Michael Johnson And The Left Side
October 14th, 2014
There was zero talk Sunday of trying DE Michael Johnson on the left side.
Thus far, Bucs right defensive end Michael Johnson has been a major swing-and-miss by head coach and overlord of football operations, Lovie Smith.
The very first guy the Bucs targeted in free agency, and reportedly dropped $24 million guaranteed in his lap, Johnson has largely completely invisible to date.
To be fair, Johnson has been dealing with a bum ankle since the first series of the first game. Though hobbled and in pain, he was able to get two sacks on Ben Roethlisberger two weeks ago.
Those have been his lone sacks this season. And he’s been playing nearly every snap.
Sunday, the Crows seemed only worried about Gerald McCoy from a blocking perspective. But it seemed they were a bit wary of Johnson, too. Often on Joe Flacco’s three-step drops, he floated to his right, clearly away from whatever pressure Johnson could bring from the blind side.
So the logical question — at least to Joe — was why Lovie didn’t try Johnson on the left side on a few plays since Flacco either floated or rolled right?
Lovie seemed to scoff at such a suggestion during today’s news conference, and Johnson admitted such a move was never talked about Sunday.
“No, there wasn’t any discussion on that,” Johnson said. The Crows “did a good job of coming out and executing and started off early on. We have to do a better job. When teams come out like that, we have to bow up and get some stops and we didn’t do that.
“I’m not [against playing left end]. I have rushed over there at times. Had a couple in the Atlanta game. I played the right most of my career although early on I flipped a lot more. We have capable rusher at every position. Just going to keep on trying to develop.”
Call Joe whatever you want, but if Johnson was supposed to be that missing link of a sack guy, and an offense that is running you into the ground is playing to their right side, Joe would have tried Johnson for a few plays on the left. Take a shot and see if that would remotely slow down the Crows, or maybe even record one of those Halley’s Comet moments for the Bucs: a sack.
But that’s just Joe.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:13 pm
So Micheal SimeonRice Johnson prefers to get put down on the right side of his sorry ass instead of the left all game long?
October 14th, 2014 at 3:14 pm
Michael “Kleenex” Johnson is a joke. “Lingering” ankle aside, this pretty boy has brought nothing to the table and it’s time, everyone starts calling him out.
3.5 sacks last year? Was that a fluke?
Even though he got two against Pittsburgh, you could say this guy is… wait for it… Sackless! In more ways than one.
Bet he enjoys looking at his account balance though.
JOKE!
Bucs Suck!
October 14th, 2014 at 3:21 pm
Just to remind everyone of the top FAs that faced zero competition all off season because their skill level is apparently above all that nonsense:
McCown
Johnson
Collins
Now I seem to remember beating the proverbial drum all day, every day, all off-season that this was a huge mistake and no one agreed. Hmmmm….
“Don’t worry” they said. “Lovie is a defensive guru” they said. “We were a 4-12 football team” they said. “We will rush the passer” they said. “We will be a running football team” they said. “It’s an up tempo, speed in space offense” they said.
They should stop talking.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:32 pm
Just one of a bunch of reasons why the Bucs stink.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:34 pm
Joe
You cannot make sense out of nonsense so when you say change anything to see if something different happens, you are making sense, when Lovie says I am changing nothing and expects something to change, that is nonsense.
I do question what was Lovie watching in the basement last year, do you have a clue because he couldn’t have been watching most of the free agents he picked and he surely wasn’t watching defenses and offenses unless it was Loony Tunes on the Disney Channel.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:35 pm
Bust, bust, bust, bust…
October 14th, 2014 at 3:36 pm
Lovie was watching Benny Hill intros on loop apparently/allegedly…
Bucs Suck!
October 14th, 2014 at 3:37 pm
I think, and it’s just my opinion, that Lovie and the coaching crew KNOW the whiffed on Johnson and many other players but CANNOT crap on them in public because even though they are crap they are the crap they have to go to war with for the next 10+ weeks. I’ve heard more than a couple of Bucs mention “Keeping it in the family” when questioned by media. That seems to be a part of the Bus new culture and I respect that. Lovie has forgotten more about football than most of us will ever know. He sees who is stinking it up out there. The question is what can you do about it now?
