Wrong Pregame Emotional State Hurt Tackling?
October 3rd, 2012
Who knew the leader of the New Schiano Order, a man of details and discipline, was a guy who would pin poor tackling on the emotional state of his players?
It surprised Joe went defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan went there yesterday while explaining the Bucs’ poor first-half tackling.
“It was really unlike we had played in previous games. And I think Greg did a great job. He pointed out to the players afterwards that sometimes that can be like a reflection of where they’re at emotionally going into the game,” Sheridan said. “Because I thought we had tackled well going in the previous games and it was kind of uncanny, especially in the first half.”
So why were the Bucs in such a funk “emotionally” that they couldn’t tackle?
Were they subconsciously avoiding feeling guilty about actually tackling with Raheem Morris watching on the sidelines? Something that didn’t happen last season?
Joe can’t think of another reason. This is all very bizarre.
It’s freakin’ professional football. Have some pride. Eleven missed first-half tackles like the Bucs had Sunday is shameful, especially on the home turf before fans that have been abused enough by losses in 13 of 14 games.
A defense’s emotional state should be all about ripping the offensive players’ guts out, especially in the first half before fatigue is an issue. That’s what fans are paying hard-earned cash to see.
Joe’s not sure how Schiano prevents the Bucs from having another pregame emotional breakdown, but Joe suspects the head coach will find a way.
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:11 am
Maybe the whole team needs a shrink? Geeez!
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:19 am
Or how about a vocal leader on the team ala Ray Lewis? “Revenge is a meal best served cold” that speech gets me pumped up and im sitting in an office.
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:30 am
Uncertainty over not have Clayborn? Maybe missed his effort that indirectly causes them to raise their game? Just brainstorming…
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:31 am
Maybe the offensive game plan practiced during the week is causing the defense to get deflated before game day.
I’m sure like every other fan they want to see Freeman be a Free-Man so he can do his magic.
If the running game is not working Freeman should have the green light to run. Some how the our offense must keep the other team’s defense guessing. Otherwise, 4 and 12 is coming our way again.
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:44 am
“…Joe can’t think of another reason. This is all very bizarre…”
I think the whole coaching staff is bizarre. They may have changed the culture regarding attitude with the Bucs, but there seems to be a huge blindspot in their vision.
Thanks to Madden, there are 13 year-old kids who have a better idea of how to attack an opposing defense based on their offensive personnel. Those same kids probably won’t blitz their defenses ad nauseum in the fourth quarter when trying to protect a lead to close out games either.
Even with Freeman’s struggles, in my opinion every loss can be traced back to fatal errors made by the coaches regarding either scheme, philosophy, or game mgmt.
The fundamental ignorance of this staff is blatant and embarrassing…
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:45 am
The Little General probably took a break from the 4 hours of pregame urinating, snacking, drinking cold drinks and smoking Marlboros to collect all the fines issued from the first three games. Players were allowed one phone call to arrange financially to pay up or be cut.
The emotional stress was probably too great to think about football, RG3 and the Redskin’s field goal kicker.
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:58 am
Weird coach = team with multiple personalities. Look for more deflating losses, stunning wins and head-scratching inconsistency.
October 3rd, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Josh Freeman’s ineptitude = “Emotional” lack of tackling.
Josh needs to start playing better, consistently. If Josh can get back to the 2010 form, then we would be a sumbitch.
October 3rd, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Playing defense with emotion is going to get a lot of 15 yd penalties. Hell Barron didn’t tuck RG-3 in when he put him down for his nap and got flagged for it.
October 3rd, 2012 at 1:11 pm
I think you may be misinterpreting what he is saying. They very well could have gone into this game overconfident, especially with Washington missing so many players (most thought they would be without Trent Williams and Pierre Garcon). No matter what they say, players on all teams do this. I don’t see anything in this statement that seems bizarre. Even the best teams come out to some games not fully ready, and this may have been the case against Washington.
October 3rd, 2012 at 1:44 pm
It was “Raheems Ghost” a syndrome I have posted about on other sites
October 3rd, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Bizarre thoughts, Raheem’s Ghost, Multiple personalities, Madden’s teaching 13 year olds? Sounds like you guys need to be on the SyFy or A&E Channel!
October 3rd, 2012 at 2:10 pm
I always find it funny that guys….er 13 year olds, think they know the game through a friggin VIDEO GAME!
October 3rd, 2012 at 2:34 pm
They teach military tactics through a friggin video game.
