Pros And Cons Of Secretive Offense
April 16th, 2014
Trying to find information about the new Jeff Tedford offense with the Bucs is a tougher riddle to solve than Rachel Watson’s cell phone number. Bucs coach Lovie Smith has thrown a shroud of secrecy on the offense that he recently bragged no one will find out about until the regular season begins.
There are scant clues, other than center Evan Dietrich-Smith and receiver Vincent Jackson both saying it will be an “up-tempo” offense and starting quarterback Josh McCown invoking Chip Kelly’s name.
McCown offered another clue yesterday when he admitted he is watching a lot of tape of Cal when Tedford was the Bears head coach. Members of the local pen and mic club asked McCown various questions about the offense, yet McCown was tight-lipped, admitting the CIA-like secrecy will give the Bucs “an edge.”
But there are also drawbacks to the secrecy. McCown confessed the confidential information would be “beneficial for the first game or so and then the cat is out of the bag.”
Then, McCown noted that keeping the offense under lock and key until the regular season begins could have some speed bumps involved.
“No question,” McCown said. “The flip side of that is, ‘Oh, you have an edge because no one has seen this before.’ But you have not done it altogether now before either. There is a balance. At the end of it, you are probably back to square one. So you are better off with everybody being on the same page in understanding what you are doing. We will see how it goes. For us, it is to learn it and do it very well and to spend time working at it so we can catch up with these other guys.”
The “other guys” McCown referred to are the offenses of Matty Ice, Drew Brees and Cam Newton.
So keeping mum about the offense isn’t just gamesmanship. But it sounds as if the offense is complex enough that the Bucs want to make sure everyone has a comfortable understanding of Tedford’s offense before breaking it out in a live regular season game, to lessen any mental mistakes.
That’s because mental mistakes often lead to costly turnovers.
April 16th, 2014 at 9:53 am
No “Hard Knocks” for us 🙁 🙁 (but I understand and am glad while sad)
April 16th, 2014 at 9:54 am
This is one time I totally disagree. You can “practice” till the cows come home and it is not the same for a whole bunch of reasons. Our offense knows the strengths and weaknesses of our defense etc. “Practice” is never at the same speed as game speed. I put “practice” in paranethis” thinking about Allen Iverson…”Practice..you’re talking about practice! Our offense needs to get to the point where the defense knows whats coming and due to our setting up superior matchups still can’t stop it. And you can’t do that in “practice”. Can’t wait to see the schedule. Hope we don’t open with a couple of really good defensive teams or we could be behind the eightball and then all the “Wonderful” things that happen inn “practice” can lead to doubt which can lead to another losing year.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:00 am
Dude joe these app redirects are getting to the point where I’m going to stop visiting. Twice while I was trying to comment on this. I know you have to get paid but c’mon man.
Look, Joe does not make money on app redirects. It’s a very occasional glitch that only happens to some mobile readers. Stop assuming Joe is a greed-monger. –Joe
April 16th, 2014 at 10:12 am
INDY:
Just click the back button wnd redirects vanish.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:12 am
@INDY,
I bet you are on a mobile device? If so, turn off Javascript and the site will load much faster and those nasty redirects will go away.
NoScipt for Firefox works very well to.
Its not Joe’s fault these ads to this. He can’t control that. It is a well known issue and is affected many sites. Its a random event depending on which ad shows. The trick is figuring out which ad is doing it.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:30 am
You only love Johnny Manziel.
Stop living a lie.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:30 am
What I’ve seen of Tedford I like mainly because of the balance. He’s had strong running games and explosive passing attacks, and he’s always used one to set up the other. Seeing as we have very little at wide receiver and the fact that Lovie is a defensive minded guy… I expect Jeff to lean more towards the run game, but still be smart enough to catch defenses off guard.
the Schiano way was just bullheaded as I’ve ever seen and I’m very excited for Tedford to bring some new life and unpredictability to the O.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:33 am
Sorry Joe, I wont mention those again….my bad
April 16th, 2014 at 10:47 am
Thank God for this free old mobile phone with internet from my sister in California, never had a problem with Joe’s site.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:52 am
Are they planning on closing preseason camps, etc. to the public/press? I’m not sure what is and what isn’t allowed per cba rules.
Just how secretive are they allowed to be?
April 16th, 2014 at 10:58 am
Occasional?! I’m a very understanding person but occasional is a drastic understatement. @clafollet I think you’re right. I’m on my iPhone and I can’t hit the back button it opens up a new page then take me to the App Store. And joe chill out dude I didn’t call you greedy.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:09 am
joe I’ve been redirected to some bulls(p)it app at least 8 times trying to view 1 single goddamn post. When is this getting fixed?
I’m about to break my damn phone out frustration with your site!!
Intermittent problem for some mobile users. As you know, it doesn’t happen all the time. Enjoy your lunch and come back later. Thanks. –Joe
April 16th, 2014 at 11:37 am
The secrecy thing buys you one game, but wasting 4 preseason games not testing a brand new offense could cost ya 4.
One would hope the Bucs if playoff-bound will be strong enough to win even if the opponent has some idea of the offense.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:41 am
Smokescreens by McCown. The offense will be ready on day 1 with more than vanilla for our opposing defenses. I am loving April!
…Connor Shaw is coming to Tampa.
April 16th, 2014 at 1:02 pm
“I’m about to break my damn phone out frustration with your site!!”
I hate smart phones and you just gave me another reason of the many reasons why I won’t own one, ever.
April 16th, 2014 at 2:55 pm
Tedford’s offense plays a lot of personnel. Seven guys can catch passes, three or four guys can run. No need to worry about who is 2,3,4 someone different can lead in receptions from week to week. Going to be fun to watch!!
April 16th, 2014 at 9:15 pm
Joe, I’m worried about ya. You gotta mix it up…there are other fish in the sea… Let rachel Watson go. It’s gonna be alright.
April 17th, 2014 at 12:58 am
LOL