“Same Guys Making The Same Mistakes”
September 17th, 2015
Captain Lavonte David and safety Major Wright were among the many out-of-position culprits for the Bucs’ defense.
Former Bucs defensive end Steve White (1996-2001) is a huge Bucs fan, a film junkie, and a guy who worked as an intern defensive line coach under Lovie Smith last year.
So White knows the Bucs defense backwards and forwards — glory years and current day.
White joined Ronnie and TKras on WDAE-AM 620 this morning and told the big radio audience that the Bucs defense was as bad as it looked.
“You can just keep naming names, really, because guys just weren’t doing their jobs,” White said. “On the [Bradley] McDougald bad angle situation, look, I can’t even tell what coverage we’re running. Because it looks like maybe we’re supposed to be in Tampa-2. But in Tampa-2, McDougald should not even be where he was in, because he got sucked in on a play fake, too. How can you be a Tampa-2 safety back, you’re the last line of defense, and you’re jumping on run fakes? But our safeties did that all day.
“We had a play, and I talked about this on Twitter, where we basically called the right defense. We got Major Wright, he’s faking like he’s going to be in the box. He’s supposed to run out of there and play Tampa-2 at the snap, kinda sold the quarterback into throwing a deep ball and throwing it right to us. Perfect play. Major Wright decides in the middle of the play. ‘No, you know what, I want to go up and play the run. I know I’m supposed to be back there and play Cover-2, but I’m going to play run and do somebody else’s job.’
“You know, Mariota actually threw a duck. He had a perfect opportunity to pick it off. Instead, Alterraun Verner had to go down and get a pass interference call just to make sure they don’t get a big play on him. Stuff like that all day long. And like I say, you can go down the list. Sometimes it’s Lavonte David, Kwon Alexander … Danny Lansanah got sucked in on just about every play-action pass, too.”
White speculated that the Saints might never even need to establish the run on Sunday because they won’t need to.
“I haven’t seen a play fake yet that our linebackers and safeties haven’t jumped on,” White said.
No wonder David and Gerald McCoy had a crisis reaction yesterday after practice.
What troubles Joe is that Lovie Smith describes his coaching staff as “stern teachers.” But are they good teachers? The evidence isn’t there.
September 17th, 2015 at 11:07 am
Dj Swearinger should be starting, not Major Wright.
September 17th, 2015 at 11:10 am
@Joe when talking about the defense you are forgetting to mention all those great vets acquire with experience on the Tampa 2. They were a great help in last Sundays game.
Thanks Major Right and company! lol
September 17th, 2015 at 11:13 am
Fire Lovie.
Fire Licht.
Fire The Glazers.
Fire the cheerleaders.
Fire the parking attendants.
Fire the concession stand workers.
Fire everybody then fire those cannons!!!
September 17th, 2015 at 11:13 am
It takes 5 years to learn your position on this defense. lol
Maybe the problem is both teachers and students. Didn’t they go to college?
Hmm….
September 17th, 2015 at 11:17 am
Found footage of the defensive captains meeting. Very interesting stuff. #style over substance.
http://youtu.be/pJ7l7E1DqA4
September 17th, 2015 at 11:18 am
! game and joe, you’re an I&!@%
September 17th, 2015 at 11:20 am
I have a feeling even if we took Mariota and they took Winston the results would’ve been the same. This team is a nightmare and Winston don’t stand a chance behind that O-Line, it just keep getting worse. When will the bleeding stop? This team needs totally redone from top to bottom and that make take years to accomplish. Love must be fired.
September 17th, 2015 at 11:24 am
Thanks Steve White. Good analysis. Now I know that it really was worse than it looked. Wonderful!
September 17th, 2015 at 11:26 am
I guess Wright guessed Wrong didn’t he. LOL! All BS aside. I’m afraid for what’s in store Sunday. Mariota only threw 16 times. It was what he did in those 16 throws that has me all FUKD up. Imagine. Brees airs that $hit out like crazy. I don’t want to watch. But being a #RIDEORDIE I am. If they bit off of Mariota’s play action. Brees’ play action to Cooks is going to be ugly. You better be FUKN ready Vern!
