Lowered Standards
December 17th, 2013
“I can’t even watch this offense at times.”
Yes, Joe has read all of your hate-Twitter the past two days. Sorry if Joe won’t lie to you to make you feel comfy at night. No, Joe does not know Bucs commander Greg Schiano is toast in two weeks. Joe does not know if offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan already has his house listed. Don’t try to trick Joe into writing such things.
Indications seem to suggest Schiano may return, but the two Joes who run this here corner of the Interwebs differ as to how sharp the wind vane is pointing.
Well, Tampa Tribune humorist Martin Fennelly believes that same wind vane should be pointing to an exit sign, but isn’t sure who should be behind the wheel of that U-Haul.
Fennelly witnessed the Bucs losing to the 49ers and came away with a sour taste in his mouth (and no, not because of the delicious Key Lime cheesecake that was offered at the game) after watching what masqueraded as a Bucs offense. Frankly, Fennelly believes Bucs fans are so desperate for anything positive, their standards have sunk to new lows.
And now the dark side: Those [two scoring] drives accounted for 172 yards, and the Bucs gained 11 yards combined on their 10 other possessions. That is astounding. Even against a great San Francisco defense. To be that schizoid, that all-or-nothing, calls, at the very least, for a new coordinator. It calls for more than that, really.
The defense, for all the moments it had, didn’t show at the critical juncture against the scrambling Kaepernick, particularly when he rolled right and found a wide-open receiver. Could that have happened a few hundred more times Sunday?
The Bucs played to keep it close into the fourth quarter. That was the strategy all week. Then they get nine points down and try to have Eric Page and Russell Shepard try to pull rabbits out of their hats. I don’t think either of those guys owns a rabbit or a hat.
Joe doesn’t know what blows him away most, the fact the Bucs averaged 1.1 yards per possesion on non-scoring drives or that the Bucs held the ball for a grand total of 105 seconds in the fourth quarter. Both stats make Joe want to vomit.
How can a team look so good on two drives yet so inept on the other 10 possessions that it would make even Father Dungy try to empty a bottle of Crown?
Granted, the 49ers have a good defense, but c’mon!
A couple of more offensive performances like that and it just won’t be Mike Sullivan interviewing for college gigs.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:17 am
I agree our standards have sunk. I liken to watching my Hawkeyes. I see us playing and sometimes I think “Wow, we are really good this year.” Then I might switch it over to an SEC game afterwords and I realize we are in two different universes when it comes to speed and talent. I see the same thing with our lowly Bucs. Even when we look good, watching a game from the top tier of teams shows just how pathetic we are. They look like a fine tuned, well oiled machine racing for the top speed in the world. We look like a flat tire rolling down a hill.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:25 am
Those of you clamoring for Glennon to stay must not have watched tape on him. There has been multiple times where players were open down the field & instead stared the checkdown down and dumped it off. This could also be what Schiano wants which could prove another point that he should get the hell out of here after this season.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:28 am
Good article! I was just discussing this with my buddies the other day how our standards as Bucs fans have lowered. Why should we be satisfied with a possible 4-12 season? I wish I had hope and optimism for this team going into next year, but I just do not. Maybe pick up a top notch wide out in the draft, have everyone back healthy, new offensive coordinator…we’ll see.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:41 am
Who “coaches the coaches” here?
December 17th, 2013 at 9:41 am
Losing has become the standard. Keeping the score close in a lose is now considered a moral victory. Its pathetic to watch.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:46 am
I fully believe Sullivan is gone. He will take the so-called “fall” for our offensive woes, rightfully so. He will walk the plank. Getting that out of the way… I have always wondered why a team goes to a fast tempo, scores, gets momentum, and then never goes back to the fast tempo again. I can only recall 2 drives where we sped up the game and Glennon smoked the SF defense. He is obviously comfortable and effective in this tempo. We should have continued with the hurry-up and maybe the results are different. Also, for the record, Rainey is not very good. Yes, he has made some nice runs, but he goes down on first contact. This, coupled with poor O-line play = disaster.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:53 am
Schiano will not get fired. I don’t see it happening but some changes will be made.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:55 am
Well, it seems to me that this is Shiano’s crap arse brand of football. Maybe they should look for someone that ran an NFL team, or at least an NFL offense or defense, or hey, maybe someone that ran a big college program with great success…
December 17th, 2013 at 9:57 am
@BigMacAttack….I agree.
December 17th, 2013 at 10:05 am
Bigmac may be right, but we will have to go through another year of Shiano crap ball. The standards have really dropped when the standard is “the team plays hard and does not give up” saves a coach with this bad a records job. I am usually part of the glass is half full crowd on this site, but not when it comes to this guy. Even Rutgers did better after he left. We are held back by this coaching staff, I say fire them all, we have seen many teams turn around much faster than this learn on the job jack ass coach has done. How is moving backwards the new standard.
December 17th, 2013 at 10:35 am
I thought the defense played pretty violent and physical. They jarred balls loose in the second half against very physical receivers. That said, the coverage was not what it should have been for the quarter of a billion dollar secondary.
