Titans Watch: 20 More Days
August 24th, 2015
Joe’s already called opening day against the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 13 in Tampa a “must-win.”
It’s not a must-win for the standings. Duh. But it is necessary for the psyche of a fanbase that hasn’t seen a home victory since 2013, and compares Jameis Winston to Marcus Mariota.
Those like Joe who watched the first half of the Titans-Rams preseason game last night saw a rookie quarterback who looked pretty darn good. And a lot of that was because his offensive line was blowing a powerful Rams defensive line off the ball.
Joe sure hopes to see some of that tonight in Tampa!
Last night’s QB was Marcus Mariota, who finished his quarter of football 5-for-8 for 59 yards. But throw in an ugly end-zone drop by Dexter McCluster and all of a sudden Mariota’s got a damn impressive stat line. But if Bucs bust and current Rams safety Mark Barron catches the Mariota pass right to him, then things don’t look so pretty.
Welcome to football, especially the tiny, meaningful sample size of preseason football.
Mariota played a quarter, but that was enough time for Bucs icon and FOX announcer John Lynch to slobber about all things Mariota and rave about how the Titans dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball with their first teams.
Joe’s big takeaway from the game was how sharp the Titans’ O-line looked against a nasty front-7 for the Rams. Scary. Also, Joe’s been impressed by how Mariota hasn’t taken off running through a couple of preseason games. Very poised.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:06 am
I guess he CAN adapt to the NFL
(only preseason so far though)
August 24th, 2015 at 11:13 am
The most surprising thing in last nights game was Mark Barron in pass coverage…which everyone here says he cannot do.
As to Mariota…the game last night doesn’t matter. Preseason is constantly in flux. Next week he could throw 3 picks.
That’s how it goes with rookie QBs in their first preseason (and season).
I expect Winston to struggle as well, although a win would be nice tonight. I would love to see Winston THROW TOUCHDOWNS in this game. After all, it is his arm that matters.
Most of all, I DO NOT want any injuries! Thankfully, Bruce Carter isn’t starting. If he plays he may well get injured anyway, but at least we have a potential starter in place.
Right now, especially on defense, this team is super fragile. Please…no injuries!
August 24th, 2015 at 11:16 am
After living in Oregon, I became a huge MM fan. The knock on him was that he was shy and withdrawn. Taylor Lewan said he is the opposite of that. He is looking incredible.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:19 am
I was most surprised of how the Titans looked compared to last week. They actually looked like a well coached team. ( and this is the first year for their defensive coordinator!!!)
If the Bucs do not start to look like they are taking a step forward soon ( mainly the defense ). Then I will stop being nice towards this coaching staff!!! I mean what is the point, not continuity, Lovie is already on his second Defensive Coordinator and Third Offensive Coordinator!!!!!
And the with the roster turnover we have seen might as well switch schemes at this point!!!
The Buc Realist will be watching with a microscope, and we better start to see something!!!!!!
ITS A FOOTBALL MONDAY!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 24th, 2015 at 11:20 am
My evaluation with Mariota has typically been to think Alex Smith. That’s still what he reminds me of so far which isn’t that bad a thing.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:22 am
Rams had just come out of physical practice with the Cowboys, I give that D a pass, it’s preaseaon, Rams d frontline will be what they are, darn good and better than the Bucs, but he fully not
August 24th, 2015 at 11:26 am
Meh…I didn’t watch the game. I heard Mettenberger had a good game as well. Actually if you look at the stats from that game, all of the Titans QB’s had a good game.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:29 am
Most impressive was how well the Titans ran the football early in the game….that’s what the Bucs have to stop…..
August 24th, 2015 at 11:29 am
@Buc1987
I just watched the lines. Titans O-line won the day, though there was nothing exotic thrown out at them. Also Titans were a little more aggressive with their front 7 ( who looked in sync ) and tackled well I thought.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:33 am
“Then I will stop being nice towards this coaching staff!!!”
LOL
Honestly not sure you have said a single nice thing about this coaching staff that I can recall.
Dude I could write your reaction to tonight’s game before it has even been played because you are getting that predictable at this point. Regardless of how the team performs you will find a way to spin it as negatively as you possibly can around your typical themes of Lovie Smith / his passive defense / etc.
I’m going to watch the line play mostly since those things are somewhat projectable to regular season but that’s about it. Even then; you see guys like McCoy taking off plays and giving up a TD because its freaking preseason man.