The teach kids how to fly drones and kill people with Hellfire missiles in foreign countries through a friggin video game.
October 3rd, 2012 at 3:10 pm
OAR “Raheems Ghost” is real, I saw it last sunday
October 3rd, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Actually what I interpret from your story is that the defense threw the game for good ole Rah……you cant be saying that can you?
October 3rd, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Bucfan
No way is this team a ghost of Raheem!
October 3rd, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Jockstrap Magnifico
I believe they’re called simulators, and drones require a person at the controls, because it’s friggin mechanical! Football coaches aren’t robots and they don’t require a controller.
You show me one coach with Madden or any video game on his resume and I’ll show you one hell of a poor coach!
October 3rd, 2012 at 5:53 pm
I believe Hardy Nickerson was the Madden champion of the earlier Bucs, if I remember correctly. All of the Bucs played.
October 3rd, 2012 at 6:22 pm
@OAR
How is it that Schiano is just now realizing that he has deep threats in Vincent Jackson & Mike Williams even though we’ve played against some average secondaries?
Why is Freeman literally required to wear leg braces when his legs aren’t injured? [WTF!!!???]
Why would you rush your hamster 71 times to the tune of about 2 yds a pop while your other RB (that has averaged 4-5 yds PLUS) has only seen the field less than ten times?
When we will see some elaborate coverage defenses in the final minutes to preserve wins instead of sellout blitz schemes that are transparent, don’t work, and open the field up to make opposing QB’s look like Joe Montana?
This coaching staff doesn’t seem to know their personnel (especially on offense). WHY? One Buc Palace is a premiere facility! Does it not include the ability to watch the past game tape of Buc players? Have the 2010 tapes been deleted?
You don’t have to show me a poor coach, I see one every week with a Buc’s polo shirt on. His approach regarding gameday is BIZARRE!
October 3rd, 2012 at 6:52 pm
@PewterC,
Schiano requires the QB to wear a brace on his knee to prevent an injury. QB’s often have their plant leg hit by defenders, and wearing a knee brace helps decrease the chances of him getting hurt. As someone who recently started having to wear a knee brace while playing basketball, I can confirm that after a few weeks, you forget it’s even there (although it totally blows the first couple weeks). Why is that a problem? And Schiano is not the only coach to do such a thing. I understand a lot of the criticism Schiano gets (comes with the territory when you lose), but I just don’t understand griping about meaningless stuff like this. Why don’t you complain about what color underwear they wear too?
What makes you think Schiano has been telling Freeman to not throw deep? I’ve seen tons of times where Jackson or Williams runs a go route, and Freeman takes his check down. Do you really think they are sending them on go routes, yet telling him not to throw it there? That’s ridiculous, and I know you know it’s not the case. If Freeman is scared to make a mistake, then that’s on him, not the coaches. He knows damn well he’s not going to get pulled for Dan freaking Orlovsky. Freeman has more job security than any other QB in the league. Freeman has been gun shy, don’t pin it on the coaches. I guess you expect the coaches to go to him and tell him “it’s okay for you to throw the deep ball Josh, we will still support you”. This aint kindergarten.
As for the running game, the holes simply aren’t there. A blind man can see that. We absolutely cannot run to the right side, period. We run to the same side every single running play. That’s pretty easy to defend. They are so desperate that they are going to try Trueblood out as a guard. That tells you something, don’t you think? I want Blount to get more touches, but he’s not going to run for 5 yards per carry with that type of blocking. No one will. Watch the game and tell me there’s holes to run through. You won’t, because there isn’t.
October 3rd, 2012 at 7:02 pm
I always think its laughable how some fans really truly believe that they know more about football than the coaches. It’s too ridiculous for words! If you only knew how funny that sounds, mainly because you actually believe it. Raheem Morris has forgotten more football than any of us will ever know. I would love to have you sit in on a coaches meeting, and admire the confused look on your face 2 minutes in. How many games have any of you won coaching football? What have you done (besides being really good at Madden) to qualify you to evaluate what a coach should and shouldn’t do?
October 3rd, 2012 at 10:25 pm
@ Hawaiian Buc
Ok, I’ll accept that answer as far as the leg braces. I’ll be the first to admit that Freeman has his flaws because I’m certainly not apologizing for him either. But the losses are definitely NOT ALL ON HIM.
