“Everything Is On The Table”
September 20th, 2014
When an NFL team trails its division rival by 56 points, it doesn’t matter how much confidence a coach has in his system; it doesn’t matter how smart he may think he is at talent evaluation; doesn’t matter if he believes winning ways are just around the corner.
Changes must take place.
So yesterday, when Bucs coach Lovie Smith had his weekly day-after press conference, he confessed. Yes, changes will be made. As usual, Lovie the poker player left what those changes are to speculation.
“Everything is on the table, not just one thing,” Lovie said. “As I said, we have a few more days to evaluate what we’re doing, but when that [last night’s game] happens, changes have to be made on what we’re doing. But at the same time, as I told the team, you have to draw on history a little bit too. Our history in Tampa, our [1999] NFC Championship team – team that lost in the Championship Game, I should say – lost 45-0 to Oakland. Beat Green Bay the following week and ended up playing in the Championship Game. As coaches, we’ve had games like this, so you can’t put too much into it, of it having a lingering effect on your season. We just played bad this one night.”
Let’s not get carried away with the comparision to 1999.
For that Raiders blowout, the Bucs traveled to NoCal with a 9-4 record riding a six-game winning streak, a far cry from the current Bucs. Joe can understand how the Raiders game could be dismissed as a blip. The demolition at the hands of the Dixie Chicks was more the norm than the Raiders loss in 1999.
Look, the Bucs couldn’t stop two rotten quarterbacks to open the season. How many folks asked how they would stop Matty Ice? We saw what the result was. So for Joe, comparing Thursday night’s loss to the Oakland loss in 1999 is apples and oranges.
Now what changes Lovie will make, Joe has no clue. Joe has a hunch Danny Lansanah may be getting more playing time. After that, it is anyone’s guess.
But Joe has a pretty good idea where to start.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:17 am
Danny Lansanah will turn the Bucs around.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:21 am
Therein lies the Bucs problem(s)…..somehow relating everything back to the late 90’s when things were much better and completely different. History won’t repeat itself….the league and circumstances are totally different. Tampa 2 is tired and the “prevent offense” only works when you have multiple future HOFs on your defense.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:25 am
This is 20 freakin 14, not 1999. Totally different league, with different rules. One of the main things that made the tampa two successful back then was sitting back in their zones, watching the QB, and separating the receiver from the ball. Your not even aloud to hit the receiver while he’s catching it anymore. We are just going to get picked apart with our DB’s so far off the line of scrimmage. BTW: that was Gruden’s Raider’s that put that beatdown on us in 1999.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:30 am
Why don’t you guys relax a little bit? There is a learning curve to everything. If you just calm down and look at say the first year of Father Dungy (1996), you will understand how we should give Coach Smith a chance.
The 1996 team had many future good (great) players on their team. Guys like Sapp, Brooks, Alstott, Abraham, Hardy Nickerson! They started the year VERY poorly as well. They lost their first 5 games before the bye week and even got shutout by the Detroit Lions (division rival then) 27 – 0!!!! In week 5!!!
They would go on to finish the year 6 – 10 and then by the first game of 1997, everything clicked (at least on Defense).
BTW – Lovie was on that staff too!
If you are truly a Bucs fan, then you know that we have been through enough bad years and times with no hope.
Coach Smith brings hope, and promise. HAVE FAITH!!!
September 20th, 2014 at 8:30 am
Lovie’s living in the past. This is a huge clusterf&@k!
September 20th, 2014 at 8:33 am
Free Glennon!
September 20th, 2014 at 8:37 am
Tebow. I’m a perennial Gator-hater and thought he had no place as a QB in the NFL. But watch a video Dilfer did and you’ll see the drastic improvement in Tebow’s mechanics. He of course brings all the positive intangibles.
And doesn’t this team need a miracle at this point?
September 20th, 2014 at 8:38 am
I completely agree with you both JonBuc and Joe Mamma. The Tampa 2 does work when you have the horses to run it, but you MUST have the right guys to run it. This team no where near has the right guys. They have McCoy and David and that’s it. They need a lot more than that.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:39 am
were f’ed Lovie has no clue what to do.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:41 am
Just watch our savior Lovie Smith press conference and I have to say that this idiot really has no clue on what he is doing.
I understand that none of us are NFL coaches but most of us can put 2 and 2 together and recognize when a coach is in over his head.
He truly has no clue.
We are doomed for many years to come
September 20th, 2014 at 8:43 am
In Order for this defense to work, you have to have an extraordinary middle linebacker, (brooks, Urlacher) type. Not just a good line backer but a top caliber one who can cover the run and still drop back in time for the pass. This requires someone really special and there are only a few who have really succeeded. If you don’t have that special person than the end result is the middle left open for crossing routes or tight ends down the field. It’s not that the tampa 2 doesnt or cant work, it is more that it is very dependent on that middle linebacker person to be able to handle it.
