Banks Talks Lovie’s Defense
July 13th, 2015
Johnthan Banks sees improvement in Year 2 of Lovie.
Yes, the Bucs defense was sorry last year. The culmination was the curb stomping in Atlanta before the eyes of the nation, no less. Cute.
Oh, the Bucs did get somewhat better, sure. Look, how could they not? It was rock bottom after the Dixie Chicks chain-whipped them. N
One rule of thumb is that it takes a while to learn and get familiar with Lovie Smith’s defense. Fair enough. And that actually may be happening.
Last week, Bucs cornerback Johnthan Banks appeared on “The Blitz,” co-hosted by Mike Keith and Brad Hopkins heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio, where he discussed the second offseason of playing for Lovie. Banks thinks the defense has turned the corner.
“Oh, just communication,” Banks said of offseason workouts. “Everyone was flying around. We understood what [Lovie] wanted out of his defense. Last offseason, it was a new year. We understand what he wanted out of his defense and his whole mindset. And you can see it, this whole offseason as we went out there. We flew out there and we had fun.”
Well, it sure would be fun to watch the Bucs hold an opponent to, you know, 14 points or less once in a while. The offense was so brutal last year the defense had to just about play perfect for the Bucs to win.
They sure didn’t — and they sure didn’t.
July 13th, 2015 at 10:08 am
I hope that is true, that the defense will really be a lot better. Having said that, there really is nothing else that Banks can say. He has to say it will be a lot better else it will look like he is not buying in.
July 13th, 2015 at 10:08 am
I’m expecting Banks to be in the top 10 of CBs this season. At least 5 Ints.
July 13th, 2015 at 10:26 am
After the bye, we should have beat Minnesota, Chicago and Cinncinatti. All three games our defense gave us a chance to win. Especially in Chicago. But two straight Mccown turnovers put Jay Cutler in scorin
July 13th, 2015 at 10:41 am
Bucs defense was horrible last year but the offense was even worse, and contributed to making the defense look even worse than it was.
Far too many turnovers by the offense for one thing. Too few takeaways by the defense too, leading to a minus 8 turnover rating. That’s not Bucball for sure.
Time of possession was just as bad (27 for the Bucs to 33 for our opponents). Hard to win ballgames with a TOP like that. Defense not being able to get off the field on 3rd downs didn’t help, but neither did so many 3-and-out for the offense.
Hopefully both sides of the ball get significantly better this year, as well as special teams. No reason why they shouldn’t.
July 13th, 2015 at 10:44 am
If we did tank after the slow start? How many games would we have won? 5 or 6 win team? We were in a lot of games. Now if we don’t have a slow start, our defense is jelled, and our offence is nfl caliber we could really win some games.
Looking back at Lovies statements during last season saying we are not out of the playoffs mathematically. I would say that too if I was tanking! Good cover up
July 13th, 2015 at 11:36 am
Dudes
There’s an article out the in the inter web that says the bucs haven’t won a game after losing a 4th qrt lead since 2011. At first I thought it said we haven’t held on to a 4th lead since 2011 which feels about right.
July 13th, 2015 at 11:43 am
@WS99
Not sure if you remember, but I also recall the YUCS not ever winning a game in which they trailed at half time. The streak was broken a while back. I don’t recall when. Maybe you can help me out.
July 13th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Ray
I looked and found nada. I’ll keep looking, I keep getting interrupted at work, how rude.
July 13th, 2015 at 12:50 pm
A lot of Bucs players are journeyman that had a good showing individually last season when given an opportunity to start due to injuries or terrible play by the guy they replaced.
To be clear, trying to stick on a roster vs long term guaranteed contract money is a VERY big motivator for those that would otherwise be described as “paycheck” players.
Look, I’ve seen Lovie’s defenses since his stint with the Rams and their Super Bowl days. Both the Rams and the Bears had ABOVE AVERAGE players at more than half the positions on defense, including subs. Under those circumstances, and with all due respect to Lovie’s coaching and the prowess of the Tampa-2, it would be difficult not to play good defense.
Ergo: Good coaching + good players = good defense
Good coaching + bad players = bad defense
Bad coaching + good players = bad defense
I’m not so sure that “instruction”, positional coaching, alone was the problem with the Bucs in 2014. I think there was a lot of missing talent beyond McCoy and David. If you look at the defensive roster, talent is usually indicated by Pro Bowl/All Star status or statistics and not salary alone. So, how many Pro Bowl/All Star players or stats were/are on the Bucs defense..??
While I certainly defer to the chicken/egg argument regarding earning Pro Bowl status, I think David and McCoy are examples of “doing it on their own” talent rather than the unappreciated talent of unsung heroes they play next to.
So, sadly, I expect that economics will determine the quality of the Bucs defense. That measure is difficult to ignore when you don’t have extraordinary rookies (low salaries vs vet contracts) to make-up the quality difference that stats = salary usually denotes. Lovie, the head coach, has been dogged because he usually drafted outstanding players for the defense and it showed up in statistics and an imbalance in salary weighted toward the defense. This year and last Lovie is trying to break the mold and give the offense a shot at balancing the talent books.
It ain’t the scheme, it’s the quality players you can afford to stuff on your roster without causing an imbalance on the other side of the ball.
If you believe that 3rd string talent will gain All-Star status and stats by being “very familiar” with the Tampa-2, I don’t share your optimism.
July 13th, 2015 at 1:37 pm
I hope Banks is finally getting some respect from The Brass. I mean this guy has been improving each year. from 3 to 4 INTS. Not too many Bucs DBs can say that. I know Banks is a bit slower, but he is ball hawking capability and is usually in the right place. Being 6’2″ usually helps with all that. Don’t know why the brass is always trying to give Jenkins the start. I mean just look at what this kid is doing and give him the start.