Losing Faith In Josh McCown Means …
September 16th, 2014
Keep the faith, says Booger McFarland.
Joe understands the downright anger of Bucs fans. The team basically urinated away the first two games of the season against dog backup quarterbacks, in part, because a career backup QB Lovie Smith knighted as his leader, Josh McCown, made too many Pop Warner mistakes that doomed the Pewter Pirates.
Sensing the kick-in-the-groin loss to the Lambs and a third-string nobody ended Lovie Smith’s honeymoon with fans, former Bucs defensive tackle Booger McFarland is trying his best to calm the masses.
The star of the SEC Network and personality on WHFS-FM 98.7 took to the local airwaves to try to easy the growing anger that is rippling through Bucs fans of all ages now. In short, Booger pleads not to lose faith in Josh McCown at quarterback.
“Here is what has me bothered: Everyone in this town knows I trust Lovie Smith. Everyone,” Booger said. “There is no give or take. I believe in Lovie Smith because I know what he stands for. I believe the cloth that he is cut from.
“Lovie hand-picked his quarterback. And he hand-picked his quarterback because in my opinion he trusts Josh McCown. And to me, what I don’t want to happen in this town is simple. I don’t want us to lose faith in Josh McCown which in turn we will lose faith in Lovie.
“I’ve got to be honest with you. Josh McCown is a veteran quarterback who has made two or three stupid decisions so far this season. Two or three stupid decision. Doesn’t mean he is a stupid player. Doesn’t mean he is a bad player. It means he has made stupid decisions that have cost us in certain situations.”
Well, the easiest way for the locals to lose faith in Lovie is if McCown continues to make Pop Warner mistakes and continues to show blatant, reckless disregard for ball security. Lovie would have to act, if it got so bad that even a guy walking around with a white cane could see a problem.
In other words, there is no need to play Capt. Edward Smith if you can see the iceberg.
Frankly, McCown, has made six or seven stupid mistakes but got away with all but three. Was he better in the second game than the first? Yeah, so that is progress in sort of a sick way.
September 16th, 2014 at 5:10 am
That loss was squarely on Lovie not McCown. I know a qb controversy is good for business, but this is ridiculous.
September 16th, 2014 at 5:14 am
Did I see progress from last week? Yes, but not much. I saw the offensive line play improved. That will be a huge factor in McCown’s progress. If he can develop a rhythm behind an improved offensive line, will be the difference maker, moving forward. Putting points on the board, will be necessary with our defence decimated with injury.
“It’s funny how the backup quarterback always becomes the most popular guy on the team, when there are problems”
September 16th, 2014 at 5:17 am
Veteran quarterbacks don’t generally make 2 or 3 stupid mistakes in a game. Listening to McCown’s press conference after the last loss to the lowly Lambs, Josh doesn’t really exude much confidence.
September 16th, 2014 at 5:50 am
All new plays with an
all new ever changing line with an
all new offense coordinator with an
all new substitute offense coordinator with an
all new receivers, tight ends, rb
McCown took on a big job that is very challenging to say the least.
I would imagine a few mistakes are in order until all these other people
get acclimated with each other and the play calling settles down and he gets comfortable with it all. I think he has handled it well all things considered and anxious for the Atlanta game to see how the line does and how comfortable he becomes.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:18 am
Everyone would have loved Johnny football in this town. But we are stuck with what we have, 2 back up QB’s. Why can’t anyone see josh may not be a Johnny football but our offense is putting points on the board. Our defense, this projected number 1 defense fight for every blade of grass is the laughing stock of the NFL. Wake up and smell the roses.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:26 am
Austin Davis and Derek Anderson are believers.
Seriously, we need at least league average QB play, not a tick below a backup and third stringer’s.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:31 am
Unfortunately the cloth Lovie is cut from is old and dated and so is his style of football….I can’t wait for Tedford to come back, if what I heard was true, he was beyond frustrated with the play calling, especially within the redzone. Hopefully when he returns and wrests the reins of the offense from Lovie (who apparently was over-riding play calls) we’ll see what McCown and this offense can do.