There are other factors for sure about the tampa 2 but it is heavily dependent on the middle guy being able to cover 2 situations. Not many can and that is more why many teams have opted for other schemes.
Hard to find that special middle guy.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:46 am
The 45-0 loss was far worse ..that team was better …this team was missing 4-5 starters on defense in a league that now favors the passing game ….
September 20th, 2014 at 8:47 am
We didn’t draft a single defensive player.
Seems like bad player evaluation.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:51 am
Hollow words….Starting with Lovie the whole coaching staff is incompetent… when the the cabinets are barren….”putting everything on the table”….is nothing more than gibberish !
This team has enough talent to PLAY better….early in the game there was amisdirection running play…when the FB caught a short swing pass….the was NOT a single Buc jersey on the TV screen….zoom out and not a player with 10 yards….example after example….THAT IS COACHING !
September 20th, 2014 at 8:53 am
It’s obvious the back 7 has no clue how to play the Tampa 2. They are all players that have only been exposed to man coverage type schemes. Brooks said it will not happen overnight. History shows that it takes a while for a defense to master this scheme. Look at Dungy’s record in his inaugural season with the Bucs. Same for Lovie with the Bears, Monte Kiffin for Dallas and Rivera for the Panthers. Things will get better. The players just need to hang in there and keep learning.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:54 am
Well, it certainly cant get much worse. Lovie will throw Fraiser to the wolves pretty soon.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:55 am
Agree with RastaMon
September 20th, 2014 at 8:57 am
I’m kinda tired of hearing “We don’t have the right players yet to play our defense.” So play something else! Ease your defense in. Don’t play a scheme that is a guaranteed loser. Coach ’em up!
September 20th, 2014 at 8:58 am
@ BFFL
I’m sick of having patients.
Its nothing but the same old empty promises.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:01 am
Four words / this is a mess!!!
September 20th, 2014 at 9:03 am
How about putting on the table…terminate Leslie Frazier ASAP as DC and tell Schiano he can earn an extra $1M on top of the $3M he’s making to sit at home if he takes over the then vacant DC opening. At least the defense was in the top 15 and 2nd in turnover differential
September 20th, 2014 at 9:05 am
Being a buc fan for 20 years I can’t remember us every being more miss guided then we are right now.
IT’S BAD
September 20th, 2014 at 9:05 am
I have an idea where to start as well. Have 3 great drafts and let the players come up in the system. Having sAid that keeping mike bennent and drafting Luke k wouldn’t have hurt but Greg would still be the coach if we had done that
September 20th, 2014 at 9:14 am
I’m surprised Lovie did’nt say the Bucs are just not in sync yet.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:15 am
He’s right about one thing, he really does need to reevaluate what he’s doing because he’s an awful talent evaluator. You spent a 1st round pick on player your not using, HE decided Michael Johnson, oneil cousins, josh mcclown were starters and Davin Joseph was garbage. What have his handpicked free agents done? HE decided to keep Bowers and Clayborn, he decided not to spend a single pick on a young quarterback or a higher draft pick on an offensive lineman. Look what kind of receiver the saints got with a low pick. If you know 4 man pressure is key to your defense and the players on your roster have never gotten pressure on a quarterback and you insist on leaning on your defense instead of scoring points then your first pick should have been a pass rusher. Just saying OK fine you can blame the players but you choose the roster you idiot
September 20th, 2014 at 9:16 am
The best thing the Glazers ever did for this organization was to fire Dungy and hire Gruden. We won a Super Bowl that Dungy never would have won here. The worst thing they did was fire Gruden. An great offensive minded coach.Since they have hired the same sh!t. Rah,Schiano,Smith.With the same results. Definition of insanity.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:18 am
This team will go 0-16 and will be the laughing stock of the NFL if we don’t make some coaching changes soon
September 20th, 2014 at 9:23 am
Greg Says:
September 20th, 2014 at 9:05 am
Being a buc fan for 20 years I can’t remember us every being more miss guided then we are right now.
IT’S BAD
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Hey Greg, It’s as misguided now, as it’s been in the 38 seasons I’ve followed this team. McKay had the excuse of virtually no talent in ’76. All the others brought in after him were just lousy coaches, until Dungy & Gruden. Now we’re back to 1985…………only worse. But don’t worry, the Glazers have a Master Plan, and so far they have it working to perfection. Just wait…you’ll see. London…Here we come. lol
September 20th, 2014 at 9:28 am
This is the worst Tampa Bay Buccaneer team I have seen in the 20 years I have been a fan and I dont see it getting any better with this idiot of a coach in charge.