October 14th, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Actually it is the definition of insanity, but Joe sees where you are going.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:43 pm
WTF!!! How many years has MJ been in the league? He said, “just going to keep on trying to develop.” They gave his a$$ 24million and hes still trying to develop. FUKN dumb a$$e$!!!
October 14th, 2014 at 3:44 pm
The common denominator to this team’s futility has been the illness and subsequent passing of Malcolm Glazer. His children I really do believe want to win and mean well but are clueless on how to organize and maintain a successful NFL franchise. This team will never be perennial playoff contenders again unless sold to competent ownership. Also, the defensive personnel and scheme is never going to work in the NFL these days with the watered down vanilla rules on hard hits. Our glory year defenses would not have been tops in the league under these ridiculous regulations. Just my opinion.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:51 pm
Early in the game I keyed on numbers 30-McGougald, 39-Dixon, and 26-Butler, all on defense at the same time.
Plus 3 others, 30-Wright, 60-Solomon and 51-Lansanah, on the field at the same time. All about the time we were behind 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Then I remembered that the Ravens won the Super Bowl a couple years ago.”
So here we are playing a recent Super Bowl champion with over half our defense either not being on the team at season’s start or at best being on second string. I doubt any of those six would be playing for any NFL team right now other than the Bucs.
Hmmm, I wonder why we got drubbed.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:51 pm
The lingering problem, aside from the horrible defensive play, is Lovie’s ability to evaluate talent. Even though the team has the ability to improve under Lovie, and actually be competitive, the long term outlook is questionable if the personnel decisions start and stop with Lovie.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:53 pm
@rayjay’s larger point that ownership is to blame has merit. Since the dawn of professional sports, historically good teams have smart ownership and historically bad teams have poor ownership. Hard to say that the Glazer boys have outperformed Malcolm. In hindsight, the firing of Gruden, hiring of Dominik & Raheem, and purge of Brooks, Dunn, et al. marked the beginning of a pretty dark period.
Are we any better off than we were in the Culverhouse days?
October 14th, 2014 at 3:53 pm
In the Joe’s opinion which of the top 3 has performed the best or rather which is the worst? It’s like a race to the bottom for these slugs
October 14th, 2014 at 3:59 pm
Sometimes there is nothing common about sense.
October 14th, 2014 at 3:59 pm
GMC said that when he tried switching sixes they just adjusted and kept him out of the play. I can’t help but think that if he’d moved then he would’ve just drifted the other way
October 14th, 2014 at 3:59 pm
What happens when you hand the winning lottery ticket over to 98% of the population? THEY QUIT!!!! He took the $24 Million and said suckers!
October 14th, 2014 at 4:02 pm
I put little fault in the DL for not getting to Flacco in this game. The receivers were given tons of cushion and were allowed to run slants untouched. It is nearly impossible for a DL to sack a QB on a 3 step drop against no OL when the receivers aren’t covered. MJ did have one nice play, chasing Flacco far to his right, but other than that, most of the DL really didn’t have an opportunity to rush the passer as the Ravens were either using 3 step drops, or the Bucs were playing from so far behind that the Ravens were never forced to pass in an obvious passing situation.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:06 pm
@rayjay1122, there is another coinciding factor in the post-2005 decline. that is the deterioration and moving on from 3 or 4 of the best players ever at their respective positions. we owe alot to that once-in-a-lifetime combo of all-time greats being on the same team at the same time, with the 2 or 3 biggest ingredients predating most everyone who we give credit for the Bucs’ turnaround to. As for Lavonte David and Gerald McCoy, I’ve come around to the fact that they may approximate the physical talents of some of our old heroes, but they seem to be light years behind in the “will to win” and “leaders of men” departments.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:08 pm
Michael Johnson, Dashon Goldson, Eric Wright. That’s what you call three massive strikeouts in a row. Shall we avoid free agency for the foreseeable future? Yes please.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:16 pm
Seems to me when Johnson gets some resistance from a blocker he falls back to play with the linebackers but is ineffective there also. If the guys not a bum then the coaches are. The truth is we probably have half fast players and coaches!
