Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow
November 17th, 2014
(Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com)
A long look at the Bucs yesterday, today, and what to expect tomorrow and beyond.
So the Bucs may have a superstar on their hands. The man Bucs general manager Jason Licht referred to as “Godzilla” this spring, wide receiver Mike Evans, is now in the history books. He is the first rookie to catch seven balls, rack up 100 yards and catch a touchdown pass in three consecutive games.
Pretty impressive. Evans sort of credited watching a 30-for-30 documentary about Randy Moss on BSPN Saturday night for motivating him yesterday.
Joe hopes the Bucs have Michael Johnson watch the NFL Network documentary on Reggie White soon.
Granted, Raheem Morris’ secondary is garbage. And knucklehead Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett kept guarding Evans with a linebacker. Dumbest move since Joe saw Adrian Clayborn guarding Darren Sproles.
But the Bucs took advantage. That’s what good players and teams do. If you want to be that dumb and put a linebacker on Evans, then he will make you pay. That was heartening to see.
Now that the word is out about Evans, Joe would like to see him continue this streak of his to see how far and how high Evans can go.
Charles Sims
Look, Joe has nothing against Charles Sims. Seems like a good guy and the Bucs clearly like him a lot. But don’t you get the feeling that he is being forced into the lineup?
Since coming off of injured reserve, Sims, in his second straight game, sure looked mediocre. Again. Nothing special at all. So Joe has to wonder why he is taking valuable snaps away from Bobby Rainey?
Sims is doing really nothing to enhance the running game. So with him learning the ropes, the offense is Josh McCown’s arm. That may work against the Redskins but Joe isn’t sure that will work each week.
No Ghost
Joe raised his glass of beer yesterday to Michael Johnson as he was no longer a ghost. He actually showed up yesterday and even had a sack if you can imagine.
Joe doesn’t think Johnson was the reason why the Bucs had a decent pass rush yesterday. They had six sacks.
RGIII
At times yesterday, he looked terrible. Just awful. In his last nine games, RGIII is 1-9 as a starter. No wonder Redskins fans are an irritable, drunken lot.
Not Used to Winning
Even though the Bucs handled the Redskins just about the entire game, didn’t you get the feeling that sooner or later the Bucs would cough up the lead? That’s what losing week after week after week does to a fanbase. You expect the worst.
Johnthan Banks
Joe thought it was funny yesterday when Banks called his pick-six a “gift from God” it was so simple. He slowly gets better week after week. Joe still cannot get over how Lovie did his best to ensure that slug Mike Jenkins started over Banks. Whew, what a bullet that was to dodge.
Upcoming
Sorry, but Joe isn’t buying into the Bucs are back into a playoff race just because the rest of the division smells like a public urinal. There were promising signs yesterday, very true. We’re talking about the Redskins, folks.
Let’s see how the Bucs do Sunday against bratty Jay Cutler, who woke up yesterday and had one of the better games of the week.
Offensive Line
Not bad for a maligned line. Didn’t do so great on run blocking – when have they? – but they gave Josh McCown enough time for Evans to get open and to throw to Evans.
NFL Thoughts
Dolphins: Finally, Ryan Tannehill and Joe Philbin win a big game. Now can they make the playoffs?
Dixie Chicks: What a painful game this must have been, 19-17 with the Stinking Panthers. Ageless Matt Bryant had four field goals.
Bears: Bratty Jay Cutler woke up and threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns. So Cutler goes, so do the Bears.
Texans: J.J. Watt caught a touchdown pass – what can he not do? – and the Houston defense tormented Brian Hoyer all day.
Chiefs: Jamaal Charles ran for 159 yards and the Chiefs defense came up huge. Seattle tried three times to convert on fourth down and each time came up empty.
Bengals: Mock Andy Dalton if you will but he bounced off the mat to burn the Saints with three touchdown passes.
49ers: Ugly football in New Jersey. Phil Dawson kicked three first-half field goals for the 49ers and Eli Manning was picked off five times. Guh!
Lambs: The Lambs shut down Peyton Manning big time. Tre Mason exploded for 119 yards. How good was the Lambs defense? They held Denver to 28 yards rushing.
Chargers: Another ugly game saved by Philip Rivers. His 22-yard hook up with Malcom Floyd on the Chargers third play from scrimmage buried the Raiders.
Cardinals: In a battle of playoff-bound teams, Drew Stanton threw a pair of touchdowns to Michael Floyd and Arizona’s defense was too tough for the Lions to overcome.
