Time To Quit Milking The Clock
December 12th, 2013
Just in case you missed it (Joe knows his readers slave away each day for The Man and may not always catch every word here), Joe did research to show how rotten the Bucs were offensively in the second halves of games.
This was never more evident than in the win over the bungling Bills, when the Bucs forced seven takeaways and still struggled to pile points on the Bills Sunday.
For the season, the Bucs average 5.15 points a game in the second half. Re-read that sentence again to let it sink in. Even Father Dungy would be appalled with those offensive numbers.
Part of the mystery for the woeful offensive last Sunday was uncloaked by Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon. Yesterday, Glennon said, in so many words, the Bucs offense took the foot off the gas in the final 30 minutes on purpose.
“When thinking of last week when you have such a big lead and your defense is playing so well, really, our job as an offense is to not turn the ball over and give them a chance to get back into the game and give them short field position,” Glennon said. “That was a big mindset, we wanted to milk the clock a little and not give them a chance to get back in the game. We were up 24-3 and with how well our defense was playing, we had a confidence as an offense that we knew that as long as we didn’t have any costly mistakes, we knew that our defense would take care of the rest of the game.”
Now there are a number of ways of looking at this but in Joe’s eyes, if the defense was playing that great, than one turnover, for example, with a three-touchdown lead shouldn’t be an obstacle to trying to put points on the board.
There is an old football saying of “letting an opponent hang around.” By playing turtle and going into a shell offensively, you are setting the table for your opponent to rally and get back in the game.
Yesterday, Bucs commander Greg Schiano stated emphatically that offensive points will be at a premium given how good the 49ers are. So this notion of playing not to lose — which Glennon all but admitted the Bucs were doing in the second half last Sunday — simply cannot happen, if by some chance the Bucs find themselves with a lead in the second half.
No more milking!
December 12th, 2013 at 8:17 am
There is a time to milk the clock but starting the 2nd half isn’t it…..good teams stay agressive as long as they can. Fans pay to see Offense & Defense…..Our second half problems can be placed squarely on the coaching…..and, in particular….Sully!!!
December 12th, 2013 at 8:25 am
This offensive style is difficult to watch because it counts on the defense holding the opponents single digits to win games. It’s so conservative that its easy to defend. Run 1st & 2nd down and pass on 3rd and long. For this offense to put up points they need to pass a lot more or this game may get ugly.
December 12th, 2013 at 9:50 am
After the game I wanna see how many ppl come out for Glennon and Schiano cuz we aren’t playing the bottom dwellers anymore. We only do decent against them an go back to being porous on defense and stagnant on offense. I hear the excuses now Glennon only a rookie the 4 era d does that to everybody. …at some point an time u have to stop giving credit to the other Team and give credit to yourself hard work hard effort and good play calling results in victory against good teams. We are capable of beating good teams we just don’t because of coaching and not being on the same page good O bad D or good D bad O. Either way enough with the excuses shyt or get off the pot but stop dragging down our record year after year after year then sugarcoating it with excuses of why it’s acceptable to be this terrible and misguided .
December 12th, 2013 at 9:52 am
49ers defense ^
December 12th, 2013 at 9:57 am
In addition to that Joe, isn’t this a perfect opportunity to get Glennon quality, pressure free time at refining his QB skills? I have coached, and I don’t understand why other coaches try to run the clock out; and that early in the game too.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:00 am
When we almost beat the sea hawks no one was saying how it’s the sea hawks we was supposed to lose… no u saw great effort on both sides of the field aggressive play calling and you seen results until we reverted back to what took is 0-8 then everybody want to say o it’s the sea hawks they’re really good. News flash we are to when we are set on the right path if we do what’s needed you’ll see the results like the 1st half of the sea hawks game. My point being is when we get spanked by the miners it’s not because we are not capable of beating them even though that’s what Schiano is trying to get the word out on with all this slandering pr of how all this isn’t his fault but we can if we are set on the right path.not his stubborn path of his vision of what he wants weather it works or not
December 12th, 2013 at 10:00 am
They milked the entire second half of the game vs the Bills. That made it a very boring game.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:02 am
Actually, Joe, ‘Father’ Dungy probably thinks Coach Schiano is wild and reckless for scoring 5.15 points in so short a time (LOL). I remember one of the defensive players saying (Lynch, I believe) that if the Bucs lost a game by the score of three to *nothing*, Coach Dungy would blame the defense for letting the other team score. He laughed when he said it, but there’s more truth hidden in there if you look at the decline of the Bucs during Coach Dungys’ last three years.
