Strange Comments From Lovie
September 20th, 2015
Bucs coach Lovie Smtih said he wanted more points today. So why take the ball out of the hands of your No. 1 overall pick of a quarterback?
Joe has already written about Bucs coach Lovie Smith going full-blown turtle in the fourth quarter.
The Bucs had many chances for a kill shot and instead, looked so scared offensively that they were crapping in their boots.
Joe was convinced the Saints would rally and win the game because the Bucs gave the ball back to the Saints so many times in the fourth quarter.
Fortunately, the defense rose up and shut down Drew Brees in crunch time, preserving the first Bucs win this season.
“We didn’t get as many points as we needed to,” Lovie said.
Well, why was that? Yes, yes, yes, Joe understands Dirk Koetter calls the plays, but you can’t tell Joe that Lovie doesn’t influence him. It sure smelled like Lovie told Koetter to run the ball.
Problem was, the Saints’ defense in the fourth quarter seemed to have found a second wind and was stifling the run. How many times did the Bucs try to pound Martin off left tackle in the fourth quarter, to no avail?
It sure smelled like either the Bucs were scared to throw, or didn’t trust America’s Quarterback, Bucs signal-caller Jameis Winston, to throw the ball.
Some in the Bucs’ locker room suggested Tampa Bay tried to give the defense a rest and burn clock. Saints quarterback Drew Brees reinforced this notion when he said the reason for the Saints’ ability to run at will in the fourth quarter was that the Bucs were gassed.
But please, don’t kvetch about not scoring enough points when your offensive coordinator, for reasons not entirely clear, took the ball out of the hands of the No. 1 overall draft pick when he was having a fine game.
September 20th, 2015 at 7:01 pm
He’s saying they didn’t convert their chances.
September 20th, 2015 at 7:07 pm
I think Dirk was protecting the oline from giving up a sack or additional holding penalties, the points that weren’t scored were the missed opportunities
September 20th, 2015 at 7:09 pm
Running the ball and playing defense was excellent coaching in the 4th quarter. We were winning! Why turn the ball over by trying to pass and not bleed the clock?
September 20th, 2015 at 7:10 pm
Perfect opportunity in front of us….Dallas could use a QB now since Romo will be down (Glennon)….we need O line and pass rush….make it happen Licht
September 20th, 2015 at 7:14 pm
Ummmmmmmm almost needed the paddles again! We’ll take it but damn!!! Put it away next time, seriously.
September 20th, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Florida’s gopher turtles, get a lead then dig a hole and crawl in and hold on for dear life.
September 20th, 2015 at 7:31 pm
I understand the reasoning. A rookie qb. Two rookie olinemen. Mike Evans on a “pitch count”. At the time I was livid, but it makes sense now.
Jameis will eventually be able to ice those games. But its not wise to put all the pressure on a rookie in his second game in the superdome when its not 100% necesary, regardless ehen Jameis was drafted.
September 20th, 2015 at 7:39 pm
Lovie is LUCKY they won this game and he is the last member of this team that has the right to complain about the lack of offense. I already posted on this in another article….on our last drive, we ran the ball on first down every…..single……time. Then in the red zone we ran it in first second and third down. This was the first game in forever that the horrible ref calls actually swayed the game in our direction. We should have lost this game. We have lost many games just like this in the last 4 season going turtle in the 4th. Jameis played well and I think he will get better. The defense did pretty good as well. But the one single thing that scared me the most this offseason happened today. Lovie hot his way when we had the lead. Lovie ALMOST gave the game away….not Winston. He better learn the let Koetter call the shots on offense or he will be back in his basement sooner than he thinks
September 20th, 2015 at 7:43 pm
joe…joe…joe you are off on so many levels
September 20th, 2015 at 7:48 pm
Another distorted article… Bending truths, seeing things that are not there, trying create drama where there is none.
September 20th, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Agreed newbucsfan…. You have a lead, you don’t let a rookie like Winston go gunslinger… We’re lucky his fumble didn’t screw things….more Martin is ok by me…the way to go here on…
September 20th, 2015 at 7:53 pm
You know what’s better than a 23-7 lead? A 30-7 lead.
You know what’s better than a 30-7 lead? A 37-7 lead.
The best way to maintain a lead is to build it.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:05 pm
Richard exactly…put your foot on the gas and don’t let up. Buc fans everywhere certainly would not have complained not one bit, if the Bucs ran up the score on the Saints at N.O. and they were that close to doing it today.