Packers: The men of green (blue, actually, yesterday) curb-stomped the Eagles. Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns and 341 yards The Packers had a pick-six, a scoop and score and a punt return for scores, as well.
Patriots: Joe’s steadfast rule of the draft: Never, ever draft a running back with a first round pick or trade for a running back with a first round pick. Bill Belicheat finds a guy in a barber shop to run for over 200 yards. The Colts trade a first round pick for a guy that makes Doug Martin look like Jim Brown.
Non-NFL thoughts:
1. Sooner or later, someone is going to rack up enough points on Florida State that not even Tom Brady much less Jameis Winston could mount a comeback. Joe has never seen a team like FSU walk the tightrope week after week. It is almost like they troll teams. “Here, have a lead, take it. We won’t show up until halftime. We’ll still beat you.”
2. Funniest thing Joe read about Winston came from TheBigLead.com, where they described Winston as playing the part of a wrestling heel to its finest. That is perfect.
3. Joe notices people are starting to get erections over Ohio State. Why? This team lost to Virginia Tech and needed overtime to beat Penn State. And we are supposed to crown Ohio State just because they beat Minnesota by a touchdown? Minnesota! Calm down!
4. Props to BSPN for scheduling late-night PAC-12 games on Saturday night. Nice way to wind down the day.
5. Joe doesn’t know how Bo Pelini keeps his job in Nebraska. He is woefully overrated. For a defensive guru to give up 400+ yards rushing to one back in three quarters is shameful. Frankly, name the last time Nebraska had a big win? Joe can only think of beating Ohio State at home the first year Nebraska was in the B1G. Every key game since, Pelini and the Cornhuskers lose, and often, they get thrashed. For a guy with that kind of record, the way he treats folks in Lincoln, he’s got some brass balls, that is for sure.
6. So Will Muschamp is out in Gainesville? What are the chances he decides to work for his best friend Jimbo Fisher at FSU? The two own a condo together, remember. The perfect place for Muschamp would be Texas A&M, but he has burned so many bridges in College Station from his Texas days, he probably has no prayer of working there.
7. Joe feels bad for Todd Gurley. His days in Georgia are done. Sucks that he came back from suspension and blows his knee out in the first game back.
8. Not sure how many watched Auburn-Georgia Saturday night but Georgia running back Nick Chubb had one of the most impressive touchdown catch-and-runs Joe has seen, even if the touchdown was called back when Chubb stepped out of bounds. Dude went all Mike Alstott on people, blowing up Auburn defenders, zig-zagging through the Tigers defense. It was beautiful.
9. It is not a stretch to envision both Alabama and Mississippi State having two losses. If that happens, there may be another Civil War if, say, TCU and Ohio State get in the playoffs over an SEC West team.
10. Still can’t figure out how the playoff folks have TCU rated higher than Baylor when Baylor beat TCU.
November 17th, 2014 at 8:17 am
Both our QBs are better than RGIII. He is done. Jameis on the Redskins? Lol make it happen, what a disaster waiting to happen.
November 17th, 2014 at 8:21 am
RGIII was tough to watch. Almost as tough to watch was the Bucs trying to force feed Sims into the offense. Rainey has been doing just fine. Make Sims earn his playing time. They talked about not turning those turnovers into points, I’ll tell you where you need to look first: forcing the ball to Sims. Maybe he’ll be great one day but he’s not as good as Rainey right now. Play Rainey.
November 17th, 2014 at 8:32 am
For RGIII to be 1-9 in his last nine starts is an historic achievement. Any other player would need ten games to reach that milestone.
November 17th, 2014 at 8:34 am
Joe….how can you insist that we should be playing Glennon and then turn around and suggest that Sims shouldn’t get playing time.
We need to develop our younger players…..keep in mind that Sims missed the entire preseason and the first half of the season…
I agree it looks forced….but that is the way it would look with most any rookie (except ME13)
The difference is Rainey is a young player, too. He turned 27 a couple of weeks ago and doesn’t have a ton of carries in his career. He can help this team going forward for years to come. The case of Glennon vs. McCown is a completely different scenario. For the record, Joe never insisted Sims shouldn’t play. –Joe
November 17th, 2014 at 8:35 am
Here’s our players grades from PFF if anybody is interested:
Offense: http://imgur.com/rimFyUl,1foUJvX#1
Defense: http://imgur.com/rimFyUl,1foUJvX
For the record, Joe finds these grades in a one game snapshot almost ridiculous. Who exactly is doing the grading and what are there qualifications? PFF has solicited volunteers in the past. Are they only using TV copy, which limits all kinds of views? How do they know what a player’s assignment is? etc. –Joe
November 17th, 2014 at 8:46 am
Lol @ Lou
Now can I see a win in person? It’s been forever. Unfortunately I’m not going to any away games this year and I’d really like to see a victory at Ray J!