December 17th, 2013 at 10:38 am
Enough of coaching not to lose! Enough of playing hard but no results showing a lack of scheme.
Message to Glazers: Last 5 years, 28-50 record. This is not working. You need to find someone to run this organization who knows how to run a football team.
December 17th, 2013 at 10:49 am
Bottom line Joe if Coach Schiano is retained, 2014 will be a lost season. By retaining Schiano it gives credence to his philosophy and the team’s direction, and if the ownership is good with the current team’s philosophy & direction we’re supporting a franchise that has low standards and no true championship aspirations.
December 17th, 2013 at 10:51 am
In the words fo John McKay, and a hat tip to all you old school Bucs fans, these quotes fit nicely…
“If you have everyone back from a team that lost ten games, experience isn’t too important.”
This one fits last Sunday perfect…
“We didn’t tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking.”
December 17th, 2013 at 11:05 am
I’m convinced our owner’s have no championship aspirations. This team hasn’t mattered to anyone for years. A few diehard fans don’t count.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:35 am
Schiano’s drafts are what is gonna save him. The team is on the right path, it just needs coaches that can put these pieces in a position to succeed.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:53 am
Bucsfaninchina,He is not the one that can do that…at least that is how it appears. If he comes back and has a winning season, I will be the first to say I was wrong. He has not shown anything at this point.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:58 am
You lost me at Martin Fennelly.
I don’t wast my time reading anything this moron has to say.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:11 pm
The thought of another year of this is stomach churning. If the Glazers are truly happy with Dominick and Schiano, then, I have less hope than ever.
The absolute best this duo could do is a wild card. Most years, third place. On years with lots of injuries, last place.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Don’t get me wrong, if I was a Glay-Boy, I would have fired Schiano week 5 and brought Chucky back for $10/mil yr.
I do believe now that Schiano has the makings of good D Coordinator. He could work for Chucky.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
I think Jerrah will hire Chucky to replace Ginger in Dallas.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Chucky will NEVER return to Tampa as a coach. Tampa would not have him for one thing, and he would refuse for another.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:16 pm
I want to get a QB in the first round. If that means firing Schiano, then so be it. But I do like him and prefer he stays.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Where are all these great 1st round QBs? I know the pundits like to say this is a deep QB draft. I just don’t see it. Besides Bridgewater, who are they?
I see mostly guys that need a few years of seasoning at a minimum.
It’s not that I’m sold on Glennon. I like him though. But, I see zero saviors out there. I’d rather try to snag Foles, etc.
Blake Bortles? The UCLA QB? McCarron? I’m not sold.
December 17th, 2013 at 1:54 pm
Iagree with Oil.
December 17th, 2013 at 1:59 pm
“How can a team look so good on two drives yet so inept on the other 10 possessions that it would make even Father Dungy try to empty a bottle of Crown?”
Coaching. Mind numbingly stupid coaches. Rotten from the head down, especially when the competing for their jobs.
Ray Perkins wrote their game plans a decade ago.
December 17th, 2013 at 9:05 pm
How? That’s easy…. remember that amusement park ride, that roller coaster we shipped off to Minnesota??? Yeah, that’s right that inconsistent, up and down roller coaster…. well, we didn’t ship the actual ride there, only the guy running the ride, pushing the start/stop button. The ride is still right here in RJS, and we have a new kid pushing the start/stop button now. Just as inconsistent and up and down as ever.
Now, before you go all “He’s a Freemanite!!!” on me, let me explain this is not about Freeman or Glennon. It’s simply that the team was not much different with Freeman at QB as with Glennon. It’s still up and down, feast or famine, 1.1 yard per drive or 80 yard bomb to score. It never has been the QB, that’s what you all seem to misunderstand. The system, the scheme, the coaching is what makes up this roller coaster. The routes, the play design, that’s what makes it uphill and slow or downhill and blazing fast.
Look at last year. The team started slow for Schiano, only beating Carolina in the first quarter of the season… then they get on fire, breaking offensive records, one of the best in the NFL, then they fizzle out and come to a stop at 7-9 before letting the next passengers on.
This year, they start slow, 0-8. They picked up steam, winning a few before fizzling out at the end.
Look at the games. We start slow, come back, get the lead, then fizzle out and die at the end. Other games we start on fire, then slowly fizzle to the end. Either way, we can’t maintain for one game over the last two years, much less a stretch of more than 5 or 6 games. Why?
The team is unprepared to start the season, still learning things other teams had in place in OTAs. When we figure it out in October or November we have a little run. Then other teams figure us out and we fail to adjust (just like in games) and we fizzle to the end.
The QB was never the roller coaster, simply the one operating the ride he was given and the one blamed when the passengers got sick. Glennon, Freeman, Johnny Football… doesn’t matter. Not until we get a football coaching staff in here instead of Barnum and Bailey
December 18th, 2013 at 8:35 am
@ bambam- very accurate assessment.
The Bucs need a QB in the draft. Hopefully it will be done by a new GM & HC. I don’t trust the current staff with that job. Good quarterbacks are not always first round picks ( Wilson & Kapernic). If the right people are in place its possible. This staff is built off the scrap heap. There’s a reason nobody else wants them.