September 17th, 2015 at 11:27 am
rex ryan used this same defense sunday and beat the colts. You all are letting joe get you all stirred up for nothing. Joes just upset that Lovie shoots him down every press conference. Those little quick ribs of yours joe don’t get down outside of this site and maybe your friends, don’t hate the coach. He told you about the defensive guru stuff and you keep calling him that pushing your message like a troll does. CALM down people your players suck and they’ve sucked with several coaches. Koetter got over and called a sucky game what could it be?
September 17th, 2015 at 11:27 am
“Fire Lovie.
Fire Licht.
Fire The Glazers.
Fire the cheerleaders.
Fire the parking attendants.
Fire the concession stand workers.
Fire everybody then fire those cannons!!!”
Or fire the cheerleaders and make them the concession stand workers!
September 17th, 2015 at 11:39 am
DB55…lmao. Must be Stadium Toyota if the girls were so close after practice
September 17th, 2015 at 11:39 am
Just wait on it.
September 17th, 2015 at 11:45 am
SOEbuc
Uhm, those aren’t girls.
September 17th, 2015 at 11:46 am
Newbucsfan (Lovie sympathizer) Says :
“CALM down people your players suck and they’ve sucked with several coaches.”
Ya know something. I know you love Lovie Smith so much and that’s why you became a “new Bucs fan”and all, but you post stuff all the time that makes no sense in Lovie’s defense.
Several coaches? You say this, but Lovie got rid of pretty much about 75% of the team if not more than that since he got here. This is Lovie’s baby and no one else.
Usually when you say stuff about OUR team, it makes no sense. I just read it and shrug it off. This is not one of those times. I can’t just shrug that line off.
September 17th, 2015 at 11:48 am
@mac
keep the cheerleaders
September 17th, 2015 at 11:48 am
DB55
I know. Im pretty sure that was Chris Conte in the back
September 17th, 2015 at 11:50 am
……………this is pointless
Tell us Bucs Fans something we don’t know Joe
September 17th, 2015 at 11:52 am
as i remember, Dungy required smarts. is that an attribute still required with the current regime? Or is it that we are so thin we need to take whatever we can. I am not suggesting the current players are not bright, i am asking a question.
September 17th, 2015 at 11:52 am
LOVIES FAULT…”simple as that”…
September 17th, 2015 at 11:53 am
This defense has physically talented players at almost every single position. Therefore when every analyst looks at the game film and says the same thing, that players are consistently out of position and don’t look like they know what they’re doing, then it’s obviously a coaching problem. I think every fan, analyst, media personality and NFL coach recognizes this about the Bucs by now.
This team will NEVER get better until the Glazers learn how to hire a competent head coach. Never. Ever. Apparently Malcolm’s intelligence gene has decided to skip a generation. Maybe the three Glazer stooges’ kids will do a better job one day. Until then either hire a qualified consultant to oversee the process of a coaching change or sell the team. Simple as that.
September 17th, 2015 at 11:54 am
Wait on what????
Another embarrassing performance from the incompetent over his head head coah loser Lovie Smith and his clown posse of below average coaches… if this was tee ball Lovies time in Tampa would be Mercy Ruled….
September 17th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
I’d watch the Bucs/Saints game this weekend, but I’m not into torture porn.
September 17th, 2015 at 12:00 pm
@MAC…PLEASE NOT THE CHEERLEADERS..LOL…GO BUCS!!!
September 17th, 2015 at 12:02 pm
The three things needed to bring the Bucs back to relevancy
1. Fire Lovie
2. Fire Licht
3. Glazers forced to sell.
Yeah it’s highly unlikely we even get 2 of those things, but we have to dream right?