November 17th, 2014 at 8:48 am
I just giddily read through the Washington Post sports section. Those reporters and columnists pull no punches. And it was refreshing to hear Jay “Good thing I have a 5-year contract” Gruden’s honesty.
So here’s my key takeaway from yesterday: It doesn’t matter whether you can run the ball or not; your QB has to make some big plays to win the game. Bobby Rainey ran wild against the Rams — we lost. Rainey had a great first half against the Browns — we only scored 10 points. We have a lousy running game against the Skins – but since McCown hit Evans on the bombs, we win. If Bob hadn’t overthrown Jackson twice on bombs, we might be singing a different tune today.
Bottom line — no matter what else is happening on the field, your QB has to ignite some big plays for your team to win.
November 17th, 2014 at 8:54 am
@joe
I’m glad you see it ATL is 4-0 in the division enough said. Lets keep our eyes on the prize Winston to Evans for the next 10 years(or however long jameis can stay out of trouble). Soon as I hears Muschamp is stepping down I immediately thought about my noles without even knowing him and Jimbos relationship so I think that’s a lock.
November 17th, 2014 at 8:55 am
This oline makes all of our backs look like sht. When will the media start putting the screws to LovieDovie&co for their dreadful oline rebuild and FA decisions. Speaking of dreadful, stop giving that no talent assbag Johnson credit for a sack that he once again didn’t work for. RG3 ran into him. RG3 was handing out sacks like a male prostitute.
November 17th, 2014 at 9:04 am
Next week will tell us if this was a fluke or not. If they double ME13, then VJax is loose, if they double him also, then ASJ runs wild, we just need the OL pass block and the QB to see the field in a hurry. I have no clue what happened to the DL, but it is as someone gave them NODOZ and they woke up.
November 17th, 2014 at 9:14 am
I agree with OB; lets see how the Bucs offense performs versus a Bear’s defense that has been catching a lot of flack and just as importantly lets also see if the defense can pressure Cutler and keep their big receivers from carving up the Buc secondary while trying to keep Forte from rushing for 100+ yards and controlling the time of possession like Washington did…..
November 17th, 2014 at 9:30 am
The DEA tried to spoil our victory yesterday. Good thing the were checking the team doctors bags and not Spence’s.
November 17th, 2014 at 9:33 am
@Joe:
I agree that PFF grades can be suspect at times, but I trust them more than my own eye test (which can be deceiving) and certainly more than the JBF commentor yelling about how soft Gerald McCoy is. 😛
November 17th, 2014 at 9:33 am
BTW: 30 for 30 ia one of the things that BSPN does well; a good number of the stories are damned good and often stir things up. The U, Run Ricky Run, Pony Express, Broke, the Marcus Dupree story and the OJ June 17. 1994 stories were especially well done…..
November 17th, 2014 at 9:47 am
Michael Johnson is on pace to have 4.3 sacks for his first year in Tampa.
Not good enough, but I’m willing (like I have any say) to give him a year to adjust.
November 17th, 2014 at 10:04 am
“Since coming off of injured reserve, Sims, in his second straight game, sure looked mediocre. Again. Nothing special at all. So Joe has to wonder why he is taking valuable snaps away from Bobby Rainey?”
I’ll hazard a guess at that. Sims is the only offensive player taken in the draft by the Bucs. Obviously, Lovie intended to go all offense, but he saw something in this kid that he thinks can be great.
My guess is that he wants to see if he was right.
It’s not like Rainey did any better yesterday with his opportunities. Our online cannot run block. Period. So Sims was getting much needed experience.
November 17th, 2014 at 10:06 am
DallasBuc Said:
RG3 was handing out sacks like a male prostitute.
_____________________________________________
lol. Nice one.
November 17th, 2014 at 10:09 am
“Johnthan Banks
Joe thought it was funny yesterday when Banks called his pick-six a “gift from God” it was so simple. He slowly gets better week after week. Joe still cannot get over how Lovie did his best to ensure that slug Mike Jenkins started over Banks. Whew, what a bullet that was to dodge.”
I understand why Lovie did it that way. When a player has to earn a starting role, they work harder to keep it. He knew Jenkins would not be a solution at the position. He just wanted competition. If every position worked that way, this team would be top 5 every year.
He’s doing the same thing at various spots on the offense and defense. I like it that way. The only problem is that it means the current starters at some spots DID NOT earn it, and they suck until the person behind them gets promoted.
