Buffalo Will Determine Offensive Line’s Fate
August 21st, 2014
Bobby Rainey and the Bucs’ O-line controlled Buffalo’s nasty defensive line in December
Yes, the Buffalo Bills have a nasty good defensive line and a strong front-7.
Defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, when he’s not street racing and driving around with drugs, is very much in Gerald McCoy’s league. The third overall pick in the 2011 draft is dominant and is coming off his first Pro Bowl.
Buffalo finished with the 10th ranked defense and a whopping 57 sacks last year. So Buffalo represents a massive test for the Bucs new and not-yet improved offensive line. Lovie Smith and Bucs linemen have talked about the challenge all week.
Ironically, Bucs castoffs Jeremy Zuttah, Davin Joseph, Donald Penn and friends controlled Buffalo last season en route to a 27-6 Bucs win in December.
Joe’s thoroughly pleased the O-line well face a formidable foe on the road Saturday in what will be both teams’ “dress rehearsal” for the regular season.
If the Bucs’ offensive line gets clobbered like it did in Jacksonville and has its members getting manhandled, then look for Jason Licht and Lovie Smith to move swiftly to acquire new offensive linemen when cuts are made around the NFL in late August.
Joe can’t imagine any scenario that has the Bucs getting abused again on the O-line and sticking with the status quo. That would be akin to waving the white flag on the season.
August 21st, 2014 at 9:34 am
Maybe the secret Jeff Tedford offense snaps the ball 20 yards to the right. Then our line is perfect!
August 21st, 2014 at 9:35 am
wonder why lovie didnt think he could coach up Zuttah and those guys.
I understand wanting to start fresh, but when yuo start with chicken scraps, you get chicken poop.
Really believe this decision was made hastefully. I hope i am wrong.
August 21st, 2014 at 9:35 am
Don’t forget about Kyle and Mario Williams. Kyle is right there with McCoy in terms of top DT in the NFL. He had 10.5 sacks last season and was a dominating force.
I hope the Bucs o-line is ready to rock on Saturday.
August 21st, 2014 at 9:44 am
Wow, none of our great defenses (Kiffin years) had 57 sacks. I hope the O-line is coming together.
August 21st, 2014 at 9:49 am
How about picking up good offensive lineman anyway from other people’s scraps, even if our guards look decent. We got cap room and our depth in case of injury will be stronger. The real question is will there be any quality blocker’s available to us?
There are plenty of good scraps, you just have to know which one’s to pick. Laugh if you want, but the Bucs got a very strong 2010 out of Ted Larsen after he was cut by the Patriots. –Joe
August 21st, 2014 at 9:50 am
*If* the O-line gets spanked again, taking cast-offs from other teams isn’t going to make this a winning season. The cast-offs will have one week to learn the new offense AND gel with the other linemen. It would likely be week 4 or 5 before we would see whether the ‘new’ guys are any better than the old.
I’m hoping the line plays well enough that the staff is looking for ‘backup’ linemen in the next two weeks.
August 21st, 2014 at 9:54 am
I would expect to see a lot of roll outs, quick slants, shot gun formations and other plays and formations designed to keep our QB’s upright and away from the teeth of that Buffalo pass rush. Hopefully our O-line has now had enough time to become more cohesive and proficient. I think we will know a lot more about our chances this year after this next game!
August 21st, 2014 at 10:00 am
So if the 1st team oline gets creamed this weekend our plan is to forage the scrap heap of cuts? What a great plan. Sure glad our do-no-wrong HC and his lapdog GM thought this one through!
August 21st, 2014 at 10:03 am
We will see. I’m doubtful but hopeful.
August 21st, 2014 at 10:15 am
What’s most concerning is the Doug Martin is a between the tackles runner, and how is he supposed to do that without good guard play?
We’ve read plenty about how the guards have trouble on pass plays. How are they on run plays?
August 21st, 2014 at 10:54 am
@DallasBuc
I didn’t see your point on Josh McCown in an earlier article until just now. In it you criticized McCown for wanting “one long drive” and called him a loser.
On that, I just wanted to point out that he was talking about converting 3rd downs, resulting in long drives. He was saying that the 3rd down conversion rate is not good enough.
Just thought I would explain that. Of course, if you’ve decided to hate on him no matter what, it won’t matter.
August 21st, 2014 at 11:26 am
Bonzai ppl like Dallas Buc and Bonzai spew out dubk opinions because they think they’re celebrities and look at is at no press is bad press. Oh wait ..can you be a celebrity of JoeBucsfan. Like I said in my last post. Trust our coaching. Lapdog GM. Ya i bet you wouldn’t take the Job as gM because lovie controls the 52 man roster.
August 21st, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Bonzai- in context he made it clear that he wanted one long drive and in doing do converting 3rd downs. What is the argument? The offense and his performance thus far has been BAD! My expectations are above McCown’s and apparently yours. Not sorry about that. What is the matter with wanting to see my offense do something positive on the football field? Crazytown!
August 21st, 2014 at 12:28 pm
Broy- what are you talking about? The only celebrities on this sure are the “rockstar” Dominik, bucs coaches, players and the Joes. I am just a fan like you and the rest if the ham n eggers on here.
And yeah, our GM is Lovie’s lapdog. In what world am I looking to take his job? Put your thoughts together a little better next time!