I’ll watch Winston of course but I’ve learned over the years how badly preseason performance can screw up your outlook on the season. I’ve had some pretty bad fantasy football drafts chasing good preseason performances in the past.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:35 am
After the game……all Bucs fans will be sick to their stomachs and all will be saying to themselves and the same thing as many others in the Bucs Organization thinking secretly “I think we drafted the wrong kid?!?!?!?!”
…….I’m calling it right now
August 24th, 2015 at 11:39 am
Your turn Jameis, we won’t have to “relax” if you impress us
August 24th, 2015 at 11:40 am
TheBucsAnthem…I’m calling this right now. After the game most sensible Buc fans will say to themselves. None of this matters, the good or the bad. Because it’s preseason.
The Mariota Clingers on the other hand will be in here tonight praising Mariota, and bashing Winston no matter how well or poorly he does. That I can predict with certainty.
August 24th, 2015 at 11:43 am
@ Buc1987
Its not a matter of “bashing” or “Mariota Clingers”
I base my analysis off of everything
August 24th, 2015 at 11:46 am
“After the game most sensible Buc fans will say to themselves. None of this matters, the good or the bad. Because it’s preseason.”
Sadly most of those fans don’t comment here lol. If describing the JBF comment section; “sensible” is the last word I would use. But it’s a fun circus freak show to be a part of
August 24th, 2015 at 11:49 am
“@ Buc1987
Its not a matter of “bashing” or “Mariota Clingers”
I base my analysis off of everything”
Today I learned that “everything” one will ever need to see to judge a QB’s career is week 2 of their rookie preseason game. I wish I knew that a long time ago I could have made a lot of $$ gambling on games if it’s that easy to figure out who the good ones will be
August 24th, 2015 at 11:51 am
Dial it back joe. If you actually eliminate the ugly drops he would have had:
1 TD
AND
1 INT.
Decent line at best. “damned impressive” is a bit of a stretch
August 24th, 2015 at 11:51 am
lol LC I hear ya, but we do have a few sensible ones that do realize that none of preseason matters. I too used to take a lot from preseason games, then I grew up.
TheBucsAnthem Says:
August 24th, 2015 at 11:43 am
“@ Buc1987
Its not a matter of “bashing” or “Mariota Clingers”
I base my analysis off of everything.”
That’s fine and dandy. You’re only a Clinger if you are still gushing over Mariota like he’s your old girlfriend that broke up with you and you8 can’t get over it. Those fans are still here on JBF and that’s what I call them, Clingers.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Their girlfriend broke up with them 4 months ago and they can’t let it go.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:01 pm
Question:
If Jameis Winston throws for 131 yards and two TDs with no INTs in limited action, how many on this board will be saying “it’s only pre-season”?
I suspect this place will be lit up like a Christmas tree, with everyone saying we are Superbowl bound. SMH.
tickrdr
August 24th, 2015 at 12:10 pm
For those that say it’s only pre season. This Bucs team can’t just flip a switch in week 1. They are gonna have to do something positive either on offense or defense to get people excited. The teams that are good in the regular season have their first teamers usually do some good things in the pre season.
If you can’t look good in a practice game where teams are running base schemes how can we expect you to look good in the regular season? I don’t care about the score, just how the first team looks.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:10 pm
I watched the Mariota as QB part of the game, mainly because I’ve not watched his play before. I had to check out what the big hullabaloo was all about. He carried himself well and looked decent, like you say due to his O line play against a Rams touted D line. The Bucs will need a spirited effort to win the home opener.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:12 pm
tickrdr…I don’t know, how many sensible fans actually comment on JBF. Of course I’ll watch Winston and few other positions tonight. But I take nothing from stat lines and you know that about me. I just look at them and try to project how they came about, but they really don’t tell the whole story. Especially in pre-season. In preseason, teams are trying out so many new plays, players, and evaluating. So a team could look totally different in the regular season. Although our D looked pretty much the same last week as they did all of last season, you still can’t take much from it.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:14 pm
“Question:
If Jameis Winston throws for 131 yards and two TDs with no INTs in limited action, how many on this board will be saying “it’s only pre-season”?
I suspect this place will be lit up like a Christmas tree, with everyone saying we are Superbowl bound. SMH.”
What I can guarantee you; is that I won’t make much of it but would be happy. There will be some who will be amped. And then there will be some who do dismiss it as preseason or don’t comment at all (i.e. the Mariota lovers / Winston haters who went crazy in the Mariota thread)
Most of the commenters here usually aren’t too anti-Winston & are pretty supportive.
