Lavonte David Had Company
September 10th, 2013
Leonard Johnson’s holding penalty late in the game led to the Jets kicking a then-go ahead field goal.
Yes, Lavonte David will have to do something spectacular (win a Super Bowl?) for the football world to forget his egregious mistake of helping the zebras throw a flag to give the Jets a last gasp chance to win a game, which is exactly what happened Sunday.
He wasn’t the only one. Bucs cornerback Leonard Johnson had a bad mistake too, but not nearly as terrible as David’s.
The Jets’ second-to-last possession ended in a field goal giving Gang Green a brief lead, the Bucs defense got off the field successfully, but no, there was a yellow hanky on the field. It was because Johnson was whistled for holding. First down Jets, drive alive.
When Joe asked Johnson after the game if he felt the call was unjust, Johnson pleaded a loss of memory.
“I don’t know what call you are talking about,” Johnson said. “I honestly can’t remember. I honestly can’t remember.”
Well, Joe guesses in a good way, that should be applauded. Aren’t cornerbacks taught to have a short memory?
Yes, Johnson’s penalty was bad, but at least it didn’t cost the Bucs the game. Hopefully, the Bucs someday, with David playing a huge role, get to the Super Bowl so David’s play can be forgotten like Johnson forgot his penalty.
Joe has to applaud David, Johnson and the rest of the Bucs. After such a stomach-turning loss, each and every one was available to speak of the loss, like Buccaneer Men; they didn’t duck and hide in a training room.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Does anyone have a link to the Schiano and Martin shows from last night?
September 10th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Without L Johnson’s penalty, David would have never gotten his.
The whole team played like ass though, it’s not just one play or one penalty that loses the game – it’s all the bad plays and all 100 yards worth of penalties.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:42 pm
Johnson is defensive cancer. He has filled in admirably for EJ Biggers. Banks needs to study EXTRA hard and get on the field opposite Revis.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:44 pm
I’m not sure how to feel about this one. When I watched the replay, LJ was burnt toast on that route and had to hang on for dear life to stay in the play. If he doesn’t hold, I’m not sure Geno doesn’t hit that receiver then we’re talking about a big gain. He did the right(ish) thing, problem was he got caught. Given that Doc’s not bringing the Delorian around anytime soon, we’ll never know what that outcome could’ve been.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:45 pm
geno smith had a 80.6 passer rating because everytime he needed a completion he went to leonard johnson’s man. Can someone tell me why last year it was ok to start undrafted rookies but this year you draft one in the 2nd round but you dont start him…is greg schiano really saying leonard johnson is better.
for as long as ronde barber dominated from the slot, every buc fan knows what it should look like and johnson is the weak link in this defense…defense was phyical and i loved it but was i the only one baffled by the stunts and coverages they ran? once you saw the level revis was playing at, you should have had one high safent with barron focusing on the only receiver we didnt send to the locker room
September 10th, 2013 at 12:48 pm
our defense is great but in the last second drive you rush 3 and drop 8 but they manage to find a receiver wide open….it was deja vu all over again, in this division if you cant outcoach the top dawgs for saints and falcons then what was the point of spending all that money for players….dominick lucky you mr. i get to disappear during the season and escape criticizm
September 10th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
And a personal foul penalty on Goldson or Barron caused a drive to extend for 7 points at end of the half. To just pinpoint LVD for the loss is blind and assinine. To say he needs to win a superbowl to make up for this is also ridiculous. Who is the last Buc to have a Tfl,passes broken up,pickoff and a sack in 1 game?? Time to move on, it is easy for anyone to criticize a player, if they are so critical maybe they can strap and show LVD how he is supposed to do it.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:02 pm
jvato24
yea i here you my friend but more so than the players because everyone knew they would look rusty but this week its time to put the offense and defensive coordinators under the microscope. we know the saints will score and we know our defense is good but really how good is jets offense? we will see how they game plan for a real oppenent thats in our division that we should know well…lets look at how they game plan for this one
September 10th, 2013 at 1:07 pm
@buc4lyfe
The line stunts in obvious passing situations frustrated me to no end. Joe mentioned the play that had Gerald McCoy run almost completely around the NT and DE before he started towards the QB. Is that the best way to utilize your pro bowl DT? Have him run away from the QB?
