? He almost never gets tackled in the backfield, and even when he does, he doesn’t go down without a fight. He’s twice the back Blount is, and I really like Blount. It’s not even close. You can pretend to know what you are talking about, but simply by saying he lacks patience, you can’t fool anyone.
October 26th, 2012 at 3:28 am
I swear, no matter what, there’s always got to be a hater out there. I’m just glad I’m not one of them.
October 26th, 2012 at 3:56 am
His patience is fine. I think in the first few weeks he was adjusting to the speed of the game and trying to rush things at times. Now, with better play calling, he seems to have hit his stride.
Now if only we can get him and Blount going at the same time.
October 26th, 2012 at 4:49 am
Let us not forget the two passes Martin dropped. The guy is flat out bad at catching passes.
I have absolutely no complaints of his game outside of that. The kid can ball. He just needs to focus on reeling the ball in.
October 26th, 2012 at 6:53 am
Martin had a great game, especially on the left side. I suspect the Raiders will force us to go right. I have to say if Martin can stay healthy with so many touches he is a force to be reckoned with. Am I mistaken or was all of Blount runs to the right? There is too much talent not to find a way to get him into the game more. I’m not sure Martin can hold out for 16 games and DJ Ware is just plain bad. Where is Smith?
October 26th, 2012 at 8:43 am
An Aston Martin combines three important elements: power, beauty and soul. Aston Martins are truly special – they always have been and always will be.
He’s My Favorite Martin!
October 26th, 2012 at 11:50 am
I thought the one run he started right then setup his blockers twice and cut back left was one of the best runs I have seen by a Buccaneer ever. Ian Beckles gave a little reference to Barry Sanders last night and Beckles rarely heaps praise on a running back like that. I doubted Martin a little bit earlier in the year but after we drafted him I checked out his highlight real on Youtube and was amazed at how many long runs this kid had. He might end up being the best running back we ever drafted but we have a long long way to go before we can ever say that. Regardless he has some incredible skills and a very strong desire to succeed. Thank god we have him.
October 26th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Unfortunately Blount doesn’t seem like the same runner of the past 2 years. He only had 16 yds on 8 carries, not good. lets hope nothing happens to sideline martin because if Blount cant do any better than that we would be in big trouble running the ball.
October 26th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Why parse it?? They finally showed they could play for the entire 60 minutes in a hostile, road environment and came out with a much needed win. They bought a new coach and receiver, and have been learning a new scheme. Seems the team is starting to gel a bit and the guys are becoming more versed in their jobs. Good win last night and am very happy they won one on a national stage last night. Bound to work wonders for their confidence.