Years of pain and suffering ahead of us all if the owners don’t fire him now.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:35 am
Yeah….play man coverage and bust em in the chest at the line. Throw off the route like every other good defense does in the NFL. Nobody can argue that this zone scheme is working….Maybe next year with a better pass rush and two new safety’s it may work somewhat better. Dashawn and Mark are gone….our “ball hawks” are overpaid and suck in this scheme.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:36 am
I worry about the Glazer sons’ master plans. I imagine rolling out the new uniforms at the same time they made the ‘feel good/nostalgia’ hire of Lovie Smith was a calculated plan…create excitement in the fanbase and sell lots of new merchandise. Oops…0-3 start including a 56-14 beat down on national TV will tend to ruin that plan.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:37 am
Lovie, Lovie, Lovie, It’s not 1999, anymore you dumbass! The league has changed significantly. You stupid, stupid dinosaur. I wish you were extinct!
September 20th, 2014 at 9:37 am
Stability would be a change….
September 20th, 2014 at 9:39 am
now you know why dungey retired…football has passed him and his cloud 9 lemmings by…probably the most overrated coach in history…he won because he was told to lay off the offense in Indy…when he had control here he lacked the open mind to see beyond his dated dogma….
September 20th, 2014 at 9:47 am
Did u here that nfl everything is on tne table were taking offers for any1…
September 20th, 2014 at 9:48 am
lovie is incompetent frazier is a puppet mccown is a loser and this organization is a joke. I say the bay area ticket holders and buyers need to boycott the next home game and send the glazers a message. for once let the fan base embarrass the ownership, and let them know this brand and product is no longer acceptable for the tampa fans. please share and spread the word if you agree, on this site,twitter,facebook etc how would it look for ownership to televise a home game with 10% of the stadium occupied!!! do you not think they would get it? and stop buying their merchandise. the glazers make a ton of cash off the fans,but refuse to put together a winning program,for reasons unknown. so let us start putting the pressure on them.and let the embarrassment begin!!!!! how you like us now glazer?
September 20th, 2014 at 9:48 am
{sigh}
Yet another season, where being a BUCS fan feels like you’re tied to the Whipping post.
Another season where it’s to embarrassing, to watch “Inside the NFL”, “Game Day, or even “Sports Center.
The ridicule level is too high.
Another season, where I’ve already begun combing Draft sites.
Another season , Where I look at the upcoming schedule- and know the only chance we have, is if most of their Star players( and their backups) are injured.
Did we all expect too much? Should we have known to ignore the Hyperbole, and planned on this being yet another rebuilding year?
Did we expect too much?
I dunno. This season had me feeling optimistic.
Now, I just feel tired and old. And embarrassed.
Will it get better, Lovie? Are we adjusting- but melding into a good team? Or is this just new Makeup on the same ugly Bit^h?
I’m trying to believe. I want to believe.
Last week made it really hard to stay a fan.
We need a QB, or we aren’t getting better
And damn sure not Winston.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:52 am
Any chance Marinelli comes back to Tampa next year?
September 20th, 2014 at 9:54 am
@james west – I guess I’ll be part of that 10% at the stadium. Being incompetent owners that higher the wrong people and being owners that “refuse to put together a winning program” are two very different things.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:54 am
This is why I wanted Shazier — not only would he be a natural ML for the T-2, but he would free up Foster for his natural Sam position. Foster has been hampered and playing out of position since Raheem’s days, due to lack of alternatives. (And don ‘t get me started on Kuechly).
The longing for Gruden is sadly misplaced. He was and is great on game day. His talent evaluation and, um, interpersonal skills were, um, weak. It was past time to let go of him.
The obvious problem is that the Bucs have missed on 1st and 2nd round picks for over a decade. Other teams have high-level talent from the last dozen years. We do not. Until we fix the talent deficit we are screwed.
Talking up the roster does not make it better.
September 20th, 2014 at 10:00 am
James West: fans did what you said back in the Rah and Sciano years and it resulted in nothing more than blackouts and people taking buses to Ocala and Fort Myers to see the games @ Lee Roy Selmons…. The Glazers have other toys to play with now like Manchester United. As long as they can make money as one of the 32 owners of an NFL franchise and get their cut of the TV revenue they really do not have to do much to make $$$ off of the franchise and thus do not care what us the fans think or want for our Bucs. These guys would probably go Culverhouse on the roster and really undercut the salary cap if they could but they are forced to spend some $ which is the only reason why the Glazer lads are spending anything on the Bucs, I really do not think they have the drive to win like thier father Malcolm; sure he liked making coin but he also wanted to win, these @-holes are only after the coin….
