It’s All About the Defense
September 1st, 2014
Joe lives in the 21st Century. This may come as a shock to some but, in fact, there is a sect of Bucs fans who seem to struggle with calendars.
Joe calls this sect the “Flat Earth Society.” You know the ones: those who believe quarterbacks are meaningless and that defense rules all.
It’s a cute concept, even though it is flat false (wasn’t this proven time and again with Father Dungy?). Which brings Joe to Andrew Astleford of Fox Sports Florida. He has glorious news for the Flat Earth Society. The Bucs should be dominant defensively.
Defense will be the Bucs’ strength. Preseason results were a reliable indicator that McCoy should have a big year, and David should follow up his All-Pro season with more growth. Still, questions remain about how well the offensive line will mesh. Mankins must adjust quickly, presumably as Tampa Bay’s answer at left guard, and it remains to be seen how the Bucs will handle their situation at right guard. Smith and Licht haven’t closed the door on the Richie Incognito option, so it will be curious to see if they go that route at some point if tempted.
The good news for the Bucs is this: Starters showed marked improvement on both sides of the ball in each of their first three preseason games. Expect them to be a dominant defensive team that hopes to complement that strength with solid special teams and good-enough offense. It’s surprising they chose Murray over Barth for kicking duties, but other than that development, there weren’t too many surprises in the trim to the 53-man roster. There’s little room for error in the NFC South. Urgency should exist now.
As Joe has written since the winter, the Bucs’ defense will be fine. Joe trusts Lovie to work his magic with the defense and the talent is there. It is the offense that concerns Joe. Joe’s seen spurts in preseason but not enough to calm concerns.
And, no, Joe does not like the fact the team’s offensive coordinator is out and not at full strength. This is downright troubling.
September 1st, 2014 at 11:22 am
Bucs won a super bowl that way in the 21st century. Just saying
September 1st, 2014 at 11:37 am
As long as the defense gets to sit on the bench and regroup….the defense will be the strenght of the team…that sad the hand writing is on the wall…THE NFL is bending over backwards and every which way for the offense to score POINTS….TD’s perferably…as they say on Wall Street…”the trend is your friend & don’t fight the tape”…it’s a pin ball league now
September 1st, 2014 at 11:45 am
People can talk trends all they want. I know the earth isn’t flat, and I know that GREAT defensive play can WIN football games. An ELITE QB can also win games, but a good game manager and good play calling are all you need if your defense is dominant.
right now our Bucs are in trouble because our X-factor (Tedford) is nowhere to be found.
September 1st, 2014 at 11:45 am
This defense looks solid so far.
Hopefully there is enough help for McCoy not to be triple teamed this year.
If the others can provide enough to stop the triple team then
LookOut for McCoy and this defense.
September 1st, 2014 at 11:46 am
Given that Lovie used all his draft choices on offense, completely overhauled the oline, and changed quarterbacks, I don’t think this is a concept lost on him.
The real flat earth society are those who thought Mark Dominik knew what he was doing.
They seem to struggle with the calendar from 2009 through 2013. Which is interesting because one would think the stench would be very fresh in their minds.
Guess not.
September 1st, 2014 at 12:09 pm
How can you have a crappy offense with names like Vincent Jackson, Mike Evans and Doug Martin? We will be ranked between 10th – 15th in the league.
September 1st, 2014 at 12:18 pm
Today’s NFL rules are set up to give offenses a HUGE advantage, that is why you won’t see defense win too many ball games.
The simple fact is a great offense is going to score no matter how good the defense. They are going to call holding and pass interference penalties more often than not and those are typically game changers.
Without a really good offense, it’s hard to succeed with these new rules.
People long for the days of John Lynch crushing receivers, but they simply don’t allow that any more.
September 1st, 2014 at 12:38 pm
Seahawks say otherwise.
Ask Peyton Manning.
I know, Russell Wilson is good, but that game demonstrated that a great defense can still dismantle a great offense.
And I am aware we need good offense, as is Lovie.
September 1st, 2014 at 12:52 pm
First of all, the earth ” is” flat, and our alien overlords will prove it when they come back next year. As for defense vs. Offense, our defense will have to go old school and score points not just get turnovers. I too am concerned about Tedford. For different reasons it reminds me a little bit of us installing Chudzinski’s offense and then “he gone”
September 1st, 2014 at 1:05 pm
It gets annoying to hear media types say I’m not sold on this starter and bucs have no depth like many teams do have it or I don’t trust bucs offense then you have idiots predicting 5 wins! I don’t have a prediction because I wanna see it unfold but I do have a take on the subject of wins and losses
If worst coach in bucs history can win 7 games in a season with average offensive weapons, Freeman at qb and mike Sullivan calling plays, lovie can’t do that with a better overall team on offense and defense? The goal is to win championships so with patriots defense how many has Tom Brady led his team to? Peyton Manning how many has he won and he’s never had a defense. It’s a team sport to I tend to believe the team with the most talent at the most positions can go farther than teams that have a couple weapons with one being quarterback
September 1st, 2014 at 1:26 pm
Joe
For many millions of years it didn’t matter if the earth was round or flat because it didn’t matter to life on our planet, I don’t believe either the Bible or any other Holy Book mentioned it either so until after 1492 no one knew and to most people even today it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t effect them.
Having said that, the only thing that matters in football is that you score more points than your opponent period. So if your defense is very good, you don’t have to score a lot of points, if not you do because the winner is always who scores more points. As long as we score more points no matter how, we win and let the pen and mic clubs say what they want because we still win when we score more points. That is how we won a Super Bowl and how we will win another.
September 1st, 2014 at 2:40 pm
“If worst coach in bucs history can win 7 games in a season with average offensive weapons, Freeman at qb and mike Sullivan calling plays, lovie can’t do that with a better overall team on offense and defense?”
Actually my spin on that was going to be if the worst coach in pewter & red Bucs history can be lucky enough to somehow pull a 10 win season out of his ass with Freeman at QB and Olsen calling plays then Lovie should be ashamed of himself and do some more self evaluating if he can’t do that with a better overall team on offense and defense.
September 1st, 2014 at 6:24 pm
Joe if you want to shore up our O line you better get on the Richie Incognito option. It only takes a small breach in the dam or Levey to flood a city just ask NO.
September 1st, 2014 at 7:12 pm
Did the people who say qb heroics are all-important and defense takes a back seat watch the most recent Super Bowl?
September 1st, 2014 at 9:30 pm
JOE, you are a knucklehead and a numbnut sometimes. Just give it a rest. You are struggling too hard for content sometimes.
September 2nd, 2014 at 2:56 pm
the seahawks happened to have an excellent QB. however, with the play of their defense, OL, special teams, and RB during that superbowl run, they could have trotted out chris simms under center and i think there would still have been a parade through downtown seattle.
if the bucs go into the second half of the year 4-4, i expect them to trend upwards on offense down the stretch. they play less intimidating defenses and the offense has to get more precise as all these new guys spend more time together
September 2nd, 2014 at 2:57 pm
“if the bucs go into the second half of the year 4-4, i expect them to trend upwards on offense down the stretch and make alot of noise in the battle for playoff spots”