In general I think the fan base here reacts much more insanely to negative performance than positive performance.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Tampa Tony ….true, but some of the first team players only play one to two series and get yanked. Many teams mix it up with 2nd and 1st teamers on the field at the same time during preseason. Hell during regular season as well.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:20 pm
Tampa Tony if they look absolutely horrendous in every pre season game then yeah I will start to worry a bit. If the O-line looks as bad as 2014 preseason then yeah a bit of worry. We literally had no starters at BOTH guard spots at that point last year before signing Mankins last minute. This year we have huge upgrades in play at both spots it looks like so far. Marpet / 2015 Gilkey look much better than the crap there last year; and 2015 Logan Mankins looks much better so far than 2014 Logan Mankins. Donavon Smith has only had limited play but played better than #5 overall pick Brandon Schreff who had some pretty bad play
Preseason isn’t completely meaningless but it is also incredibly misleading. Basically I would advise not to get too high or low on anything.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:25 pm
Lord Cornelius Says:
“In general I think the fan base here reacts much more insanely to negative performance than positive performance.”
If you mean “fan base here” as in JBF, then you hit the nail on the head. This site is crawling with Buc fans that thrive off of any negativity that happens with this team. I don’t know why but I have a hunch.
It starts at the top. Joe is the instigator. Sorry Joe, I don’t mean that to be insulting. It’s more of a compliment, because without your spin to the story or player you’d have far less traffic or no site at all. BUT yes you’re the instigator.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:34 pm
Seeing others teams move the ball easily in this league yet the Bucs still look like they did last year how can you not be worried? I saw the Eagles move the ball up and down the field no matter what unit was on the field and just shake my head about what could’ve been
August 24th, 2015 at 12:39 pm
@Buc1987
To be fair, Since this website has gone up, The Bucs have seen some hard times!!!!!
To be positive thru all this, It would be the equivalent of your house burning down but excited because your mailbox survived even though all you get in that thing is bills!!!!!!
August 24th, 2015 at 12:40 pm
Tampa Tony – Tom Brady couldn’t move the ball. Peyton Manning didn’t move the ball much. Context my liege
August 24th, 2015 at 12:45 pm
Are we really comparing Brady and Manning (the standard) vs the unproven?
Those guys have years of elite performances we have a bad line, unproven qb and a new play caller… Do something. Guys like Brady, Manning, Rodgers and Bree’s don’t even have to play. Those elite players have a switch and experience, young players don’t.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:45 pm
Tampa Tony …you’ve also seen teams that have gone 4-0 in the preseason and look sharp only to fail in the regular season..haven’t you?
August 24th, 2015 at 12:49 pm
notice the quick release of Mariota?…and watch ol “Leftwich windup Winston” tonight 🙂
August 24th, 2015 at 12:49 pm
“The Buc Realist Says:
August 24th, 2015 at 12:39 pm
@Buc1987
To be fair, Since this website has gone up, The Bucs have seen some hard times!!!!!
To be positive thru all this, It would be the equivalent of your house burning down but excited because your mailbox survived even though all you get in that thing is bills!!!!!!”
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!
Hilarious comment.
There’s too many Bucs fans that wear Bucs rosy colored glasses……living in a fairytale world just because Jameis is drafted now…….
ridiculous……while rest of the NFL laughs at us
The Bucs Organization has cultivated an attitude of losing…..and the mentality infects players and the whole organization
You can be an optimist all you want…..but you also have to face reality
August 24th, 2015 at 12:52 pm
so do we draft a qb with the first pick next year???/
August 24th, 2015 at 12:53 pm
“Bucco Brice Says:
August 24th, 2015 at 12:49 pm
notice the quick release of Mariota?…and watch ol “Leftwich windup Winston” tonight :)”
I know…..we will see more of the same tonight…..QBs with long releases never succeed in the NFL
August 24th, 2015 at 12:53 pm
@1987- it’s not about Wins and losses, I already stated that. It’s about progress and after 1 pre season game this team looks exactly like last year.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:54 pm
TheBucsAnthem Says:
“There’s too many Bucs fans that wear Bucs rosy colored glasses……living in a fairytale world just because Jameis is drafted now…….”
Really? Too many Buc fans that think Jameis is the only thing we needed?