September 20th, 2014 at 10:02 am
Some good analyses by posters. It hurt to see the Hawks QB set up to pass every time and hit a (very) open receiver – every time. BFFL may be right. Something is completely wrong with the secondary’s coverage strategy. Receivers shouldn’t be so open every time!
September 20th, 2014 at 10:03 am
trade Glennon and give him a chance for a future
September 20th, 2014 at 10:06 am
Oops. Falcons. Not Hawks. That’s what I get for being too casual.
September 20th, 2014 at 10:10 am
Marinelli??? WTF…stop trying to recreate the 90’s
Look, I loved the 80’s, but that doesn’t mean you are going to see me drive around an 85 fiero in sunglasses at night doing lines while wearing a piano neck tie listening to Duran Duran.
September 20th, 2014 at 10:15 am
@Captain Stagger
Marinelli is a strong DC, I want him because he led some of the top defenses while he was with Smith and it doesn’t exactly seem like Frasier is doing a good job.
September 20th, 2014 at 10:24 am
“Everything is on the table” maybe, but that is not very comforting when the kitchen only has a can of Spam and molded bread. Disgusting!
September 20th, 2014 at 10:35 am
That 45-0 loss to Oakland came during an extended stretch (I believe it was 20 straight games) where the Bucs didn’t win at all on the West Coast. Didn’t matter who the team was, 0-10 team or 10-0 team, the Bucs didn’t win out West. For Lovie to invoke that loss (particularly since it came in a season they should have made and won the Super Bowl) is shameful by him. This team looks like it’ll be lucky to win 3 games.
Oh, and “everything is one the table”….except changing Lovie’s philosophies or approach, which of course means nothing is on the table.
September 20th, 2014 at 10:56 am
anyone who thinks the owners don’t want to win are ignorant of economics. If the Bucs win their merchandise revenues go up – and they don’t share that with anyone. It’s the only piece (other than radio rights) that isn’t shared in some way. Even ticket revenue is shared with the visiting team. They are still paying coaches to sit on their couches (or on benches at Berekely Prep). Cheap owners don’t do that. If they didn’t want to win they would have kept Raheem and paid him the lowest coaching salary in the league. Owners that don’t want to win (see: Culverhouse, Hugh) hire cheap coaches then let them finish their contracts. Then they charge the players .50 for each soda in a machine. And make them buy their own lunch. Not put up huge facilities with private $$ and pay staff to cater and serve the players. I personally think they want to win, but are taking chances like their dad did in Dungy. He was a stretch- a big one. He was passed up for HC jobs 2-3 years before Tampa.. in fact that was one of the drivers behind the Rooney Rule. They tried to get Chip Kelly. I think this is just years of poor drafting and poor position coaching – except for that one WR coach we had in Schiano’s first year.
September 20th, 2014 at 11:09 am
I do think the Glazers want to win. I just think they are stupid, incompetent, crisp eating, lift riding, Brit wanna be, soccer fans and are clueless on how to run an American football team.
September 20th, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Missing Offensive Coordinator, injured MLB, arguably the best DL out, DE knicked-up and didnt play after a series or whatever, LDE out of the season. That’s 3/4 of the d-line for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Starting rb out. Starting DB out for the year. OL was knicked up prior to the game had to leave the game with the same injury. Lost OG (Nicks) due to illness/injury. Missing starting TE (who was supposed to be a focal point). Missing third down rb (Sims) who was also supposed to be a dynamic part of the pacakage. Starting QB gets dinged halfway through. Oh, ns Thursday Night road teams fare horribly (see their record).Yet the Nation sees the Buccs getting thrashed, and it’s the “same old Buccs”. No excuses either. Even with pretty much back-ups in the game, we still had plays we didn’t make that could of stemmed some of the massacre. Another long season with no playoffs in sight, but the Buccs will be back to prominence, and it will make the drought that much sweeter when the wins come.
September 21st, 2014 at 8:41 am
JonBuc Says:
September 20th, 2014 at 8:21 am
Therein lies the Bucs problem(s)…..somehow relating everything back to the late 90′s when things were much better and completely different. History won’t repeat itself….the league and circumstances are totally different. Tampa 2 is tired and the “prevent offense” only works when you have multiple future HOFs on your defense.
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You’re a moron. The Seahawks used the T-2 all the way to a great defense and a championship last season. The key to any successful defense is talent. And there are only a small handful of truly talented players on that pathetic group.