Mind you, that’s not the case at every position currently. Our center sucks like a vacuum, but there really isn’t anyone to take his place. Yet.
November 17th, 2014 at 10:18 am
“Sorry, but Joe isn’t buying into the Bucs are back into a playoff race just because the rest of the division smells like a public urinal. There were promising signs yesterday, very true. We’re talking about the Redskins, folks.”
Doesn’t really matter if you buy into it, Joe. Doesn’t matter if I do either.
That facts are the facts. Saints lost, keeping the top of the division at 4 games…only 2 games away.
Ironically, the Bucs really ARE in the playoff race.
The real question is…does it matter. Even if the Bucs win out and get in the playoffs, unless they win a superbowl (unlikely), what will it matter? We will still be short our QB and a good offensive line.
It would remove us from the possibility of getting a good first rounder QB…so we would have to hope to score on a later pick OR acquire one in trade or free agency.
Personally, if we could get Carr from the Raiders, they could take a QB and we could take OL. Carr is good, but with their OL in Oakland he looks bad…possibly enough to lower the price.
November 17th, 2014 at 10:20 am
Raiders got Carr in round 2. Maybe they’ll take a 3rd rounder for him. Or maybe they’ll take Dashon Goldson. That would be nice.
November 17th, 2014 at 10:56 am
Evans, a rookie with 9 games under his belt is THE BEST player on this team. He was the best player on the field yesterday.
Gotta give McCown some credit though. MFer threw some strikes yesterday!!
November 17th, 2014 at 12:20 pm
JJ Watt is one of the best football players we’ve ever seen or will see.
November 17th, 2014 at 2:12 pm
BucBonzai
I like the way you’re thinking outside of the box. Good QB’s come from more than the draft, or sometimes blossom somewhere else after going high in the draft, can you say Alex Smith and KC?
Carr is an interesting prospect for the right choice. While I understand the Jameis excitement, he IS the best “looking” prospect right now and I’ll concede that to all the FSU fans if they’ll concede at this point Jameis is still a PROSPECT.
You do not get to draft a “franchise QB”. They have to be developed. Even greats like Aaron Rodgers! Although Rodgers was clearly ready before he started. Not all “franchise QB draft picks” work out. More do not work out than do.
I’m not against a Jameis or Mariotta pick, but I’m not losing sleep over it either. Somewhere there is a QB who will outplay both of them that we’re probably not even talking about right now. Perhaps Carr is that guy.
November 17th, 2014 at 5:05 pm
And yet another comment about Jenkins starting over Banks. We get it Joe, you hold a grudge.
But for the sake of your readers give it a rest. Constantly mentioning it is betting both annoying, irksome and boring.
It’s like trying to watch MASH reruns after Trapper John left the show.
Again with Bobby Rainey. Did I miss something or did he have a 150 yard rushing game sometime this season.
Maybe when we quit trying to run the ball 90 percent of the time on first down all the RB’s will have some success.
November 17th, 2014 at 5:12 pm
Joe, meant to ask you about Michael Johnson.
I’m not a great fan of his or detractor, but I watched him on a few plays yesterday and it sure looked like he was protecting that ankle.
Don’t want to give him any excuses, but high ankle sprains do linger and if he is still playing with one, it sure would explain a lot.
November 18th, 2014 at 1:12 am
@Joe:
RE: ME13: Imo, his hands are what make him legitimately superstar-bound. His speed is average, and his size is incidental, yet his body control and tenacious mindset are certainly two of the strengths of his game. Very stoked he’s ours!
RE: CS34: I do indeed feel that he’s being forced into the lineup, but my reaction to it is more pragmatic than anything else: He’s lost one-half of the season already. He needs snaps. Imo, with each successive rep, he enhances the running game, simply by being more familiar with it. His talent level compared to BR43 is without a doubt a notch or two toward the better, and clearly, he’s being groomed as the feature back for this offense. Again, stoked he’s ours!
RE: MJ90 (Ghost): Yeah, I’ll raise a glass, too, but he still owes us, by my unofficial count, about 8 rounds or so. Newcastle, if you please, Mr. Johnson.
Great takes, Joe!
November 18th, 2014 at 1:16 am
Piratic:
Fair point. Didn’t think of that. It’s not about winning but developing and see what you have to prepare for the offseason moves. Smart take. Thanks.
November 19th, 2014 at 8:31 am
Thanks Joe.
Exactly! Every consideration should be given to how the player might be a fit on the 2015 roster. Sadly, this process has started in earnest far too early this season. Go Bucs!