What More Can Lavonte David Do?
October 6th, 2014
Lavonte David took over defensive playcalling duties throughout yesterday’s game. (Apparently, Dane Fletcher couldn’t cut it).
And then David proceeded to drill Jimmy Graham and wound him for the rest of the game en route to 10 solo tackles.
There also was that late fourth-quarter Saints drive David snuffed out with three consecutive solo tackles, forcing the Saints’ field goal to tie the game at 31 before overtime.
What more can David do?
The man delivers every single week, often without a load of help. That’s unlike Mark Barron, who has fans celebrating him for playing a solid half of football because it’s such a rare happening.
It’s a damn shame that David’s third consecutive stellar season is being wasted on a subpar football team.
Joe really feels for David. Players like him, who explode in their rookie years and maintain their greatness, don’t come around often, or necessarily last for many years.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:11 am
Imagine how much hype he’d be getting on a winner like Seattle. He’d have already won a DPOY. Instead his talent and efforts are being wasted.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:12 am
David brings his “A” game each week.
Can’t ask for much more.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:12 am
Playing Lavonte and Lansanah as the every-down backers was a definite improvement.
Both played great and Fletcher just cannot fill the gaps/run fit assignments. He gets washed out way too many times (i.e. last run play to end it).
I just finished re-watching the game and there were just too many atrocious calls by the refs to call it a fair match up.
I’m fine with ticky-tack calls as long as they are called on both teams. The hands to the face penalty in OT was a HORRENDOUS call, as was the lack of intentional grounding on “Face of the NFL” Brees and the early illegal formation call on Collins (when’s the last time you heard that called on the OL??).
Lavonte is a man beast and although there were no sacks recorded, there was pressure a good amount of plays. Again, Drew Brees gets away with a lot. We did come away with 3ints and should have had at least two more (Verner and the Man Beast – Lavonte).
October 6th, 2014 at 9:16 am
What more can he do? How about some turnovers and score? I’m a huge David fan but seems to be having a down year not playing in Schiano defense. I expected him to play even better in Lovie’s D, not worse.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:18 am
My new favorite imaginary penalty….Inappropriate Language
October 6th, 2014 at 9:21 am
Barron deserves some love today. He’s been having a bad season, but he played excellent yesterday. He broke up a ton of passes, and most of them were not easy plays to make.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:21 am
flmike:
Deadspin has field audio of the Murphy flag. Can you hear him say anything bad?
October 6th, 2014 at 9:23 am
flmike,
LOL! My 16 year old son said – “is this a pop warner game?”
Much more of this crap and the NFL will cease to exist in 10-20 years!
October 6th, 2014 at 9:25 am
This team is so confused.
Our most vocal players sucks and the best players are house mice. We need our best players that have the God given ability to lead by example to grab a few face masks, to hit someone upside the head when they ole’ a RB, to audible into a different play when the offense shifts. All day we stepped up, showed a defense, and Brees said no thanks – I’ll have a screen play. LVD, you’re an amazing player, but this team isn’t going anywhere unless they all elevate their game to how hard YOU play.
I don’t know who’s quieter, our captains, our DC, or our HC… Who exactly is the leader here?
October 6th, 2014 at 9:26 am
Someone sent me this image via email and I uploaded it to imgur. I don’t see this tweet anywhere. Is this for real? http://imgur.com/Reoo3q
October 6th, 2014 at 9:29 am
@Joe
Nothing, I heard nothing, it’s a fantom penalty the refs can pull out of their asses anytime they want/need to set a team back, it’s beyond ridiculous. Just like the Illegal Touch calls that takes place 40 yards from the play and have absolutely no bearing on it’s outcome.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:33 am
In ot we rushed four the whole drive grow some balls lovie
October 6th, 2014 at 9:34 am
Can he run BLOCK….so the offense can burn clock and give the defense a breather ? Between the WR’s/TE’s dropping balls that hit them in the hands….DB’s dropping balls that hit them in their hands….and RB’s running up the AZZ’s of our OL as the Oline collapses upon themselves…..if Lavonte could please do that…..it should help
October 6th, 2014 at 9:36 am
Just read that there were FIVE Saints drives extended due to penalties.
That’s five times the refs said “Uh oh! Let’s give these boys another chance!”
