Where Was The Offense?
August 9th, 2014
Jaguars DE Chris Clemons celebrates putting Bucs QB Josh McCown on the ground Friday.
Since Lovie Smith began adding offensive pieces to the Bucs rebuilding puzzle, expectations if not mysteries were aroused. There was the Jeff Tedford offense that fans were told over and over again would be “up-tempo.”
Then there was the “Duncaneers,” where NBA-sized wide receivers would catch virtually any ball not intended for Andre the Giant and turn it into six points. Oh, and the running backs, the many, many, many quality running backs were too numerous to name.
Well, after yesterday’s debacle by the first-team offense in Jacksonville, Tampa Bay fans are still waiting, and veteran columnist Gary Shelton of the Tampa Bay Times wonders if Bucs fans will still be waiting months from now?
To be fair, it wasn’t all McCown’s fault. The new offensive line needs a lot more chemistry — and maybe a couple more guards — before McCown no longer looks like a man trying to play the piano in a buffalo stampede. McCown might have scared you, but this line is Nightmare on Elm Street stuff. Children should not watch it. Adults, either.
But the real concern is the quarterback. Of course it is. In four series, there should have been a play, maybe two, where you could have seen a glimpse of explosiveness. There should have been a slant to a wide receiver. There should have been a near-miss downfield. There should have been efficiency you could project into games against the Panthers, or Saints, or Falcons.
That’s the problem here. The expectations are so low. Few people outside of the Bucs’ training facility expect McCown to be anything other than the fourth-best quarterback in the division. No one seems to think he’ll be in the top three-quarters of quarterbacks. In other words, if people act as if the sky is falling today, it’s because they’ve never seen a complete sky under McCown.
Shelton went on to document that it was backup quarterback Mike Glennon who outplayed McCown in just about every way.
Look, Joe’s old man many, many years ago noted that a quarterback can’t do much while he is on his arse. The Bucs’ offensive line was so porous that McCown didn’t have a prayer.
Until or unless the offensive line improves, there’s not much of a way that McCown can improve. Not when he is running for his life. And it doesn’t matter how tall the receivers are if McCown can’t get off a pass. And it doesn’t matter if you have Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Franco Harris and Barry Sanders on your roster if multiple defensive linemen blow up plays your jailbreak O-line.
Yes, it was just the first quarter of the first preseason game. Just for a quick reminder, anyone remember how the offensive line did last year in the preseason opener?
August 9th, 2014 at 9:07 am
INCOGNITO!!
INCOGNITO!!!
INCOGNITO!!!!
AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
August 9th, 2014 at 9:09 am
What happened last night was not what I expected to see. I don’t care about the score, but I wanted to see the execution. Today like John McKay, I’ve got a whole different view of the team’s execution. lol.
It’s too early to judge either QB. No O-Line – no offense. But I did see lots of things I liked, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The offense has weapons at the skill positions if we can get them the ball.
No panic, just on full alert. And I guess that’s what preseason is for. They will fix the problems, but not without some changes. This is where Jason Licht starts to really earn his money!
August 9th, 2014 at 9:09 am
I couldn’t agree more Joe, the offense was beyond putrid! However, knowing how trends seems to go in the NFL, I will bet the farm that the Bucs score a touchdown on their opening drive next week…most likely a Doug Martin 3 yard run following the block of Cousins. Remember this comment, for next week, I’ll be bragging how I’m the second coming of Nostradamus. 🙂
August 9th, 2014 at 9:12 am
Oh no, we suck again!!!!
August 9th, 2014 at 9:17 am
Well in this case, its more appropriate to hold judgement on everything because it is the first quarter of the first preseason game of an offense trying to hide their plays, with an o line trying to gel. But at the same time we do need guard help. However, I do think the 3rd preseason gm will be more telling.
August 9th, 2014 at 9:20 am
The Flunkeneers?
August 9th, 2014 at 9:21 am
Well, if they wanted to hide the offense, Mission Accomplished!!!