Not sure this defense can get away that kind of stuff versus Brees or Br-ady.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:08 pm
jvato24
I agree 100%. the game just has wayyy too many plays that build up on top of one another that leads to the end of the game. way too many penalties led to way too many points. Period. Hopefully they learned from this move past it and come out playing better against the Aints. But to put the whole game on Lavonte is just crazy.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:11 pm
I think people don’t quite understand Joe’s position on the LVD play. His penalty is the only one where you can say for sure that if it had not happened, we walk away with the win. Yes, if other mistakes hadn’t happened earlier we “may” have pulled it off but if Lavonte doesn’t give Geno a friendly shove their then we are guaranteed 1-0 right now. He is not why we lost this game but his penalty sealed it.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:13 pm
*there not their
September 10th, 2013 at 1:25 pm
so what were all saying is who cares about sacks..atlanta went 13-3 and was 26 in sacks last year, its about pressure and schemes and i dont anyone expects sean payton to be outcoach, everyone is up in arms because we dont have a qb but our head coach is no more up to par than freeman is, i saw the goldson hit and i heard schiano’s stupid explanation, he’s like raheem he talks without saying anything. What i saw was goldson hit this guy chest level, if thats the only legal place to hit someone bigger and taller than you, how it is possible to avoid alittle helmet contact because he did lead with the shoulder, yea the helmets touched but these are men, they are top athletes, each hit is like a car crash when two people are running at full speed. My only problem is i dont see us fitting our offensive or defensive schemes to fit our talent
September 10th, 2013 at 1:30 pm
why after you saw how good revis was playing do you think he needed safety help over the top? why after we saw brian leonard earn the 3rd down back spot did he get not one single carry instead they suprise you by rolling him out at fullback, with that front of the jets i would have been happier getting one of the o or d lineman to plow the way for martin or get your bigger back carries…what do we have peyton hillis for? ogletree wasnt a focus, so all we got to see was that big time drop. all this after two weeks of preparing for the jets? a team with no offensive power, we knocked out most of their starters so really winslow should have been taken away. This guy schiano knows football but he doesnt know nfl head coaching.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:33 pm
relax fans its all about how you finish not how you start in the nfl. go bucs
September 10th, 2013 at 1:35 pm
dominick showed d. brooks the door so disrespectfully so classless. michael bennett fine he’s gone but he left as if he hadnt been here as long as he was and with no backup just the assumption bowers was the answer but he was wrong. did the same thing to our slot receiver from last year assuming ogletree was the guy but again why get rid of your back up plan.
it’s sad to me because we finally have the team we wanted but we have to wait for inexperienced coordinators and the head coach to grow up and catch up with the league…mark tresman in chicago dont we have just as much talent, he’s a first time head coach but didnt chicago look prepared? kansas city didnt miss a beat hiring a coach with credentials. sorry shaun king was on the money with his assesment, the coachs looked just as lost as freeman
September 10th, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Thank you West Coast.
September 10th, 2013 at 3:13 pm
@buc4lyfe…I agree 100%. It is also apparent that the coaches have no faith in Freeman. That headset issue IMO just shows that coaches will not allow Freeman to call a play by himself in those situations. They should have planned for a situation like that. The coaches stood there confused. And can someone please tell me why Josh never takes off running when nobody is open? The threat of him running the ball once in a while would really help the O. It just seems to me the coaches don’t want Free to succeed and are just waiting for a few more games until they can bring in the Rookie.
September 10th, 2013 at 10:20 pm
@Tackleblockwin: Exactly. In 2010, even though it was a weak schedule, that was a huge part of our O- critical to its success. Trying to turn 5 Year Rookie into Tom Brady was foolish. I’m sort of coming around to the idea that he would be pretty under some real coaches, even if Chip Kelly didn’t want any part of him- not his style. He really did have some great throws Sunday- he usually does sporadically, but half his game has been taken away.
As for David- he’s a man and a future great. I’ve been reading couch potatoes and fry cooks on Twitter, etc. call for his head. They’ll be changing their tune right quick- mere days, in fact.