Another thing, L&L seriously need to test the RB trade waters, Martin can be moved, there are teams that would absolutely give up a 2 for him…when Sims gets back and shows what he can do at game speed, Martin will be expendable.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:37 am
@billybuckaroo McCowns mistakes has nothing to do with anything you listed lol. They r just all time stupid decisions with the football shouldnt be made by anyone over the age of 13 yet alone a NFL starting Qb.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:37 am
Handed picked QB and Lovie admits massive miss evaluation? Not going to happen. He had an entire year to come up with his QB plan. Lovie is lucky these former Bucs all stick up for him or he would be held to the same ugly standard we judge our coaches by. Just imagine if that was Schiano 0-2 right now. Booger would be killing him.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:39 am
I thought the main reason to sign a veteran qb was to avoid these crappy plays. I’m not willing to quit on the season yet but if it happens again and we stsrt 0-3, we might as well put MG to see what we really have. Best case he’s our starter of the future, worst case we lost all his trading value and we need to draft a qb
September 16th, 2014 at 6:43 am
You can’t make 2 stupid mistakes if the entire goal of your offense is to put 15 points on the board and keep the starting field position of the other team inside their own 20.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:44 am
Jon, you say Lovie had an entire year to come up with a QB plan? Where was he going to get a better one? Last I looked, you couldn’t buy one on EBay.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:46 am
We are stuck with McCheckdown. Hopefully Tedford comes back this week and opens up HIS playbook, and we see some balls thrown downfield instead of waiting until the last play of the game. Also it would be nice when the offense gets into the redzone they attempt to throw it in the end zone.
September 16th, 2014 at 6:48 am
the problem is that we have seen this movie before, how many times did Lovie in Chicago stand at the podium and say that a below average QB was “his guy”.
Josh Meltdown is averaging 181 yards per game, passing is 2 tds and 3 ints. his average pass attempt is 4.8 yards ( captain checkdown ). these were stats that some media said the Mike Glennon could not be a starter in this league as a rookie!!! will we here excuses so we can watch more bad football???
September 16th, 2014 at 6:49 am
I’m so glad we play on national tv this week so the whole world can see some of his stellar decisions with the football. But let me guess you’ll want josh to continue to wreck the season and then throw Glennon in there when everybody has checked out just to say “I told you he wouldn’t work either”
September 16th, 2014 at 6:51 am
TBS14….not everyone would have loved JFF….
September 16th, 2014 at 7:06 am
I have not lost faith in Josh McCown because I never had any. Why isn’t Glennon playing. Could he be any worse than McCown? Two games into the season and I’m already wishing it was over so we can use our number one pick on Jameis Winston.
September 16th, 2014 at 7:09 am
Just because you trust lovie and believe in him doesn’t mean he won’t make mistakes. All coaches do and through two games lovie has been out coached and partly because he’s been a mute on the sideline…. Bad play after bad play and this guy just stands there like he’s lost and that’s not coaching, you can’t be someone for 4 quarters while YOU’RE defense is getting thrashed by backup’s
September 16th, 2014 at 7:13 am
I have to be honest, I want is best for the bucs overall. As long as Josh Meltdown is in, I want a loss so we get a better draft pick. I will not be excited until i see this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeDzn78MiYg
show me Lovie that you are trying to win and I will root for wins as well!!!!
September 16th, 2014 at 7:15 am
Evidence: 1st and goal, flushed right out of the pocket…you throw the ball into the seats. 2nd down.
Josh, the veteran panics, throws cross body into the middle of the field. Interception.
This is rookie BS….he’s gotta sit
September 16th, 2014 at 7:33 am
I’m sick of excuses.
Booger would be lynching Schiano about right now.
Lovie is going to destroy the teams fan base.
Fail
September 16th, 2014 at 7:45 am
It’s unfortunate that McCown is making mistakes that rookie QB’s out of college make. Throwing across your body and off your back foot do not work in the NFL. Favre used to do it and get away with it because of his arm strength until his age caught up with him and those same passes would get picked off. McCown should have had 5-6 passes (or more) intercepted already. I like his scrambling ability, but if you can not hit receivers than you are no more then RGIII or any other scrambling QB who is not accurate.
September 16th, 2014 at 7:48 am
In other words he is extremely reckless for a system that requires ball security to even have a chance at winning.