Final call on Verner was crazy. he WR actually hits Verner’s hand as Verner tried to pop him in the shoulder pad and the hand very quickly hits the facemask. BOOM! Insta-penalty! I just cannot stand one-sided officiating.
Joe, any chance on a write up on Lansanah? I think all Bucs fans would like/need to know more about this guy. Obviously athletic with the two pick sixes and I believe he was a major reason why Brees was more hesitant with the ball over the middle.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:39 am
I’m not blaming the refs for the loss. They don’t make up 15 calls. However, someone needs to get reprimanded for that “language” call. That’s absolutely ridiculous. Unless he says something derogatory towards the ref, or goes on the PA system and starts cursing, it’s stupid to throw a flag. So Goddell doesn’t care about players beating their girlfriends (that is until he realizes the public could become outraged), but nobody is allowed to curse while playing football? Are you serious?
October 6th, 2014 at 9:42 am
And to the commenter who said where are the team leader’s who step up and smack somebody straight when their not playing well? The simple answer is this: this team has none. None. Zip. Nada. That is a big reason we’ve consistently sucked.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:43 am
I really hate when officiating takes over the game, which is exactly what happened yesterday. I’m sure the Saints had bad calls against them too. It just seemed as if every single play the refs weren’t happy unless they were throwing a flag. Sometimes you just have to let them play. It’s not like the game was extraordinarily chippy and they had to get control of the game. Stupid ticky tack fouls all day against both teams really took away from an otherwise entertaining game.
October 6th, 2014 at 9:45 am
Drafting a real MLB early should be a priority IMO. Foster would make a good starting SLB but David needs more help from the middle. Another great game by Lavonte.
October 6th, 2014 at 10:13 am
Lavonte could demand a trade get the buc out of Tampa and i hate leonard Johnson
October 6th, 2014 at 10:23 am
Sorry David you don’t deserve this, mocoy too.
October 6th, 2014 at 10:26 am
Licht need to resign McCoy and David ASAP. Nothing else matters. start negotiations with McCoy this year and then next year when there is no more Goldson, VJax and McCown there will be enough cap room to sign LVD and then some.
Also I loved having David and Lansanah on the field for passing downs, should remain that way even with Foster healthy but it probably won’t.
October 6th, 2014 at 10:27 am
how about not getting juked by a no name RB coming out of the backfield for a TD.
October 6th, 2014 at 10:30 am
The play calling duties should have never been stripped from him in the first place. Fletcher is lost. We definitely need Mason back. At least he can stuff the run real good. I’ve been saying it since pre-season…. David, Foster, Lansanah will make a formidable group.
October 6th, 2014 at 10:37 am
Brees ran to LVD to give him respect after the final whistle. That picture shows us he left it all out on the field. What can we say about LVD? He brings the pain from the first play to the last. Never takes a play off and just makes plays all day all over the field.
LVD is the best player on this D and the true leader because he leads by example. 14 tackles this week, 12 last week and he’s not even playing as well as Schiano had him playing last year.
Lovely ought to be ashamed of himself. Mccoy’s effort in OT was pitiful. Gholston gave a better effort n LVD seemed to make every play.
Where do we go from here? The offense, for once, is putting us in a position to win and Lovely of all people is losing the game on the defensive side of the ball.
Joe this episode of the twilight zone is never ending.
October 6th, 2014 at 10:49 am
Where was GMC and Michael Johnson? We needed a sack yesterday, and cou;dn’t get it.
I am dissapointed in our D-Line, the Saints lost their starting Center, and we couldn’t do squat.
October 6th, 2014 at 10:56 am
@Pickgrin I agree, but Lavonte David is a stud! Granted it’s easy to look good next to the other scrubs we have on this roster, but he would play well in any scheme on any team!
October 6th, 2014 at 11:10 am
the only leader i have heard speak up it demar dotson. he’s had some quotes that make me thin he is willing to lead. how many times were we penalized at the beginning of a drive to make it 1st and 20 (1st and nearly impossible). i think there was some home cooking going on. but as a coach i question before half time 1st and 20 and we go for 3 passes and use no time or force them to use time outs. by ding this you a) give the saint 1 more shot with 1 minute and timeouts to win before OT and b) make your defense play one more do or die drive. why not run out the clock from 1st and 20 and give the D some rest. i understand being aggressive with 1:25 or so and timeouts and 1st-10 but when the refs bury you at 1st-20 just run out the clock let your D rest and got to OT.