I hardly ever see anyone thinking like that on JBF outside of perhaps 2-3 Buc fans. There’s only a few peeps on JBF that wear those glasses you speak about.
August 24th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
Tony…oh I agree. That was the first thing I typed on JBF after the Vikes game. “This team looks too much like last year’s team”. I was just stating that we can’t really tell about how bad the 1st team is going to be from preseason with so much alternating going on.
August 24th, 2015 at 1:02 pm
@ Buc1987
So now are you saying you are changing your tune a little bit????
This website is the biggest fanboy site for the bucs ever
You want honesty???? Go to the Bucs Nation website…..they don’t hold any punches and will say it how it is.
Also,
Go ahead while your at it and compare Jameis College games to Mariota College games and you will see a starling difference as well
August 24th, 2015 at 1:11 pm
TheBucsAnthem Says:
August 24th, 2015 at 1:02 pm
“@ Buc1987
So now are you saying you are changing your tune a little bit????
This website is the biggest fanboy site for the bucs ever
You want honesty???? Go to the Bucs Nation website…..they don’t hold any punches and will say it how it is.”
Your so far wrong it’s not even funny. Buc Nation? Are you serious? Buc Nation? That’s THEE biggest fanboy site on the net, next comes Pewter Report. In fact it’s the exact opposite of what your saying. Find a fanboy in this thread with nearly 50 comments in it. There’s so many on this site, I’m sure you can find atleast one. If not scour the other threads. You’ll find 2-3 maybe.
August 24th, 2015 at 1:12 pm
“Also,
Go ahead while your at it and compare Jameis College games to Mariota College games and you will see a starling difference as well”
I did THAT for 3 straight months in here. Why would I want to do THAT all over again?
August 24th, 2015 at 1:14 pm
It’s never to late to become the person you were meant to be. Jameis is meant to do great things, has been like that since high school. That’s not just god given that’s hard work and dedication. He has all the attributes of a great QB while Mariota just looks like he’ll be a great game manager.
As far as Jameis’ delivery i think the Mariota nut huggers are grasping at straws to find anything to bash a kid who has done everything right since he came to our organization. We should embrace the kid who openly stated his desire to play for THIS team prior to the draft. What did Mariota say? Well probably not much because he doesn’t talk.
College tape? College? We’re talking about College. College?
August 24th, 2015 at 1:15 pm
BucsAnthem….Keep talking about Mariota and your bordering on Clinger status pretty soon. Are you done gushing yet?
August 24th, 2015 at 1:25 pm
@ Buc1987
You keep living in the Bucs fairytale land with your Bucs Rosy colored glasses
August 24th, 2015 at 1:34 pm
TheBucsAnthem…wtf are you talking about? Find me some of these fanboys you’re lying about, seeing how there’s so many of them on this site.
I predicted 4-6 wins tops for this season. Perhaps I need a better set of glasses.
August 24th, 2015 at 1:37 pm
87′ relax man, this dude lost credibilty a long time ago with his comments. He is clearly in the bid for Mariota’s jockstrap on ebay.
August 24th, 2015 at 1:59 pm
Marcus was moving that offense with ease last night. McCluster dropped an easy touchdown catch. Guess I’ll tune in tonight to see some more interceptions and maybe a pick six.
August 24th, 2015 at 3:07 pm
As noted by multiple posters, the scores of the games hardly matter, but the scores in the FIRST QUARTER do sometimes matter, because that is likely the only time that both teams “first stringers” or “starters” are in the game. Even then, the established stars are often not risked during these meaningless games.
Nevertheless, comparing your teams’ performance against the other teams first quarter performance can be enlightening. For instance, when I posted about the opening preseason game, I noted that Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings (without Adrian Peterson) still scored a TD and a field goal against our first team defense, in less than one quarter of play. Our first team offense didn’t do much agaisnt their first team defense. Our “most NFL ready” QB, managed to slide head-first, saying that “in the NFL he was taught to always fall forward to get the most yardage”; really meaning that in college you are down when you slide or fall, but in the NFL you must be downed by contact or at least touched down. Furthermore, on another play, he took a sack rather than toss it out of bounds, when he was clearly outside the “tackle box. Simple rookie mistakes, but certainly NOT “NFL ready”.
tickrdr
August 24th, 2015 at 4:36 pm
Jameis is Rudy Stein. Does anyone remember Rudy???
August 24th, 2015 at 4:36 pm
He was the bad news bears pitcher