September 16th, 2014 at 7:59 am
I really don’t know how people can watch that last game and blame everything on the quarterback. He had one really and play, outside of that he was absolutely fine if not outright good. Put the pitchforks away folks, he is fine.
September 16th, 2014 at 7:59 am
ESPN kept running a crawler last night, that listed Josh as having the 4th highest QBR this past week. He was ahead of Brady, Flacco and many other top QB’s. So, overall, he was efficient except for the one bonehead throw near the endzone. If you watched the cut-down replay of the game, the biggest problem was defense. I bet 90 percent of the time that backup QB burned us, his receivers were at least 3 yards AWAY from our defenders. Think about the number of passes broken up by the Bucs. You’re right….there weren’t more than a couple. It looked like what we used to call PREVENT defense. Let them catch all balls and then hit them before they break off a big play. This is a stupid and ineffective strategy that allows any NFL QB to move the ball easily without a chance for a turnover. If that one area is fixed and we challenge receivers, turnovers will come, 3 and outs will come and some creative play calling can open up our offense too.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:02 am
So last night Andrew Luck threw a stupid pass into traffic as the Colts were driving inside the red zone to ice the game. As a result, the Eagles were able to drive the field to tie the game and ultimately win.
Colt message boards are lighting up with idiots asking for a new QB. Lighten up people. Mistakes happen. I saw enough from Josh on Sunday to tell me he can win with this team.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:06 am
I wonder if Lovie told his players that they are only 2 games out of 1st place.
Looser
September 16th, 2014 at 8:14 am
@ JBuc
The Colts receiver fell down. It was not a stupid pass like you say. Stop making excuses for boneheaded plays by the Bucs. And yes its not just McCheckdown. Its the all 3 phases of the game, boneheaded play calling, and clock management. The team as a whole is not good.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:15 am
Booger’s fondness for his dear friend Lovie is clouding his objectivity. Booger is not listenable with his ardent bias.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:16 am
Lol, very sick.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:17 am
The problem is that McCown has made the sort of STUPID mistakes you would expect out of a 21 year old rookie QB….not a 35 year old veteran signal caller. We are now 0-2! History would suggest that if we lose Thursday night in Atlanta, and go 0-3, we have virtually no chance of making the playoffs! If that is the case, why would you stick with a 35 year old mistake prone career journeyman, instead of your young 2nd year QB who showed so much promise last year? McCown is a stop gap for a year or two at best, Glennon has the potential to be our starter for many years to come….if we lose in Atlanta, it’s time to move on from McCown and see if MG8 is the future…because if he isn’t, then we have to look at drafting a QB early in next years draft! Lovie has not started off well so far, and how he handles the next couple of games….and the fallout that comes with more losses…can end up costing him the fans trust for the rest of the season!
September 16th, 2014 at 8:18 am
actually CC, watch it again, even if the receiver doesn’t fall down the best he could have done was to break up the pass. There were 2 Eagle defenders converging on that play. It was a throw into double coverage with the game on the line and the play wasn’t needed as they were in FG range to ice the game. It was a stupid throw and I would bet Luck would admit the same if he hasn’t already.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:21 am
Hmmm, wonder has more knowledge and experience on this subject, Booger McFarland who played for and won many games with Lovie Smith or DallasBuc, a Bucs Blog troll. If only there was a way to tell
September 16th, 2014 at 8:25 am
i just don’t care anymore. he sucks
September 16th, 2014 at 8:28 am
Wow, what rock did all these sheep come crawling out of???