October 6th, 2014 at 11:11 am
before overtime
October 6th, 2014 at 11:50 am
Some people really need to understand the responsibilities of McCoy. First of all, getting no sacks on Brees is nothing new. He has the quickest release in football, and is arguably the hardest guy to sack. We had pressure on him all day long. In fact, that’s the most consistent pressure I’ve ever seen us put on Brees. McCoy alone had 4 hits, one of which forced an INT. There were 2 other times he hit him where Brees just flipped the ball to nobody as he was being hit by McCoy. But it’s not grounding because there was a player within 20 yards, and of course because he’s Drew Brees. McCoy was doubled and tripled all game, and the defense was on the field an extraordinary time throughout the game. He’s never going to make a bunch of tackles. That’s not what a 3-technique is going to do. He eats up lineman and funnels the plays to everyone else. Trust me, he drove Brees crazy all game long. And by the way, watching it again, that offsides penalty on him was complete BS. He timed it perfectly, the refs just love throwing flags and they’ve probably never seen anyone with that kind of a get off. I know everyone wants to blame someone, but don’t make your criticisms just off the stat sheet. Actually try to watch the game, and not just the ball – it will really help.
October 6th, 2014 at 12:08 pm
@hawaiian
You basically said what I was going to. The to’s were basically sacks, dropped a few more. The inability to stop the rb passes in the flat doomed the Bucs. I don’t understand the play calling a at all. That Banks hands to the face call was brutal and cost us a shot to get the ball back. The offense was ineffective in the 4th so who knows if it would have mattered.
October 6th, 2014 at 12:23 pm
One of the true measures of a “great” player is how he brings up the level of play around him. I don’t think he has done that yet. I do think he is a very good player though.
October 6th, 2014 at 12:29 pm
I don’t feel sorry for lavonte. Might be selfish but he is always fun to watch. In the 3 horrific season he’s played for us, it always Pumps me up to see lavonte David making play after play. Hes worth watching the terrible bucs game. He’s the only reason to watch. Selfishly I don’t Want to see David play anywhere else. If he leaves then there is no reason to watch.
October 6th, 2014 at 1:36 pm
Same here, TrubucFan. In games where we lose badly, I stick around just to see the effort that Lavonte still brings. HOF worthy!
October 6th, 2014 at 2:49 pm
He is everywhere…lol. David just needs to get better in pass coverage, but other than that he is so darn good that I wonder if he has hit his ceiling yet or if he will only get better with more experience.
October 6th, 2014 at 4:49 pm
David was playing at a very high level yesterday. Dude is a beast. I think it’s taken him some time to understand the tampa-2, which is why he hasn’t looked as good as last year so far. He will be just as great in the defense.
Agree with the others… yesterday was one of the absolute worst officiating I have ever seen. And that’s saying a lot considering how this team is usually treated by the refs (we don’t have any marquee players)
Illegal formation b/c the tackle was too far behind the guard? Have you ever heard that called in an NFL game?
A flag for inappropriate language? Have you ever heard that called, EVER?
Not to mention the BS hands to the face, holding, etc., etc. But New Orleans gets to push a receiver to the ground for an INT, and hold our lineman on almost every snap…
October 6th, 2014 at 6:50 pm
You bums are funny. I swear I don’t understand some of the mess you guys put up here. Get rid of McCoy and David. And then what? You think you pissed cause we are losing. Do you honestly think we would win then? Just chill out. Go be Seahawks or Broncos fan or something. You wanted Greg gone and some of you all want Lovie gone. If you continue that way we will never get anywhere because the players are always learning a new scheme.
October 7th, 2014 at 9:35 am
Visiting this site daily make me see how flaky Bucs fans are. You guys sound like children daily. You guys do realize Dungy started 0-6 right? The team is getting better every week, that’s what it is deal with it. Anybody who bought that win now stuff and is now dissapointed is naive. We’re getting there…nobody wins in the superdome and we almost pulled it off. Of course you want to win, but you have to see positives. You can clearly see that everyone is starting to learn how to play with each other and it’s coming together. Clear up those penalties and keep pushing ahead. How about you guys stop complaining and do something about it…oh yea you can’t, why is that?