The Biggest Upgrade
June 24th, 2013
From worst to first. Those are magical words in sports rarely experienced.
But the Bucs have seen their share of worst-to-first magic. The Bucs won the NFC Central division in 1979, and NFC South titles in 2005 and 2007, after last place finishes. And the New Schiano Order’s No. 1 ranked run defense last season was a complete about face from Raheem Morris’ league-worst run defense in 2011.
In a breakdown of units that could be the NFL’s best in 2013, NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling believes the Bucs’ secondary could be the NFL’s best, a complete 180 from the historic mess of last season.
If Revis’ recovery from knee surgery goes half as smoothly as those of Adrian Peterson and Robert Griffin III, the Bucs will have the league’s premier lockdown cornerback to go with veteran Eric Wright and ball-hawking second-round draft pick Johnthan Banks. Pairing Goldson with the hard-hitting Mark Barron gives the Bucs a safety tandem with the potential to rival the Seattle Seahawks’ Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor as the NFL’s best. A pass defense that ranked dead last in 2012 could be one of the league’s stingiest in 2013.
But as SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Pat Kirwan has preached loudly of late, for the secondary to truly be the NFL’s best, the front line needs to get heat on the quarterback.
That is a great mystery for the Bucs this season.
June 24th, 2013 at 8:10 am
Kirwan has a point but much depends on the system and coaching too. Way too many useless stunts and blitzes last season.
June 24th, 2013 at 8:19 am
I always felt that pressure and good coverage go hand in hand. We should have top notch coverage this year, we have good lineman, an extra second to get to the quarterback is just what the doctor ordered. There was simply no way that we were going to get a bunch of sacks with the 2nd worst pass defense ever. It just wasn’t going to happen. Idk about you guys, I can’t wait to see McCoy this year! I bet he gets double digit sacks, seemed like he was always in the backfield getting pressure and disrupting running plays. Such a beast!
June 24th, 2013 at 8:27 am
Don’t forget we have a new secondary coach, Tony Oden….and maybe…just….maybe he will be the one to bring Myron to his top potential. I can’t wait!!!
June 24th, 2013 at 8:47 am
The good news is that there is nowhere to go but up for the D-line. The Bad news is that it has been the worst D-line the last 4 seasons in avg Sacs. They could finish in the twenty’s and that would be considered a vast improvement.
June 24th, 2013 at 8:57 am
@Realist
Love the optimism today. Keep up the good posts!
June 24th, 2013 at 9:10 am
@Walter
exactly!
June 24th, 2013 at 9:21 am
Our ability or inability to get pressure on the QB, will determine our fate this year. W/O a Pass Rush, and with all day to throw, even Revis will soon get exposed by Brees and Matty Ice, as well as Cam Newton.
If Clayborne and Bowers don’t pan out as the pass rushers they were drafted to be, we are going to finish last in the NFC South this year, again.
They did not do it last year, so it is hard to understand why they will this year, unless they are counting on that extra second or so that Revis will give us, along with Gholston and Banks.
I sure hope it works out for us, this year.
June 24th, 2013 at 9:43 am
Geez, how hard is it…
If your corners can’t cover for more than a second or two of course your pass rush is going to be non-existant, as the QB will always be able to find a open receiver before his back foot hits that third step in a 3 step drop, which was what killed us last season. With the additions of Revis, Goldson & Banks the line should have that extra 3-4 seconds to get to the QB. Pass rush and pass coverage go hand in hand, you cannot separate the two, if one is bad the other will suffer. I expect a much different look to our pass defense this season, less stunting and more straight ahead rushing coming from the inside and more sacks from the ends.
June 24th, 2013 at 10:11 am
@Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning
The extra second in coverage will make a huge difference on how many sacks we get this year. Watch and see. Go back and watch footage from last year. It seemed on almost every passing play we were within a mere second away form getting the sack.
June 24th, 2013 at 1:04 pm
Our biggest upgrade is that our head coach has go his feet wet ,we also upgraded assistant coaches , we will be better this year but it starts at the top
June 24th, 2013 at 5:37 pm
How does Wesseling even know if RGIII’s surgery went smoothly? He’s yet to get on the field just like Revis. Guy sounds like he has no clue and is just typing stuff that is reserved for television fluff.
June 24th, 2013 at 9:03 pm
A 15th ranked pass defense would have probably put us in the playoffs last year. This unit doesn’t have to set the world on fire, they just need to keep other offenses from lighting us up.
June 24th, 2013 at 10:12 pm
I have a feeling our D-line will start out the season looking like it has for the past several years. Then about Game 7 it will be breakout time.