September 16th, 2014 at 8:35 am
Dave Moore gave a really good objective analysis on Ron and Ian’s show yesterday. While we expected immediate results, Dave explained why that is not possible under the current circumstances. Basically, it’s going to take time for the players to adjust to the new defense because it is so different from Schiano’s. Hopefully the O will improve with Tedford in the saddle. Not sure I buy into it but it is food for thought.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:39 am
actually JBuc, the receiver was pulled down and should have been pass interference. No way that pass gets intercepted without him getting pulled down. There is no comparison to the pick McChedown threw and the one Luck threw.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:41 am
Josh McCown was never a good player. Everyone seems to forget that after 5 games last year. Anyone smell fluke? He also got away with several stupid throws in Chicago. Many dropped ints. I pointed it out several times when I was in disgust we signed him.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:41 am
If you expected a team that changed their entire offensive/defensive philosophy, most of their offensive personnel and almost half of your defensive personnel and your entire coaching staff to come out and dominate the first two games of the year, you are not the Buc_Realist. You are the Buc_Moron.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:46 am
“…in my opinion he trusts Josh McCown…”
When you are in the red zone 8 times, and all are run plays, you don’t trust your QB
September 16th, 2014 at 8:46 am
CC, you are simply wrong. Play occurred within 5 yards from scrimmage and he was not pulled down. Again, even if he does not fall, the safety was all over the play and at minimum the play was broken up. It WAS a dumb pass into coverage with the opportunity to ice the game. The point is that they all make bad plays. I would agree that Josh needs to make better decisions. However, on the whole, I thought he played well on Sunday. The defense and special teams are another story. However, I still contend it will get better.
September 16th, 2014 at 8:54 am
Lovie is not a bad coach but he is a terrible talent evaluator. The Bucs basically put him in charge of that. Johnson will continue to be a dud at DE. McCown is a dud. Collins isn’t bad, but that doesn’t fix all the other bad decisions.
He’s also a bad evaluator on offensive coaches. He got better in Chicago when Martz was shoved down his throat. Yet his offenses up there were routinely bad.
Problem on D is the pass rush. Tampa 2 needs it and he hasn’t got the talent to pull it off nor has he shown that he can evaluate talent well enough to find the guys he needs to generate a consistent pass rush. McCoy is great, but the DEs are “meh” and it’s easy to avoid one guy in the middle by moving left or right.
September 16th, 2014 at 9:03 am
Not sure how we got into comparing McCown to Luck. There is no comparison between the two. Luck is a franchise QB and will be for the next decade. The Colts passing offense is 7th and the Bucs after two games is 31st. McCown not only has three ugly interceptions, but two fumbles that were as careless as the throws he made. Even though we recovered them it was still a rookie type mistake that should never be made by a 15 year veteran. As bad as the D seems if we don’t turn the ball over we win both games. Also; looks like the D is ranked 15th.
September 16th, 2014 at 9:15 am
It would be one thing if we were seeing miscommunication on routes, missed adjustments, etc. but when you throw the ball to the other team in panic when your best bet is to take the sack, that is not about the system, the coordinator, or getting on the same page. That is a bad decision that a true freshman would get chewed out for
September 16th, 2014 at 9:41 am
THE FRANCHISE QB IS NOT ON THIS ROSTER
September 16th, 2014 at 9:46 am
Joe, take it easy on the backup QBs the Bucs have faced. As so many actual analysts have said for most teams the talent level between the starting QB and the backup QB isn’t that great. Just about every backup in the NFL makes a roster because that team believes he can give the team a chance to win in case their starter goes down. None of them suck or don’t belong in the NFL, including Glennon.
Look at Kirk Cousins. Hell, Tom Brady was once one of those “dog backup” quarterbacks.
I didn’t see the Rams backup QB break through the line to block a punt or to block that FG. I didn’t see the Rams backup QB intercept McCown in the red zone. We didn’t lose to a backup QB. We lost to the Rams.
September 16th, 2014 at 9:51 am
JBuc you sound so incredibly dumb. Bucnjim summed up why your statements are meaningless. Each time somebody wants to make an excuse for McCown they compare him to somebody else that also made a mistake. It’s a logical fallacy. Just because other QBs mess up sometimes as well, doesn’t make McCown’s mistakes any less pathetic.
September 16th, 2014 at 9:55 am
flmike… the cloth Lovie is cut from looks more like tattered rags to me Booger. The defense is like bad swiss cheese, holes too big to hold the cheese, the defense together.
September 16th, 2014 at 10:15 am
put glennon in at least he doesnt turn the ball over as much
September 16th, 2014 at 10:24 am
RealityCheck, my point had been all along that even good QB’s make questionable decisions. It’s a tough games and split second decisions are required. Josh made a stupid throw on Sunday that was comparable to that of Andrew Lucks throw last night. I could go through game film of every game every weekend and show poor throws by good QB’s. Other than the stupid throw Josh made, what else did he do wrong? He led the team down the field and put them in position to win. He scored 2 TD’s himself and played much better than week 1.