August 9th, 2014 at 9:33 am
Big surprise…the uniforms are ugly as crap in-game too. (Helmet looks pretty cool though)
August 9th, 2014 at 9:34 am
The Glennon Mob has been ridiculed for blaming poor offensive line play last year, but now those same ones ridiculing are excusing McCown’s performance due to the same poor O-Line play. Oh the irony!
August 9th, 2014 at 9:40 am
Hey, well last year we were overpaid and underperforming. At least this year, we’ll just be underperforming.
August 9th, 2014 at 10:02 am
Exactly LightningBuc….the protection was there for Glennon either. I think Glennon performed better under pressure. His size buys him that split second to get a lean ball away… McCown looks like a shorter version of his brother out there, and his throws are garbage with the slightest amount of contact or pressure.
That puck cCown threw was terrible… A bad read and a worse throw. Glennon is knockin’ on the door and McCown better tighten up QUICK!
August 9th, 2014 at 10:36 am
I just rewatched the 1st part of the game and McCown was not quite as bad as I initially thought. He had some decent plays called back from penilties. Having said that, at least 1 sack and his fumble were a good deal his fault for holding on to the ball too long given the pocket was closing in around him. In other cases when pressured, instead of making smart choices with the ball, he seem a bit manic in trying to save the play. First game with a new team and he seemed to be pushing a bit to hard. Hopefully things will be better next week.
August 9th, 2014 at 10:37 am
The only play where McCown had time he threw a rope to Owusu, so I’m not hitting the panic button on our QB situation.
Now our OG situation is another story. Cousins and Meredith got tossed around like rag dolls. We need upgrades fast, and I’m not afraid of Incognito’s baggage. He’s a far superior OG to the “starters” we saw last night.
August 9th, 2014 at 11:04 am
Gary Shelton is a tool.
IF they had scored 35 points, he’d be whining and telling us it was only a pre-season game against the lowly Jaguars.
Its the 1st preseason game, folks. Did you see the Bucs run a play that wasn’t a cookie cutter play? I didn’t.
Cookie cutter plays are the easiest to break up by a defense.
August 9th, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Goals of Preseason:
1. Don’t get anybody hurt.
2. Don’t show anything but Vanilla offense.
3. Get work for backups.
Mission accomplished.
August 9th, 2014 at 12:04 pm
Oh nooooo… the sky is falling… may the bloodletting begin… let’s fire the offensive coordinator and the offensive line coach… let’s cut McCown… let’s sign Incognito… the o-line is doomed and our season is over already!!!
Let the kvetching begin.
…Or people could have some perspective.
August 9th, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Gary Shelton is right. The O line does need a lot more chemistry. They need the best HGH that money can buy, so those college frat boys can play in the NFL. We are in trouble if the front office can’t get us some good O line pickups from the cut pile next week. Also talk to San Fran and give Lovie a chance at controlling Incognito. It is possible the guy has learned a lesson and you can always cut him later if he hasn’t.
August 9th, 2014 at 12:59 pm
@Magoo – Do you think plugging in an off-the-street journeyman would really make much of a difference?
These guys just played their first game together. They have no continuity yet, because they’re still sorting out the OG position. If they can settle on starters soon, which they will, and get more reps as a unit, they’ll be much better. I know everyone wants to panic and bring in other players, but I just don’t see anything out there that’s going to speed up the development of a cohesive unit…. I mean, unless they wanna trade for a quality experienced starter.
People need to accept the fact that Incognito isn’t coming here. B1tching and moaning for the Bucs to sign him isn’t going to make it happen. Give it a rest.
August 9th, 2014 at 1:03 pm
Buddaha-
Agree with your list.
Buuuut, you also want to see your offense find a little rythme.
Our O-line was horribly inept. I watched the replay on NFL network this morning- which was the Jacksonville feed.
And their commentators were in disbelief of our horrible line play. One of them stated” if these guys are unwilling or unable to block- you better get them out of there, and find someone who will.”