September 17th, 2015 at 12:07 pm
SOE
The sad sad truth is Conte was the leading tackler Sunday with 5 tackles.
That’s just pitiful.
September 17th, 2015 at 12:11 pm
I posted this earlier but I think it fits here as well…before we totally give up on Sunday’s game a little reflection.
Last year in game five in N.O. With Lovie’s defense…early in the year before they supposedly had improved…
C/ATT YDS TD INT QBR
Mike Glennon 19/32 249 2 1 68.0
Drew Brees 35/57 371 2 3 37.6
MG8 outplays Brees? Our D picks Brees 3X?
So there is your benchmark. What has changed. Not Lovie and by and large not our defense. Our OL may not be studly but they clearly played better on Sunday than last year. McCown a mobile QB was on his backside..he took a beating…Fameis..far less mobile simply didn’t get the same pressure as McCown OR MG8!!!
And so are my expectation too high? Play simply as well as last year?
September 17th, 2015 at 12:12 pm
Hilarious! Incompetent Lovie Smith’s squad of least resistance is going to get destroyed against Brees.
There are no excuses.
September 17th, 2015 at 12:15 pm
For a minute there
Chris Conte was giving me flashbacks of ……Sabby Piscitelli
September 17th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Other teams will break their back to beat the bucs because what team will wan’t to say we could not even beat the bucs, That’s what losing so much does for ya.. Every team is going to throw the book at us, so get ready lovie will have a blank stare on his face every game….
September 17th, 2015 at 12:19 pm
The BUCS have earned a distinguished spot on ESPN
===============
POWER RANKINGS = 32
===============
September 17th, 2015 at 12:37 pm
This is a result of our players playing SELFISH FOOTBALL and not DOING THEIR JOBS!! I don’t know how many times i’ve heard analysts break down the film and say “WE HAD THE RIGHT COVERAGE/SCHEME”, BUT OUR PLAYERS DIDN’T EXECUTE!!
I hope the PLAYERS realized HOW INCOMPETENT they were after watching FILM and MAKE THOSE CORRECTIONS!!!
“It’s as simple as that” – Lovie Smith aka “Blame it on the alcohol”
September 17th, 2015 at 12:46 pm
Ok I am going to say it now. I am tired of hearing that our linebackers are the best part of this defense. We keep getting burned in the middle of the field!! The middle of the field is where the linebackers are supposed to be. Instead they are caught out of position time and time again and all qb’s like Mariota have to do is lob the ball to the crossing receiver wide open to take it to the house. Our linebackers are athletic and stupid thats all I can fathom after two years of this garbage.
September 17th, 2015 at 12:47 pm
And sadly then we say that Mariota will be a pro bowler. Its sad just sad.
September 17th, 2015 at 1:02 pm
Marcus Mariota has been making Linebackers look stupid for the last 5 years now.
It is what he does with his fast reads and play fakes, quick set up and release, and his deadly accuracy.
Not to mention his 4.4 speed, if he needs to do what a linebacker fears most, take off and run it to the house.
Yes, coaching could have been much better, but don’t fail to give Mariota much of the credit. I know, I know, to admit he is that good is to admit we made a huge mistake not picking him, but it is true.
We really missed the boat on our number one pick.
September 17th, 2015 at 1:16 pm
Steve White is one of the few sources Joe quotes that I actually respect. He does more than claim he knows what is wrong…he breaks it down and shows it.
September 17th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
almost done watching any football with all these ridiculous penaltys , the nfl has changed to a referee controls the out come . and this web site has to many ads
September 17th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
This has nothing to do with the coaches, btw. It has to do with the players. When they start sticking to what their assignments are, they’ll start trusting one another. THAT’s when defenses work.
September 17th, 2015 at 1:21 pm
@Chris
Agreed with your post until this line…
I know, to admit he is that good is to admit we made a huge mistake not picking him, but it is true.
No that is not true. It is very possible that BOTH QB’s will have excellent careers.