October 14th, 2014 at 4:20 pm
I found some Bengals D highlights from 2012 and Michael Johnson was an absolute beast (he got franchised after that season for a reason). Of course the entire defense looked like crazed animals (even #95, Wallace Gilberry). Johnson was even more impressive than his 11.5 sacks as he was just a half second off on a sack and caused a ton of bad passes. If this, Michael Johnson, the one from 2012 ever shows up, look out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbmIUBe58IE
October 14th, 2014 at 4:21 pm
Joe,
Is all of that 24 mill really guaranteed?
Because I find that hard to believe.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:23 pm
The team wouldn’t have to rely on free agency for talent if they drafted well. Unfortunately, the drafts have yielded very little, going back to the Gruden days. Years of bad drafting have taken their toll. This team has no depth and most of the high salaries are paid to underperforming players signed via free agency.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:25 pm
over time there have been more free agency busts for the money than success stories. Even our Revis venture was not worth the money given the condition of the player.
I say hire the best scouts in the business and build through the draft. When have we had a 4th, the 5th, or 6th rounder become a surprise star.
This year might have been better if we took players from practice squads, put in a QB that was marginal to begin with (so as to not injure a good one) reduced the prices to games by 50 percent and said have at it.
in 4 years you would acquire through the draft high pick talent.
The way it is now, in 4 years we still may be the doormat.
October 14th, 2014 at 4:26 pm
Brandon why would that Michael Johnson show up? The one who has showed up every Sunday this year gets $26.5 million no matter what he does. The next time he’ll play at that level is when lots of money is on the line. Otherwise? Nooope
Once again duped into giving a guy a contract based off a contract year performance. Idiotic, to say the least. When will we learn?
October 14th, 2014 at 4:29 pm
#leastmode
October 14th, 2014 at 4:57 pm
If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone from the Bucs say, ‘We need to do a better job’ I’d be a rich man by now.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:11 pm
You guys really are as clueless as the people you claim to be clueless.
Very, and I mean very few players swap positions. John Abraham and Watt from the Texans are the only two that come to mind.
You people who labeled people a bust after a few games are the same ones who want to get rid of Steve Young after a season and then bellyache and whine about the Bucs trading him whenhe becomes a superstar.
October 14th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
Exactly why Leslie needs to go….fire him now….I never liked that hiring decision….H3ll bring in Schiano as our DC, Im sure it would be an improvement!!!
October 14th, 2014 at 5:33 pm
Uhh no ddneast. In Michael Johnson’s situation, we have a textbook “Got paid, there goes the effort” story. Steve Young was on his rookie deal. Pretty poor comparison.
October 14th, 2014 at 6:02 pm
Somebody help me out? Lovie says we don’t have the horses to run his defense. So why did the glazers hire him? We had a solid young defense before he got here. We lacked offense and needed a coach to develop a qb. Why did we hire smith? Now we have to retool so we can play his style d?? Wtf? I’m pissed. We could have just hired a cd with a similar defensive philosophy as schiano and hired an offensive minded coach!
October 14th, 2014 at 6:05 pm
He’s making AD look like a pro bowler at that spot. Atleast he had his named called every game and you one he was on the field but this guy…. We should have known because all that money and he was just as invisible in training camp which means like mccown lovie brought these his guys and have them jobs. Something about this team that they just aren’t set up to have consistent success
October 14th, 2014 at 6:20 pm
wimpy owners=wimpy coach=wimpy team….sorry but this team is weak freaking sauce
October 14th, 2014 at 6:21 pm
I’m with all of you! Let’s fire Lovie Smith and bring in another coach to get fired next year… You obviously enjoy sucking every year so it gives you a reason to come and b!tch and cry on this forum…
October 14th, 2014 at 6:21 pm
He couldn’t beat an undrafted rookie free agent 2nd stringer on Sunday!?! Total bum.
