Anthony Collins: Very Close In The Running Game
October 7th, 2014
It was a focused bunch of men in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ locker room today, and left tackle Anthony Collins was among the team leaders eager to chat.
In what surely should soothe frustrated Lovie Smith, Collins assured Joe and other media that the Bucs’ struggling rushing attack is almost ready to revive.
“It’ll be one guy this play, and then one guy this play, and then one guy this play, and then one guy this play, you know 10 people will be doing the right thing and it just always will be one person that the running game, you know, it works with everybody. Once we get everybody on the same page, y’all see a difference in us,” Collins said. “Very close. When you look at film, we’re very close in the running game.
“Man, you give Doug some room and you give Bobby some room, man, it’s going to get scary.”
Yes, it takes a brand new offensive line and a rookie tight end time to jell.
What’s alarming is the Bucs’ running game didn’t face a very good defense in New Orleans, yet it was stymied, despite success in the passing game to help open things up. Life likely will get a lot nastier Sunday with the Ravens in Tampa.
Doug Martin is averaging 2.5 yards a carry.
Something has to change. Joe sure hopes Collins is accurate and that change isn’t too far away.
October 7th, 2014 at 12:54 pm
I think play calling has a lot to do with it. When were nothing but predictable on first down its hard to get it going because defenses know what to protect for. As a result, it leaves us predictable on third downs more times than not because at that point its third and seven or longer.
October 7th, 2014 at 12:59 pm
Good insight, Joe! I hope he’s right! Thanks!
Side note: In years past, hasn’t Tuesday been a traditional “day off” for NFL players? Is working on Tuesday something new under Lovie & Co?
October 7th, 2014 at 1:10 pm
RCH nailed it. a moron could scheme against our playcalling. stack the box on 1st down. watch for another run on second and cover the pass on 3rd. MG get’s one, maybe 2 real downs and they know the pass is coming.
it’s a joke and the whole offense should be pissed. IF, a BIG IF they can impose their will on 1st down it will be downright scary, but I just don’t see it. If ANY team could run the ball every time on 1st against a stacked box and breakthrough consistently they would be SB contenders every year.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
@ RCH
That’s true. Not only predictable with when we run, but how we run. Just seems like the majority of our running plays are up the gut, and we hit a wall for little gain. But the one time we run a power play and pull Mankins we score a TD. Idk, I hope Collins is right, but I see very little improvement in the running game. Hopefully we can get some less predictable play calling and better blocking, and then it should improve.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:20 pm
Yeah…these guys are new to football and Lovie runs a very sophisticated run blocking scheme that has never been run in the game of football before……please someone….what is the sum total of weekly paychecks cashed by the 5 starting offensive linemen each week…….FOOTBALL has ALWAYS been……
RUNNING the BALL
and
STOPPING the RUN
the Bucs can not do either
October 7th, 2014 at 1:21 pm
Why are we running a power running scheme with a finesse based line that excels in pass blocking? Someone want to tell me the answer? Because I’m just not getting it.
Also, what’s the % of run plays on first down? Why are we not running play action on first downs if we’re running it so much?
October 7th, 2014 at 1:24 pm
Oh and I think the reason why we excel in the second quarter is the percentage of power run plays drops off. But how much I don’t know, just seems like it.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:24 pm
show me one scary offens that runs the ball up the gut every time on 1st down.
saints? pats? broncos? eagles?
the key is doing what they don’t expect, and MG has no time to change the play.
you see them go up to the line with 3 seconds left and 8 defenders in the box WTF do you think is going to happen?
October 7th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
Agree with RCH. The constant running up the middle on 1st and 10 is infuriating. No misdirection, no creative formations, just smash Doug Martin into the back of our offensive lineman for no gain. It’s insane.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:34 pm
Funny I feel like I’ve been told “once this happens, everything will be great” for a while now. But whenever one problem on this team gets fixed two more pop up.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:36 pm
Or for a LOSS of 2 0r 3 yrds. Can’t forget that.