I’ve been very hard on Fameis first game because he sucked. But he has plenty of time to work out his flaws. He is the most competitive athlete I’ve seen in a long time.
And so who is better..Tom Brady…(the best to play Fameis pocket drop back relatively immobile style) or Aaron Rodgers (The closest to MM’s style)
I certainly concede that stylistically they are totally different. But there is more than one way to get the job done.
We were looking for a Franchise QB…here is how I view NFL QB’s
Not an absolute but sliding scale..
QB’s who can carry a team on their shoulders..
Brady, Rodgers, and Peyton in his prime.
QB’s who are very good and will win unless totally handicapped.
Rivers, Romo, Wilson and that group
QB’s who do not mean defeat but cannot carry a team..game managers
Eli Manning, Flacco and that type
QB’s who just kill a team..
McCown, Geno, and others.
I’m still hopeful Fameis can at least reach near that upper echelon and be able to offset some poor performance if not actually carry the team. If he can do that then our pick is solid and he will be the franchise QB we’ve so desperately wanted.
If Mariota turns out to be as good as Rodgers then hurray for Nashville! It won’t mean squat to us. The cow is out of the barn and it’s a total waste to worry about spilt milk. I like Mariota but I do not take his success as anything detrimental to the Bucs..except this past Sunday. He not even in our conference we won’t play him again unless it’s a Super Bowl.
If its MM versus JW in a SuperBowl then I’ll be happy to pick up that debate again.
September 17th, 2015 at 1:31 pm
tdtb2015 Says
“@Joe when talking about the defense you are forgetting to mention all those great vets acquired…”
I don’t care for Jason Licht much. I think that is pretty well documented here.
That said, he and Lovie decided that addressing the offense first in the draft was the best move. Why? Because offenses take longer to develop from scratch. Offensive Linemen, as opposed to Defensive Linemen, do not usually come in and excel from the start. On Dline they can (Suh for example).
Also, a quarterback takes 2-3 years of development. At least (see Eli, Luck, Favre, Young, the list goes on and on).
So, they addressed the offense the last two years. With only one pick spent on a defensive player, they had to plug holes. So they did the best possible with what was available within the budget…while still intending to resign McCoy and David.
The defensive players signed this year were not meant to be long term fixes. They are meant to make it through a season or two so Licht and Lovie can start drafting defensive players next.
Consider this…
In two years…how well developed do you think the offense will be?
In two years…how many picks do you think will have been spent on defense during the two drafts they’ll have?
If they build the defense through the draft as well as they have built the offense, this team is going to be one of the best in the league for years to come…at least a decade. Perhaps longer. Because once both sides are done, then they can draft for depth and development, the way the Pats and Packers do.
Instead of looking at one game. two games or even a season…look at the BIG picture. This team may seem like a mockery right now…but in two more drafts we will be among the best, if not the best team in the NFL.
Licht and Lovie are doing more than building a lasting contender here. They are building a multiple SB winning franchise. Perhaps the next Packers or Patriots.
Offense.
Defense.
Excelling at both within 2 more drafts. Think about it. Dream about it. And ignore these negative nancies that do nothing but spew hate, even when things are good.
September 17th, 2015 at 1:35 pm
Falcons defense looks good
September 17th, 2015 at 1:37 pm
Honestly. If I were the Glazers, I would look at the development of the offense. We have some fanfreakingtastic talent there.
I would imagine that same level of talent on defense over the next 2 years. And I would dance the jig. I would keep Lovie. I would Extend him. In a heartbeat.
Only the shortsighted cannot see what is coming together here. It is incredible. All. We. Need. Is. Patience.
And then?
Never be losers again.
September 17th, 2015 at 1:44 pm
I’ve been a Bucs fan for 17 years… Do any of you actually skip a game? I honestly feel like I may have to TRY to skip one if there’s a repeat of last week, because I just can’t have my heart repeatedly ripped out of my chest and showed to me while it’s still beating and then shoved back into my bloody heart hole and brought back for another week. I swear I almost had to get out the defibrillator paddles for my 50 year old buddy (all joking aside), no lie… This stinks, sort it out BUCS!!! It only hurts because we care so damn much.
