“They Better Win This Game”
September 14th, 2014
The “Custodian of Canton,” eye-RAH! Kaufman, stated Bucs QB coach and last week’s play caller Marcus Arroyo can’t be blamed for the Bucs’ impotent offense
It is such a depressing statistic, Joe doesn’t want to type it.
The percentage of teams that lose their first two games and make the playoffs is dismal.
(Joe will type the actual data tonight in the event of a disaster at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway).
Just before the opening game, Joe thought the stars might be aligned right. The immortal Derek Anderson was starting for the Stinking Panthers and the Rams, today’s second opponent on the 2014 slate, also would be starting a backup quarterback.
Thus far, that good luck was wasted thanks to a non-existent offense.
No, Joe never expected the Bucs to win a division and believed they would finish 7-9, but that doesn’t mean Joe didn’t hope upon hope the Bucs would catch breaks and earn a Wild Card berth.
“The Custodian of Canton,” eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune, discussed this subject with the one and only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. Kaufman opened up about the Week 1 loss during his weekly appearance on the channel that bears the host’s name, “Mad Dog Radio,” among the family of sports channels heard exclusively on SiriusXM Radio.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo: They played well in the fourth quarter and McCown kept slinging it at the end, so we will give them credit. But that is a terrible loss. You have Carolina walking into your building. You have a new coach and you are trying to start off on the right foot. You have Derek Anderson at quarterback. And you are down 17-0 after three quarters to a Carolina team that has all sorts of issues? That is not the way you want to start with the Buccaneers. That was terrible on Sunday afternoon. Go ahead.
eye-RAH! Kaufman: I thought those kind of Bucs games were a thing of the past, Chris. I have seen a lot of them over the years. Of course they had their run and that ended in ’07 and it is six years without playoffs and 11 years without a playoff win, Chris. Chris, they had two first downs in the first half. Two! One, two. That is terrible football. You are not going to blame it all on Jeff Tedford not calling the plays, Chris. You are certainly not going to pin that on somebody else calling the plays instead of Jeff Tedford. It was a woeful performance. And, to think this was Lovie Smith’s first time on the sidelines, you know, the fans are in a frenzy. They want to look at the new-look Bucs with the new uniforms and the new logos and it was the same old. And you are right. And now all of a sudden they are playing the Rams, Chris. They are playing the Rams with another backup quarterback. Now I hear Chris Long is having surgery, he is done for six weeks. I mean, how many breaks do the Bucs want? They better win this game, Chris.
Yes, the Bucs better win this game, but can they? Injuries have mounted.
It sure would help if Doug Martin could find his old spark. It sure would be nice if the Bucs could open holes for him. It sure would be nice if someone not named “Gerald McCoy” could sack a quarterback. It sure would be nice if someone could cover a tight end.
September 14th, 2014 at 7:22 am
“…I thought those kind of Bucs games were a thing of the past…”.
Yeah, we all hoped that. Very frustrating. Not so much that the Bucs lost, but how poorly they played.
September 14th, 2014 at 7:38 am
No more excuses regarding us losing because injuries starting to mount up. These r professionals. The panthers main weapon didn’t play n they had a rookie wr n a bunch of nobodies who made plays. Since 2008 we had a chance to get play makers such as Steve smith sr, Darien Sproles, Jared Allen, Julius peppers, John Abraham, n 2014 rookie Brandon cooks, all r proven n consistent play makers. Vincent Jackson continues to drop catchable balls, mike Evans has gone from college to Casper the ghost n Michael Johnson is a cloned RIP Gaines Adams.
September 14th, 2014 at 7:44 am
LOVIE!!!!!!!!! IF YOUR OR ANY OF YOUR STAFF HAPPEN TO READ THIS. PLEASE GIVE MIKE JAMES SOME CARRIES TODAY. JUST TO SEE WHAT HE DOES PLEASE!!!!! JUST A REQUEST FROM ONE OF YOUR LOYAL BUCS FANS!!!! OH AND HEY MCCOWN…..THROW THE DAMN BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 14th, 2014 at 7:59 am
Still got a good feeling about this game.
September 14th, 2014 at 8:04 am
ITS GO TIME.. GET EM GOIN.. LIGHT A FIRE UNDER THEM THERE BUCS.. OH YA..
September 14th, 2014 at 8:05 am
Even if this game is lost, and hopefully it will not be, I have a feeling that by the end of the season Bucs fans will be very happy.
That’s why I am relaxed.
September 14th, 2014 at 8:07 am
I just hate the uniforms.
September 14th, 2014 at 8:13 am
Ira doesn’t know what an offensive coordinator does obviously.
September 14th, 2014 at 8:22 am
Evans is now Casper the ghost? Pretty sure he caught 5 passes in his first professional game. Maybe not a great debut, but certainly not ghost-like.
September 14th, 2014 at 8:23 am
@bonzai
Some fans are already happy, but then again some fans had realistic expectations of what this team would look like!