Oh well got the ugly win.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Didnt hear the presser, just going off Joe’s quote, it sounded like Lovie might have been referring to the points we left on the board… When we got FGs instead of TDs…
And Ive shtted on Lovie all week, but he needs to do this more… Call out his players, even when they did enough! Call em out when they have the ability to do so much more – like our offense! Our team has the potential, so light a fire under their asses! And maximize that potential!
September 20th, 2015 at 8:08 pm
Winners have a killer instinct and know when to put the game away. Cowardly conservative play calling will loose you more games then it will win. Against a better team, the coaches would have lost this one for us today.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:08 pm
The Bucs did what they should have done, we got the win. Case close
September 20th, 2015 at 8:10 pm
Dreambig…I also saw 2 TD’s left off the board and we had to settle for FG’s. So the score could have been higher.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:12 pm
Don’t settle for GOOD, especially when I see OUR QB has the tangibles to be GREAT!!! Keep pushing him LOVIE!!! And dont let your D slip like they did last week!!! Or I’ll be back on here with a vengance! Calling for ‘Next Coach Up’
September 20th, 2015 at 8:16 pm
@Dreambig, It’s too soon to go for the jugular with a Rook QB in his 2nd game… In time, we’ll get to that point… We did the right thing, we got a good lead on em, and let our hot-hand D close it out… In a month or 2, Jameis will be ready enough to close games out on his own.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:22 pm
There was nothing wrong with the strategy or any other part of the game. ASJ is playing much better and finally gaining some confidence. But VJAX made a great catch in the endzone and ASJ did not. ASJ also had a drop at the ten yard line.
But the officials were horrible. Both sides got bad calls and non calls. But one of the worst was on our poor back up center who went to throw a block downfield on a long gain, as he rolled his legs touched the defender. He clearly did not stretch his legs to make a trip or leg whip a guy. That call usually happens on the line of scrimmage when an OL does leg whip a guy. It was at a pivotal moment and would have kept a drive rolling big time thanks to the run.
At this point in time I love Fameis but I do not want to put the game in his hands unless there is no other choice. We and HE needed to have a good game. He played well and so why risk ruining that experience with an int.
If we had lost the game we could have blamed it on the D.
Fameis did EVERYTHING we needed!!! He managed the game well early. Made good decisions, didn’t force anything. He gave us a chance to win and that’s all we can expect from him at this time. He’s still a rookie as are two OL. The second half of the season I’ll feel a lot more comfortable about asking him to WIN a game. Right now I’m thrilled if he simply gives us a chance to win.
1-1 baby with a division win on the road.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:24 pm
@the guy right here
EXACTLY!!!
September 20th, 2015 at 8:26 pm
This Guy Right Here….it wasn’t too soon for the Titans to go for the jugular last week. It would have been nice if we could have pulled Jameis out of the game in the 4th like the Titans did last week with what’s his name.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:27 pm
We’ll get there though…
September 20th, 2015 at 8:28 pm
We did win so no need to push my point. I am happy and will take the W.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:30 pm
Not running up the score shows a lack of unity on the staff. Koetter wants to open it up, Lovie wants to slow it down. Koetter won’t be with the Bucs next season…two totally different philosophies.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:40 pm
@’87,
I dont even think it was in the Titans intention to go for the jugular.. they were just trying to get 1st downs! But our D was so ill prepared and non existant, that it just seemed that way..
September 20th, 2015 at 8:46 pm
Some of you people really are nuts. You get a win on the road in your division and so many are bitching. It’s not an easy thing to do, especially with a rookie QB. This team needs to learn how to win, no doubt. Today was a huge step in the right direction. They had opportunities to ice this game and the players, not the coaches, were screwing it up. Missed plays inside he five and back to back fumbles.
Pretty sure this coaching staff was trying to do everything they could to hold on to the victory which included getting conservative and milking the clock. You should be thankful for once. Idiots!
September 20th, 2015 at 9:01 pm
Joe,
I used to really like your website – but these articles are infantile. Rookie QB. Hostile environment. The Bucs played smart and won because of it. I didn’t see them turn turtle at all. Jameis missed two EASY TD throws and the Saints were blitzing relentlessly. You’re forgetting some of the great play calls negated by BS penalties – like the phantom tripping call on Martin’s big screen pass play.
September 20th, 2015 at 9:10 pm
Tony, good point. I forgot about that. It was a great play call and was well executed. Total BS penalty call.