If Mike Williams and my $55 million WR are not getting the ball deep when they are open then you know what i’d do? I’d do some major sideline coaching -OR- I’d get in my QB’s face (since apparently I’d have no problem with doing that when my “Victory Huddle Defense” doesn’t execute accordingly with 1 second on the clock).
No one is claiming to know more than the coaches who have spent their entire careers on the job. That’s what is so appalling about the situation: This coaching staff who supposedly has more knowledge in their pinky fingers than any of us are making some of the most preposterous decisions imaginable on gameday. Furthermore, this omniscient-all-knowing coaching staff is about as flexible as a steel rod during the game. The adjustments they make seem to be indiscernible to non-existent.
The OL, although somewhat disappointing, is not totally to blame for the run game either. The hamster (who is not being used effectively btw) is missing cutback opportunities. There ARE holes being made, but with no deep threat they close more quickly than normal. Also why haven’t we seen Blount practically all season??? Because of coaching that’s why…
Don’t sit there and try to act like Schiano & Company are not KEY ELEMENTS in these wretched losses. IT STARTS WITH THEM…
October 3rd, 2012 at 10:38 pm
It’s amazing how some of these fans have their heads so far up the coaches rear ends that they can’t see the light of day that is so apparent to everyone else. Schiano doesn’t make adjustments until he’s grilled during post game press conferences!
Even though I mentioned Madden tongue in cheek, sometimes I wonder if he COULD benefit from it. It’s obvious to everyone that SCHIANO CAN’T SEE THE FOREST BECAUSE OF THE TREES, yet you still have a small number of fans who accept his narrow-minded vision regardless. SMH…
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:07 pm
@PewterC,
By no means am I saying Schiano and company don’t bear some responsibility in these losses. As for getting in Freeman’s face, there’s no telling if they are or aren’t doing that behind the scenes. I don’t think that would necessarily be a good idea, because Freeman doesn’t strike me as someone who would respond well to that, as he seems to be in somewhat of a fragile state. You also certainly don’t want to tell a QB where to throw the ball before the play, because that’s how you force things. I think most, if not all, coaches tell them to go through their progressions like in practice. From there, it’s up to Freeman to make the correct reads. But I certainly am not in love with the playcalling.
As for the adjustments made, I highly doubt there are no adjustments made. However, as fans we normally interpret adjustments as improvements. Often times there are adjustments made, but no improvements. I don’t think they are changing their philosophy or gameplan, but I do think they are making adjustments. You also have to remember that the other team makes adjustments too. Unless you have inside knowledge of the play calls or are in the locker room, you really don’t know.
I agree that Martin has missed some cutback runs. Can’t really defend him on those, and to be honest, I’m really surprised by it. But there really hasn’t been that many, but he does have to make those. However, there is no way in hell Blount is even capable of cutting those runs back. That’s not his strength. The real crime is that all of our runs seem to be very similar in nature, and almost always to the same side. But I absolutely agree with you that the biggest problem in the running game is that we can’t throw the ball.
As for having our heads up the coaches rear, that’s simply not true. However, I believe in Schiano and what he’s trying to do. I don’t have much choice anyway. It won’t happen overnight, no matter how bad we want it too. We are coming from absolute rock bottom. I guarantee you if we start slinging the ball around like the Green Bay Packers, we won’t even be competitive. I hate losing close, but not as much as getting the crap kicked out of us. We’ve been in every game so far, and the reality is that if we were 3-1 or 4-0, Schiano would be the greatest. But we aren’t, so he deserves some of the criticism. However, the worst thing possible would be for him to go away from what he has been coaching the players since he got here. Coaches don’t change their philosophies, certainly not after 4 games.
October 4th, 2012 at 8:27 am
Hawaiian
Thanks for replying to PewterC. I agree with everything and would have said the similar!
I know I don’t know more than any coach or player. I know the game and learn more and more every year, but couldn’t coach a game. I too think its funny how fans think they know more than coaches/play calling, especially when they think a 13 yr old knows more about coaching/play calling from playing a video game! TOO F’N FUNNY!
BTW I have said this before and will repeat it…this is a new head coach and coaching staff, new offensive and defensive schemes, several new players. I’m amazed at our turn around and progress! We’ve been competitive and been in all the games, something lost last year. I actually love the fact we have an identity, something Raheem’s team never had in all of his years.
October 4th, 2012 at 8:33 am
BTW I’m not rectum blind. I know we still have plenty of concerns on both sides of the ball. Were not perfect or great by any means, but Im willing to give them more time, especially the way weve been playing.