October 7th, 2014 at 1:42 pm
Lets open up the run with the pass please. Glennon has shown hes capable of making the right decisions. Running a dive play into the backs of the O-Line isn’t going to cut it. Haloti Ngata and Suggs are going to feast if we keep doing the same bull$hit runs.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:04 pm
@Andrew 1
Absolutely correct
October 7th, 2014 at 2:07 pm
i hope he can get very close to going through a whole game without a penalty. our o-line looks worse to me than last year. i dont think this guy is any better than D.Penn and I think J.Zuttah could play better than EDS at center.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:37 pm
logan mankins presence has improved the pass protection for iron mike glennon. I suppose it will for mc clown if he isn’t holding a clipboard on the sidelines in the future.
a running play I liked against N.O. this past sunday involved
logan mankins.
mankins came across to the right tackle position just as iron mike was handing the ball to the running back .mankins leveled the defensive lineman. it was one of the best running plays of the game for T.B.
October 7th, 2014 at 2:38 pm
We have the worse coaching staff in the league! Lovie Smith is an idiot! Arroyo and Frazier are idiots! Let’s fire them all for their predictability and poor play calling and lack of adjustments. I mean how could they come up with such a simple/predictable/rudimentary offensive and defensive game plan/scheme!?!
Oh and I know all this because I watch the game on TV and I also subscribe to NFL Game Rewind and watch the coachs cam footage, so that makes me an expert!
October 7th, 2014 at 2:50 pm
port richey george …hey I live in Port Richey.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:32 pm
Patience means the desired situation will eventually occur.
Unless you are. Buccaneer fan.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:34 pm
2015 NFL…in no prarticular order rounds 1-3
OT
C
OG
October 7th, 2014 at 3:45 pm
onelove…..hello lovie!!!! 🙂
October 7th, 2014 at 3:53 pm
Keep saying it Joe, 2.5 yards per carry, 2.5 yards per carry, I’ve got ZERO evidence to back me up here, but I have a gut feeling Martin will do well this Sunday…2.5.
October 7th, 2014 at 3:54 pm
I posted this after the Panthers loss…probably the following tuesday after listening to both Lovie …then…Derrick Brooks…comment on the game..
“Lovie is in WAY over his head….I listened to his press conference yesterday and was underwhemled by his monotoned empty words…then by chance I listened to a long interview with #55 on all sorts of subject…a stark contrast in leadership and answering questions. Lovie is an empty suit that has been swept to this point in life by his association with the greatness of others. I don’t mean to be harsh…but that is what I see”
October 7th, 2014 at 3:54 pm
RCH is right. Not only do we run th majority of the time on first time, it is typically straight up the gut into a tacked box.
Thereis only one way to get 8 or even 9 out of the box and that is to throw them out of it.
Thier defensive coordinator totally out coached out OC on Sunday in the fourth quater. Who ever heard of putting a WR in motion in a shotgun formation when your on your own 10 yard line. Geeeeeeeeesh.
I know the guy is new but as soon as I saw that starting to happen I groaned oh no.
I hardly ever see us using deception in our running or passing game. No bootlegs, no rubs no traps. I can count on one hand how many screens or draws we have run this year.
Is this the new offense we were supposed to see because it looks like we are just using Schiano’s play book from last year.
October 7th, 2014 at 4:01 pm
i agree with rasta. lovie is what he is showing us he is. and its an empty suit
October 7th, 2014 at 4:02 pm
This whole coaching staff is made up of washed up never been YES men….and wanna be’s…playing yes men to get their feets into the NFL coaching fraternity…this is not the type of coaching staff Tony Dungy put together….Tony had a complete NFL resume…Lovie is a NFL groupie
October 7th, 2014 at 4:47 pm
Well the new regime did bring in an entirely new blocking scheme for our OL, after 2 years of man blacking we’ve moved towards a zone blocking scheme, partially the reason some of the pieces from 2013 couldn’t get carried over and be effective. Our run game has flashed, but we’re far off from being a weekly threat, what I’m waiting for is to actually see Martin & Rainey come out and both play good games on the same day.
October 7th, 2014 at 4:49 pm
A “SEASON” is not lost after 3 games and if Glennon plays the rest of this season and its a loosing season then he is gone. The Bucs will need to win this division if Glennon is to remain the starter for that franchise. There is no way that Glennon remains the starter next season if he only improves by 10% from now, LOL. You Glennon fans better hope that the D and special teams play like they did in the Atlanta game all season. Because if they play like they did the other 3 games and get better and still loose then its over for Glennon. Somebody’s gonna take the fall and it won’t be the coaches/GM/rookies/oline/stars of the defense and that leaves only one guy, Glennon. Again, there’s an argument if the team plays like spit the rest of the season but if they improve and Glennon is not able to do enough to get the team over the hump then he’s gone. Believe That!