When you have a team 24-3, and it’s even uglier than the score indicates, I’m OK with milking the clock for two quarters. But we all know, including *most* coaches, that you can’t do that every time you have a 24-3 lead. Opponent, and circumstances have to guide the coaches’ decisions.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:11 am
So if you average 5 points a second half don’t u think you can take this “LIVE PRACTICE TIME” to get better since we are clearly struggling on offense and you don’t feel threatened to lose this game… or I guess doing the same ol stuff you been doing will change the result right?? Pure stubbornness an that’s what’s harming us n the long run being to stubborn to try things differently I can see staying the path if it was producing a 8-0 record but not the other way around. You can’t justify being terrible n the 2nd half of games by saying we won’t try to do anything n this second half because it’s not needed to win…even if it’s not needed to win it might b needed to get your offense gelling an more live time so that maybe for your last 3 games u don’t follow the trend and score 15 points total n the last 3 halfs…..Assclown at its finest
December 12th, 2013 at 10:14 am
Joe, this just adds to the list of problems this coach and his staff have had in the last two years. This Sunday you will see the S.F. 49 blitzs this young quarterback and take away that dink and donk junk, because they have film on him now. This offense is designed for a running quarterback,that is the reason they thought Freeman would be successful.This coaching staff know that the quarterback is the problem,but will never admit it because their is no one else to blame.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:33 am
That is an absolutely retching stat.
“This offense is designed for a running quarterback”
Whuh??????????????? When and where did you get this from? The Giants offense wasn’t running with Eli. Nor was the Rutgers offense.
Further, people complained that the staff was stopping Freeman from running. Which would be the opposite of this running QB idea.
December 12th, 2013 at 10:54 am
@Oil…You beat me to it…
December 12th, 2013 at 10:56 am
Sometimes when the Bucs are losing in the 2nd half they still look like they are milking the clock. Hard to believe the same team can be so aggressive on Defense but so conservative on Offense. I believe in the old Bobby Bowden philosophy that the best way to protect your lead is to make it bigger, and if you are behind you do everything you can to catch up. The Defense now seems to have that killer instinct, now Coach needs to spread it to the other side of the ball
December 12th, 2013 at 10:57 am
Is there anything untrue about my points or do we agree Schiano will b out coached on Sunday an Glennon will b put in impossible situations due to coaching on sunday?
December 12th, 2013 at 11:03 am
Oil Derrick Brooks Says:
December 12th, 2013 at 10:33 am
That is an absolutely retching stat.
“This offense is designed for a running quarterback”
Whuh??????????????? When and where did you get this from? The Giants offense wasn’t running with Eli. Nor was the Rutgers offense.
When defense cori
December 12th, 2013 at 11:07 am
Oil Derrick Brooks,
When defense’s catches up with your offense you become the Buc’s, Rutgers and the Giants, look at these team records.
December 12th, 2013 at 11:38 am
@Joe
Forgot to say Thank You for giving us Kate this morning
December 12th, 2013 at 12:10 pm
I kind of like how we match up against the 49’rs. They like to run…we are good against the run. We like to run…they are good against the run. They’ve got a good Pass D and so do we. Where the game hinges is on the run game. They have the worst passing offense in the league….we are one spot in front of them. The difference is that they don’t attempt a lot of passes because they have a successful running game. If we stop that and force them to throw the ball and get some turnovers….that could be where we get the edge. They have weapons in Crabtree, Boldin, and Vernon Davis so if they do decide to pass we have to put pressure on Kaepernick because he will make mistakes if he’s pressured. I see this being a close game. Maybe I’m wrong but I think this is fairly evenly matched if the O-line plays another solid game.
December 12th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
But u forgot the main part of the match up harbaugh vs Schiano I’d clearly give them the advantage n that….funny how u fail to mention him as being apart of this games seeing as though he’ll b the big reason y we win or get BLEW OUT
December 12th, 2013 at 12:15 pm
The team has turned a corner and has been able to win a few games. The lack of offense in the second half still remains. It’s an issue the Glazers need to evaluate when the season ends as part of their decision to keep Schiano. Schiano said earlier in the season that the team wasn’t capable of coming back from a multi score deficit. The ability to come back from a deficit is the difference between good teams and bad teams. The lack of scoring in the second half would suggest the Schiano led Bucs can’t win a game late if they were trailing, making them a bad team.
December 12th, 2013 at 1:33 pm
And ppl want that for another year because he beat the dolphins and falcons and bills lmao he got lucky with the Lions but who cares this is really no accomplishment here.
December 12th, 2013 at 4:11 pm
“Oil Derrick Brooks,
When defense’s catches up with your offense you become the Buc’s, Rutgers and the Giants, look at these team records.”
That’s not what you said (nor is your answer understandable). How is this offense designed for a running quarterback? Where did you get that? Neither the OC or the HC has ever been around an offense designed around a running QB.
December 13th, 2013 at 8:02 am
We literally have one of the least feared combination of receivers in the league. Why can’t we draft some receiver talent like Jeffery, Julio jones, Dez Bryant….someone BIG to play across from sir drops a lot VJAX…I think Mike Williams contract was to much for what he is…but since we bought him put him in the slot next year and draft a 6’5 stud. Then draft a stud tight end. This should be an offensive weapon draft for the bucs… We are not moving the ball and need some better receivers to go with williams and Jax