After last year I really just want too see a reshuffling of the roster. It was garbage and need to be redone no matter what lip service was told in the off season. L&L just need to see who can play at an NFL level this year! We will see a lot of reshuffling next off season as well.
September 14th, 2014 at 8:44 am
amazing comments 1 game into the season from “professionals”
September 14th, 2014 at 8:47 am
Kevin#1 Says:
September 14th, 2014 at 7:44 am
LOVIE!!!!!!!!! IF YOUR OR ANY OF YOUR STAFF HAPPEN TO READ THIS. PLEASE GIVE MIKE JAMES SOME CARRIES TODAY.——————————————————
I’m with you on mike James he always shows up when given a chance but josh no I’m not feeling that, our chances of losing increase if we can’t run and the game is in his hands. No one gets credit for almost winning and playing good in one quarter
September 14th, 2014 at 8:48 am
Very good analysis of the defensive play over at Bucs Nation. Hope the Joes improve on that. The writer points out that the play in general, and the linebackers in particular, were very passive and we’re not reading the run/pass keys. Seems the tight end issues were caused by the backers and not the safeties.
Hope the team plays more aggressively from here on out.
September 14th, 2014 at 9:01 am
@ BUC 4 LIFE…I’M WILLING TO GIVE MCCOWN ANOTHER WEEK TO SHOW THAT HE JUST HAD TO KNOCK OFF THE RUST. A LOT OF QB’S HAD SHAKEY days last week. Sorry caps lock. If he flops against the rams today then thats it I’m done with him. If he does good then hopefully he can have Tedford on the Mic next week vs. Atlanta. But I am willing to watch him try and prove himself this week and possibly next IF we win today. Last week we thought we had the game in the bag before it even stared. Maybe that was the problem. Last year we thought we had the game in the bag week 1 in NY. Thats was a problem. Last week may have possibly been the reality check this team needed. We will know for sure when we see them play today. I’d like to see a little creativity on offense ……..
September 14th, 2014 at 9:02 am
Waste of time to write about being 0-2 before it happens. Similar about writing countless articles on the Bucs losing the 3rd preseason game and comparing to teams decades before and how that may translate to this team. How did that work out? And how can this town ridiculously over react to one game and not understand a new coach needs time to get his team players and systems in place. My God relax over reactors before you run a good coach out of town. Was it ugly the first game? Yes it was but relax people. And Joe being one that should know better is leading the charge. Obviously The Big Dog didn’t get thru to you…
September 14th, 2014 at 9:09 am
Everyone seems surprised that the Bucs lost to a backup QB, not acknowledging that the Bucs are led by a lifelong backup QB, who PLAYED like a ROOKIE backup QB. The only pass completion for more than 20 yards was a 12 yd throw to ASJ, with a 14 yd YAC. Only two first downs in the entire first half, with 7 and 1/2 mins of TOP. Not to mention two fumbles and two of the worst throws for picks I’ve ever seen. (In my best Jed Clampett voice) Pitiful. You can try to blame VJax or the defense for “drops” or not covering the TE, but most of their points came off McCown turnovers, and it could have been worse.
tickrdr
September 14th, 2014 at 9:17 am
A Lovie Smith coached team has never started 0-2.
I hope that trend continues.
September 14th, 2014 at 9:36 am
Bonzai.. Keep telling yourself that. If you can remain cool, calm and collected more power to you, the sedatives must be working. I hate the new uniforms too.
September 14th, 2014 at 10:46 am
You sold me, Joe. I just got Sirius radio a couple weeks ago. Mad Dog is a lot better to listen to than to read. I’m in my truck a lot during the day for my work, so I get quite a few hours a day of radio time. I’m a talk radio kind of guy. They have great guests. I’ve heard Ira a couple times now. I heard Ron Rivera talk about the Bucs game. I heard Jeff Fisher talk about the upcoming Bucs game. It’s great radio. It’s worth every penny.
September 14th, 2014 at 10:54 am
They better win this game in a convincing fashion….”next man up” players have their chance, and maybe thats what we need!! And if Mccown sh!ts the bed again, please sit him for MG8!
September 14th, 2014 at 11:13 am
Playoffs?!?! You’re talking about playoffs? Playoffs?!?!
September 14th, 2014 at 11:45 am
If they lose today, bench McCown and ride it with Glennon. Have to know what we have in Glennon so 14 more games will tell us. But 0-2 with the upcoming schedule is season over, so might as well let Glennon sling it.
September 14th, 2014 at 12:18 pm
BuccaneerBonzai ….I’m happy too. I may bi**h and moan about the current state of the Bucs, but I’m still happy. I know this shyte’s going to take time. Hell I said so repeatedly when they hired him.
Realist is right, there is far too many fans in here that had high expectations for this season. So when anyone says anything that’s negative , even if it’s true, some fans get all whiny and pout. I should know I’m an expert at whiny.
I also agree with you that by season’s end most Buc fans might be smiling by what they are seeing. We’ll see.
No I’m happy. I’m not going to stop bit**ing and moaning though.