You can’t get any work for any Skill posistion, if Your QB is always on his back.
The Line has to upgrade. Otherwise, we will have the finest skilled offensive players in Buc History, all standing around looking at our QB- who’ll be laying on the ground, clutching his latest injured body part.
We all knew that this line wasn’t gonna cut it, and we were right.
I don’t expect the powered that be, at OneBuc, to waste anymore of our time, blowing hot air up our skirts!!
They need to fix this.
Now!!
Incognito would solve one side immediately
August 9th, 2014 at 1:07 pm
Orca-
Go watch Oneil Cousins Tape. There is 3+ years of it.
Noone-NOONE – sees anything on there that shows he can be a competent Backup.
His tape is horrible- no way he starts on an NFL line.
I said that when they signed him.
Chemistry will NOT create talent, where there is none.
August 9th, 2014 at 1:14 pm
Who convinced Licht to give Cousins a contract after he was a bust in Cleveland? Could it be our ex-Cleveland Line Coach? Whoever it was they are a fool! Tedford needs to insist on the best Guards start–Daniels and Omameh! He needs to swap his starting Tackles, and move Rainey to first string RB, and cut Cousins now. Kudos to Lovie and his Defense and Special Teams! Moving Bowers to McCoy’s backup was pure genius. Congrats to Tedford in hiding his Offense. If the revamped OL looks good at Miami, play them for three quarters to build chemistry and so QB production can be compared better.
August 9th, 2014 at 1:23 pm
^^ I am not saying anything about Cousins. I’ve heard nothing good either. They need to get him out of here… and they need to work harder to get Edwards and Omameh up to speed to become starters… There’s talent there. I’m just saying the panic is premature. It’s one game. Did you really think a line composed of 4 new starters who have never played a game together before was going to come out and look good right away? Seriously? It’s gonna take time and patience. They may need to trade for a starter. They may need to win games with defense earlier in the season. We’ll see… And yeah, it’s still a possibility they’ll struggle all year on the O-line… but it’s very premature to panic.
August 9th, 2014 at 1:34 pm
so what happens when they look sharp next week. Will shelton declare JM a HOF QB. We all know the obvious about the offensive line. Camp practice is not like game speed which is what they had last night for the first time as a unit. There is always a time adjustment after change. Lets see how they progress and where we are at at the end of preseason. Not everything was bad last night. First team defense was swarming and looks scary. Lovie said we are not ready yet and i have confidence in him getting it together.
August 9th, 2014 at 1:41 pm
Looked the o-line had just met each other just before kick-off?
August 9th, 2014 at 2:28 pm
Of course, one would like to see some momentum and some dynamism to the offense, and if, by the conclusion of Game 3, we don’t see any, I would be concerned. But Lovie himself said earlier this week that his job was to get them to the point that they are peaking for Carolina. There was no game planning; there was no studying the other team’s players. Yes, it was pitiful, but were talking about a sample of fewer than 25 plays and practically none of the playbook. I’m not going to get excited about such a small sample. The question will be, how much improvement is shown in Game 2? Last year, we got worse as the preseason progressed. Moreover, why isn’t everyone shouting from the rooftops, we had three of our best defensive players not suited up and we held Jacksonville to 9 offensive points.
August 9th, 2014 at 2:40 pm
We need to sign Richie Incognito http://www.news-press.com/story/sports/columnists/david-moulton/2014/07/30/buccaneers-need-sign-richie-incognito-immediately/13388509/
August 9th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
^^ Get over it. Not happening.
August 9th, 2014 at 7:18 pm
All vanilla except for the goal line snaps. That was tedford unabridged.
And watch McCowns snaps … between Cousins and Meredith, he did not have a chance.
Omameh and Daniels outplayed them.
August 9th, 2014 at 7:41 pm
I believe Lovie started the veterans at the OG positions, and gave them an opportunity to play their way out of their jobs. They did so. I think Omameh and someone else will be starting by the last preseason game, if not sooner.