September 16th, 2014 at 10:24 am
Jbuc…. with your philosiphy of playing not to lose is why the Bucs are 0-2.
September 16th, 2014 at 10:25 am
Joe, you got your wish. You complained that Glennon lead the 32nd ranked offense last year, and you wanted improvement. Josh leads the 31st ranked passing offense. Just 21 more QB changes and the Bucs will be in the top ten.
September 16th, 2014 at 10:39 am
Funny, I just saw Luck in ESPN saying he made a stupid play that you can’t make with the game on the line. But I’m an idiot so what do I know.
September 16th, 2014 at 10:45 am
When it comes to the QB position, I do NOT trust Love Smith.
Sorry booger. You can love someone personally and STILL say they make poor decisions in their work.
September 16th, 2014 at 10:47 am
Lol dude you’re hopeless. I can read. Repeating the same logical fallacy doesn’t make it true. Everyone has already told you why your comparison of the interceptions is dumb. They weren’t even close to the same in any aspect of the game and it’s an irrelevant comparison regardless.
He played better than week 1? ANYTHING would have been better than week 1. Week 1 was atrocious. Sorry, I don’t believe in most improved player awards. His careless turnover cost us points, game winning points. You don’t need miracle drives at the end of the game if you’ve put your team “in a position to win.”
September 16th, 2014 at 10:50 am
@JBuc…good point dude! I would have totally expected Luck to blame everyone else around him instead of saying what every single QB says after a turnover. Again, a great QB with a history of proven winning records making a mistake doesn’t have anything to do with a terrible journeyman QB also making a mistake. A good QBs positives outweigh his negatives, that is not the case with McCown.
September 16th, 2014 at 11:10 am
Ok RealityCheck, other than bitching like most of the clowns on this site that the sky is falling, what is the solution to get the Bucs back to winning? Again, with all the changes impacting this team, including the fact that our OC has been out with health issues, if you had high expectations for this team early on then you are an idiot.
Balls in your court smart guy. Please enlighten us.
September 16th, 2014 at 11:34 am
Balls in my court for what? We’re talking about McCown making bad plays not evaluating my armchair coaching abilities. I choose to make accurate and true statements about this team. Since they are terrible right now, those statements are mostly negative.
Tell me of one thing I said that claimed that I had any idea how to get this team back to winning.
There are gaps at almost every single spot on the team and the coach has a conservative play not to lose attitude. Solid QB play, improved/aggressive play calling that gives our receivers a chance to make a play, and getting pressure on the opposing QB would be my top 3 areas that would help turn the tables a bit.
September 16th, 2014 at 12:20 pm
Ok, BucRealist, what I gather form your statements prior to now and maybe I’m confusing you with DallasBuc, is that all of what you mentioned as part of the problem is permanently broken due to the coach and GM in charge and that as long as Lovie and Licht are in power this team will not win. Is that accurate?
September 16th, 2014 at 12:29 pm
I don’t agree that the oline improved much. There was no real run blocking. Rainey is slippery and fast. He created his own lanes by jumping and slipping through tacklers that were waiting for him. He made the oline look better than they were.
September 16th, 2014 at 2:13 pm
well jbuc tell that to chip Kelly, bet he would really appreciate it!! the fact of the matter is this, we were sold a bill of goods by L&L on how they were built to win NOW not later. we had the 7th pick and really needed to address our QB situation- and our Offensive line, now I know vjax is getting up in age, but we need a viable threat at QB. how refreshing to watch a good solid pro team with strong QB play and then have to watch this garbage year after year after year, I for one am frankly sick and tired of it as well as about 90% or more of the rest of the bucs fans. did not lovie say the QB position is strong? nonsense, the fact of the matter is the glazers use their profitable NFL team, to bolster and make sure their man u soccer team stays relevant an in the thick of things.
September 16th, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Yeah, so last year under Chip Kelly, the Eagles started out 1-3. After their 3rd consecutive loss many dopes like those found on this website were ready to run him out of town proclaiming his system would not work in this league. I know this because a good friend of mine in Philly was one of those people.
Hindsight in 20/20 I guess.