October 7th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
Collins needs to stop talking. He hasn’t blocked for crap in the running game. He is a complete liability out there. Another garbage FA.
October 7th, 2014 at 5:24 pm
@RastaMon If Lovie is only in this league because of the greatness of others then how did he manage to have all his success in Chicago!? Please don’t say “Jerry Angelo” because then your just asking to get b!tch slapped….
If you don’t think that taking a team to a Super Bowl that has REX GROSSMAN at QB is SUCCESS then I don’t know what success is anymore….
The year he got fired the Bears were 10-6 and lead the NFL in takeaways. That was probably the stupidest move the Bears franchise ever made. I bet they WISH they had him back, the way their defense is playing..
You ask what about our defense?!? I mean did you really expect Lovie Smith to be Mary Poppins and turn this roster into a top 5 defense in his first year?? Stop smoking whatever it is your smoking and come back to reality… This is Lovie’s first year with this team and the players first year with this scheme… Even I know I gotta let the meat marinade for a bit if I wanna get some great BBQ!
October 7th, 2014 at 6:38 pm
Quit running the ball every first down. Maybe pass on first and run on second and switch back and fourth keeping defenses guessing. Obviously third down depends on what happens on first and second and there are a lot of things that should determine a coordinators playcalling but when 80 percent of our first downs are runs up the middle every game and we are 1 and 4 and yet we continue to run on 80 percent of our first downs thats a big problem. The defenses know when we run and when we pass. With that said Glennon is showing he can complete passes and read defenses so make the run a little less predictable and it will only benefit our entire offense. Our inability to be unpredictable is why we cannot win four quarters of football. Im convinced we have a damn good qb. Let him run the offense give him the keys man quit wasting all of our time please…
October 7th, 2014 at 6:54 pm
OneLove Says:
October 7th, 2014 at 5:24 pm
@RastaMon If Lovie is only in this league because of the greatness of others then how did he manage to have all his success in Chicago!? Please don’t say “Jerry Angelo” because then your just asking to get b!tch slapped….
If you don’t think that taking a team to a Super Bowl that has REX GROSSMAN at QB is SUCCESS then I don’t know what success is anymore….
The year he got fired the Bears were 10-6 and lead the NFL in takeaways. That was probably the stupidest move the Bears franchise ever made. I bet they WISH they had him back, the way their defense is playing..
You ask what about our defense?!? I mean did you really expect Lovie Smith to be Mary Poppins and turn this roster into a top 5 defense in his first year?? Stop smoking whatever it is your smoking and come back to reality… This is Lovie’s first year with this team and the players first year with this scheme… Even I know I gotta let the meat marinade for a bit if I wanna get some great BBQ!
_________________________________________
I think you and many other lovely fans are forgetting that the LEGENDARY Defense belonged not to Lovie but to Ron Rivera and Rod Marinelli. look it up or ask any bears fans. When Ron Rivera left lovie didn’t win more than 9 games for 3 years straight. Then he hired Marinelli after being fired from Detroit and he took him to the playoffs again.
Problem is folks, lovie hasn’t actually been successful, Ron Rivera and Rod M. have and as for Frazier, Frazier can’t win games. You know this, I need not explain.
So to summarize, Lovie is in WAY OVER HIS HEAD. We will not see any improvement from week to week or year to year unless Rod Marinelli, Ron Rivera or some other Def guru comes to town. Oh wait, Lovie did lead the St. Louis Rams to the SuperBowl with a SICK defense, I think they were called the greatest show on Turf. His defense was so great they lost the game to second year QB Tom Brady – “Brady led his team down the field to set up kicker Adam Vinatieri’s game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired. Brady, who completed 16 of 27 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, was named Super Bowl MVP.”
And there my friends is your Defensive Guru Lovie Smith. We’re totally Ducked.
October 8th, 2014 at 7:01 am
There must be something in the water at One Buc Place that causes coaches to do the ‘first down, run up the gut’, as that particular frustration spans every coach going back through Gruden and Dungy.
Are we going to see Tedford return at all this year? Or ever?