September 20th, 2015 at 9:57 pm
Lovie said “We didn’t get as many points as we needed to,” meaning the offense didn’t convert on their chances. They left 2 TD’s off the board and had to settle for FG’s. There were two plays in the red zone where Jameis overthrew ASJ and VJAX. Then the costly penalties which stopped drives, one from Joe Hawley and another from ASJ. There were also penalties by Evans, D. Smith and Mankins which stalled drives. Winston was having a good game but after missing and throws and then fumbling at a critical time I would have played it safe as well..
September 20th, 2015 at 10:08 pm
Joe. I thought the same thing. Figured we’d find a way to lose in the waning moments of the game. Damn I hate that. But we pulled it out!! PULLED IT OUT!! Lets build on it no matter what!! Was stuck at work today (at a steel mill here in Pittsburgh)) while my co-workers were going bonkers over the “stillers” crushing the ‘9’ers Thank you Buccaneers for a great win today!! (I can’t say “Bucs ‘cuz they think I am referring to the baseball team here) Lets keep em coming!!! Buccaneers fam forever!!!
September 20th, 2015 at 10:16 pm
Bucs were a drag racer… Kicked ass and winning by a comfortable lead, let off the gas and let the other driver in the race. Plain and simple. I saw a team that was trying to sit on their lead and almost lost it for themselves. That’s too bad 🙁
September 20th, 2015 at 10:20 pm
It’s ironic that we went into protect mode (turtle) to eat clock and avoid turnovers….and we fumbled twice….
I think we did the right thing under these circumstances…..but I thought we should have run Martin to the outside a couple of times late in the game.
September 20th, 2015 at 10:24 pm
Bubbabucsfan, they did not let off the gas. They tried to score. Did not execute and had to settle for 3. Then they promptly fumbled twice deep in their own territory. Then were called for penaltys that negated big plays that killed drives.
September 21st, 2015 at 1:03 am
Settled for 3 several times when we could have had 7 if the offense executed better. Because it didn’t cost us the win we can look at it more positively: this offense, despite the shaky o line and struggling Mike Evans, had the potential to hang 44+ on the saints in their house, like Matt Ryan and Koetter’s Falcons did to us last year. There will be much tougher defenses but this is a big building block for this O
September 21st, 2015 at 7:21 am
Lovie was lucky that his idiotic strategy didn’t cost him the game. There were 2 TD’s left on the field. If those were converted the game would have been over much sooner. Instead it ca me down to the last second. This has been the the formula for losing the last 4 years and it has to stop or this team will be a perinial sub 500 team.
September 21st, 2015 at 10:42 am
I think fumbling twice was way bigger of a deal than any conservative calls. Also missing ASJ / ASJ not making a catch when it could have made the game 27-7 was big.
There were 10 minutes left when Winston fumbled and they were still letting him throw at that point up 21-13. If he doesn’t fumble and we convert a 1st down then it could have been a long clock-eating drive that wins the game. Even if it ate 4-5 minutes up (which is what you’d expect at worst) and they get a FG that is game over. 26-13 with only like 5 minutes left is pretty much the game. 28-13 sealing it.
The next drive Doug Martin fumbled immediately. Again that has nothing to do with play-calling. Individual mistake.
The next drive they got a 1st down and Winston was sacked on a 2nd down pass attempt (i.e. passing on 2nd down i.e. not conservative). That forced the punt (not 3 straight failed runs).
Towards the end I could see being upset only on not attempting the pass on 3rd and long but if they turn it over there we only have a 4 point lead and a TD beats us. Take the FG and force them to score to tie. The D had played well all day for the most part.
I think this is all getting over-thought. Those 2 fumbles are what gave the game back to the Saints and that sack on 2nd down stopped what could have been a scoring drive to put the game out of reach. In my opinion at least.
Either way GO BUCS!! I’m back aboard my optimism train. Week 1 = Animosity Amigos visual representation of prediction. Week 2 = the top 1/3 NFL defense I thought we would have + Winston making key plays to win (i.e 2 minute drive to spark the team & opening TD drive of 2nd half). We’ll see how the rest of the year plays out!
September 21st, 2015 at 10:47 am
Lovie was lucky that his idiotic strategy didn’t cost him the game. There were 2 TD’s left on the field.”
So it was Lovie’s idiotic strategy that had Winston overthrow ASJ?
LOL
Look I’m a Winston homer and was hugely skeptical of Lovie after what I saw last week so you’d think I’d love to agree with this type of thinking but common people. Lovie Smith didn’t fumble the ball twice and wasn’t the reason Winston overthrew ASJ lol.
September 21st, 2015 at 3:01 pm
Lol….dude. The “americas quarterback” nickname makes me laugh every time.