September 17th, 2015 at 2:03 pm
Most of the problems Steve White is describing have gotten worse the more Lovie emphasizes takeaways. Ronde’s been saying politely for awhile that the emphasis needed to be on play your part of the defense with precision and passion and the takeaways will come. Pushing for takeaways is pushing individuals to bite and play out of position leaving their teammates to look stupid and out of position when they’re really not. It’s time to stop being heroes and just do your job.
September 17th, 2015 at 2:26 pm
I don’t remember Bonzai being on Lovie’s nuts this much last year. What’s changed?
September 17th, 2015 at 2:28 pm
Buc1987′ you denote in your pose, “your players.”
This of course insinuates strongly that you have no ties to this team.
This supports something I have maintained about you and others like you for sometime.
You must be a troll who is a fan of another team.
September 17th, 2015 at 4:12 pm
@drdneast:
None of my business really, but please re-read both newbucsfan and Buc1987’s posts. ’87 is quoting newbucsfan.
tickrdr
September 17th, 2015 at 5:16 pm
Bucs have decent talent on defense they just have poor coaching. Lovie has looked like a complete fool in 6 of his 17 games. Not to mention he and his gm have hand picked this roster. What a joke. Only thing more discouraging than the coaching these last 6 years has been ownership.
September 17th, 2015 at 5:35 pm
Bonzi
For someone who professes to be always right you sure are wrong on Lovie. Never ever would a coach who is 0-9 at home and has led HIS team to 3 of the most embarrassing losses in NFL history be considered for an extension even in a hypothetical situation. Lovie is a joke his style does not work regardless of what you believe. And for you to say that coaching has nothing to do with the horrendous product he has put on thfield the last two seasons destroy any credibility you thought you may have had… I get you like Lovie but you need serious help if you think coaching has nothing to do with this abortion Lovie created.
When is Marinelli leaving his BETTER job to coach with laughable Lovie remember you guaranteed that. Always right you are.
September 17th, 2015 at 6:13 pm
Crying over spilt Milk wow the cream was Mariota not Winston and he talks a good game but I just don’t see it with him he cant even keep his feet
September 17th, 2015 at 6:52 pm
drdneas Says:
September 17th, 2015 at 2:28 pm
“Buc1987′ you denote in your pose, “your players.”
This of course insinuates strongly that you have no ties to this team.
This supports something I have maintained about you and others like you for sometime.
You must be a troll who is a fan of another team.”
Ho hum that was a quote from another poster. I never said “your players”.
Please re-read it and then stfu about everyone on this site not being a real Bucs fan. You’ve done this shyte in the past with others. You’re barking up the wrong tree little puppy. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t waste 8 hours a day of my life every day on this site if I wasn’t a hard core, die hard Bucs fan. I don’t use those words lightly either. There’s not many Buc fans that are die hard fans. I promise you this, I am one of them. This shyte going on today is nothing new that I didn’t see in the 80’s. I actually think Lovie is worse than Ray Perkins.
September 17th, 2015 at 7:28 pm
This has been a great thread, with lots of really good posts!
I think I will get the heck off the computer, and go watch Thursday Night Football.
September 17th, 2015 at 7:58 pm
87- drdneast loves to go after others on here personally instigating sht, never wants to talk football. Everybody’s gotta have their thing, starting virtual fights with people he doesn’t know on sports sites is his. Cool guy
September 17th, 2015 at 8:59 pm
“Steve White is one of the few sources Joe quotes that I actually respect. He does more than claim he knows what is wrong…he breaks it down and shows it.”
Me too BuccaneerBonzai
September 17th, 2015 at 9:41 pm
I noticed same thing on the play fake biting…happened last year too. I love Hardy but at some point, this kind of stuff has to start falling on the position coaches.