October 14th, 2014 at 6:27 pm
yo OneLove this has EVERYTHING to do with the Glazers…this is why they always have to go to 2nd or 3rd choice hires or over pay….Visionaries or legitimate tough can’t stand their gutless reek….
October 14th, 2014 at 6:28 pm
@OneLove, don’t crash our party,go back to chasing rainbows
October 14th, 2014 at 6:47 pm
@PhillyBuc Bum? Michael Johnson would b!tchslap the sh!t out of you and make you cry worse than your crying on this forum… You need to get real and stop chasing rainbows!
October 14th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
weak-uninspired-inept-clueless-non effort- overpaid- outcoached- underachieving-spineless- has bens – one hit wonders- I could go o on and on and on and on. get my point, ownership sucks-coaching sucks-players suck- town sucks- fans suck, sell this shithole of a joke and move them out to riverview they can all go hang out at the beer shed and drown their stinking sorrows!! or maybe gibtown lobsterboy and the human blockhead need a job!!!!
October 14th, 2014 at 6:54 pm
Like our #3 overall pick GMC stated, it’s not the scheme. I agree it’s not the scheme. Maybe the scheme isn’t built to everyone’s strengths, but when you go through so many changes at head coach your going to have players that have to adapt. Also, free agency is used mostly to make up for draft blunders. When we acquired Simeon Rice that was a once in a blue moon acquisition that worked out for us. This is clearly a team who’s front office had their head up their arse for the past 5 years. We need more home grown players than we need free agents, and I don’t mean Dominic type picks, I mean good picks. I see many on this site that hope Lovie gets fired after next year. You better know what you wish for. For instance, lets keep drafting players for our system and then lets change the system by getting a new head coach.
October 14th, 2014 at 7:03 pm
@richard Tyson – disagree with you on thr system isnt the problem. cover 2 should only be used on a limited basis. hardly anyone is using it as a base defense anymore. But how ironic you made a defense for Lovie smith while laying out most of the rationale why he shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
October 14th, 2014 at 7:27 pm
I find the premise that Flacco was rolling right to get away from Michael Johnsin dubious. He probably rolled right because he had an undrafted rookie playing left tackle. I doubt it mattered who played on the right end for us.
October 14th, 2014 at 7:56 pm
@Onelove/d-bag
Michael Johnson may b*tch slap us, but an undrafted ROOKIE free agent b*tch-slapped him all over Ray Jay!!! Oh, and every other Tackle in the league.
We don’t get paid 24mil to slap people around!!!
You must not have been a Bucs fan for long, cause we’re all sick of this crap!
GTFO!
Go Sucs!!!
October 14th, 2014 at 8:38 pm
these are great questions you are asking them Joe
October 14th, 2014 at 8:42 pm
What’s this like you 100th Michael Johnson article? Lol *Yawn
October 14th, 2014 at 9:45 pm
Simeon Rice he is obviously not! Thus far not even a shadow of him. The way the market place is and the guaranteed contracts the incentive is gone while under those contracts… The pendulum has swung too far in favor of those players that show glimpses of being deserving but end up not showing the pride to deliver on the contract. It takes immense scrutiny from the talent evaluators to know the difference and weed out those that will honor at a high level, apparently those evaluators are rare. At this stage, our evaluators are not looking good!
October 14th, 2014 at 10:48 pm
PRBuc- that might be because he continues to blow goats on Sundays. Ditto for that bum Anthony Collins. Do-no-wrong Lovie and his lapdog GM really screwed the pooch in FA with their massively unproductive roster turnover.
October 15th, 2014 at 3:01 pm
I have figured out the problem, Lovie moved to Florida and we don’t have basements!