Lovie Hasn’t Lost Bucs
November 2nd, 2015
Team still with him.
It is easy to wonder if the message is getting through.
Lovie Smith, who seized defensive coordinator duties prior to the season, is in charge of a defense that is so frightening, Kirk Herbstreit would be unable to watch.
There is some sort of disconnect between Bucs coaches and the defensive players. How else to explain just how wretched that defense is?
Well, Don Banks of SI.com believes any suggestions Lovie has lost the team is baloney. And Banks believes evidence players are fully behind Lovie can be found in yesterday’s overtime win against the Dixie Chicks.
Smith asked his team’s fan base not to lose faith after the crushing loss at Washington, and then his young team went to Atlanta and backed him up. That tells me Smith hasn’t remotely lost this club, and he’s still the right man for the building job in Tampa Bay.
The question for Joe is, how long?
Remember, wins cover up warts, and the Bucs have the ugliest of warts on defense. If the defense continues to get seal-clubbed like it has the past couple of weeks, and teams don’t play Santa Claus like the Dixie Chicks did with the ball, it won’t be long before players begin tuning out.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:05 am
Coach Smith is well on his way to doubling or tripling his win total from last season. Fortunately or unfortunately he has earned his way back to 2016 unless we completely melt down from here on out. That said, I SEE the improvement. We’re still super shaky but we’re getting better. Isn’t that what we wanted, demonstrable improvement? If so, Lovie has delivered on that front.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:06 am
I guess we simply don’t have the talent……no names…..undrafted free agents….castoffs from other teams….
Our CBs can’t keep up with WRs….linebackers don’t cover well…..Safties play too deep. Dline doesn’t get much pressure.
When is the last time you remember us batting down a pass?
We need to draft a CB, S, DE……and pick up 2 top notch players in FA….we have the money…..Cut Mankins or restructure him…..Cut Smith…..we need a WR with speed….Offense is ok.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:10 am
Am I the only one that saw the Falcons give the Bucs a win. The Falcons fumble the ball twice in the red zone if they didn’t guess what we lose.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:13 am
This is a case of we really have to wait and see. We have an emerging offense thanks largely to a good offensive draft this year. All the pieces on offense are new and have not played together for any length of time, so these guys might just keep getting better. If the Bucs put together a few more wins this year, at least 3, it seems like you have to stay the corse and give Licht a chance to get more defensive players like Kwon Alexander in the draft. If we finish 6 wins or less, Lovie should be on very thin ice.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:16 am
@Tampabaybucfan
add to the draft list 1Wr, Cut stocker and draft a real TE ( and maybe Always Shelved-Jenkins!!)
Funny how even the Tv announcers were talking about “fundamental holes” in Lovie’s old defense!!!
Will Jameis pull a “luck” and drag a bad head coach and bad defense to were it is not suppose to be????
Is there a conspiracy theory that the Saints and Falcons laid down so Lovie will keep his job and stay the 4th best coach in the NFC South???
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:18 am
FR – It really dosen’t matter how, what counts is the Bucs won. You can cherry pick plays from every game and say if this happened or didn’t happen then things would be different. Everyone on here except for a few know that our pass coverage blows and is going to cost us a lot of games until its fixed.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:29 am
Again, What are you talking about???
Bucs held Talented Falcon Offense to 20 points!!!
Thats their second lowest total of the year!!!
Points allowed!
Job well done guys!
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:31 am
I like how points allowed was not relevant when the Panthers game happened and was all about the defense yielding almost no yards…yet yesterday was about points and not the 500 yards of offense yielded. At least if the Lovie fans were consistent I wouldn’t mind them that much, but they bend and twist and change logic to make Lovie out to be a genius.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:35 am
FR Says:
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:10 am
“Am I the only one that saw the Falcons give the Bucs a win. The Falcons fumble the ball twice in the red zone if they didn’t guess what we lose.”
No you’re not the only one. I saw it too. Although I wasn’t in the locker room and I don’t know when Joe took that picture that was used for his Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow article. But to me, and I read faces extraordinarily well, the look on GMC’s face and the other players faces that you can actually see in the picture, tells me differently than what this S.I. writer is trying to say. I clicked on JBF early this morning, saw that pic and INSTANTLY read the faces on those 3 players that can be seen. I actually paused for about a minute or so to study their faces, and I didn’t see any confidence in Lovie in those faces. I saw the opposite. Perhaps the picture was taken earlier from after a loss, but that’s what I took from that pic. The D’s not buying in, because it’s not working and they know it just like a few of us Buc fans know it.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:41 am
The Buc Realist Says:
“Is there a conspiracy theory that the Saints and Falcons laid down so Lovie will keep his job and stay the 4th best coach in the NFC South???”
LOL now you’re bordering nuttiness more than ever before. I know that was a joke, so I’m laughing at it. Atlanta gave the Bucs the win, but not intentionally. The Saints were playing with a one-armed Drew Brees, so they didn’t lay down either.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:42 am
@JOE
This is the type of $hit that always happens to our YUCS. They find a way to lose. Boneheaded plays that make me wonder why is it that the impossible plays always happen in YUCS games. For once those same plays happened in our favor. I’m not going to complain about it. No such thing as a bad win.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:46 am
@Buc1987
It was in reference to FR, But I heard 2 other people say it. I did put question marks to see other people’s thoughts.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:47 am
laughable nonsense.
Of course the team is with Lovie.
His former players seek out another opportunity to play for him.
Last year the defense got shredded early too, but righted the ship in the second half of the season. I expect the same thing to happen again.
You guys are a trip.
Arrow pointing way up, great job Lovie.
November 2nd, 2015 at 10:57 am
Two armed Drew Brees is gonna break the NFL record for TD passes against the Bucs. 8TDs against this secondary? That’s easy money for him.
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:04 am
If I didn’t watch the game yesterday and just logged in to this site, I would swear the Bucs lost the game. SMH, so called “fans”
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:14 am
And had you watched the game, you would have thought Atlanta gifted the Bucs a win (they did), the Bucs D tried to give it away (they did), but Jameis saved it all. A win is better than a loss but that performance was only good enough because Atlanta couldn’t snap the ball inside the 20. Defense is still going to lose at least 5 more games this year themselves.
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:22 am
The Falcons were not on top of their game Sunday. It was like…they gave the game to my Bucs. Hell, We will take it. Not one of us thought we would win in OT..not to mention regulation. But we fought hard. So Congrats to Lovie and the team. Winning calms the savage beastly fans..for now. Sooo, win next week Lovie. The Giants offense is moving nicely. I dare not predict we win 2 in a row. Our MO says we disappoint after a win. String 2 wins together Lovie. I dare you. Keep the savage beast…at Bay sir.
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:25 am
bucrightoff…well as you know some fans just care about the win. Us realist’s saw how the win happened and acknowledge that Atlanta beat themselves.
If any of you go to NFL.com or an Atlanta Falclowns website to read the comments that their fans are making. Then you would understand. Atlanta beat themselves. Which is what most of the Falcons fans are pissed about this morning. A win is a win, but please try to keep it a just a little bit real. I’ll take the ugly win every Sunday if it has to be that way, but truth of the matter is Atlanta beat themselves.
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:26 am
Thank you Capt. Tim for a reasonable viewpoint in the midst of the naysayers who actually *want* the Bucs to lose games.
I have heard both Jon Gruden and Derrick Brooks say that most NFL games are decided by a handful of plays. Sometimes those plays go one way and sometimes they go the other. The Bucs are 3-4 (2-1 in the division) now but they could easily be 5-2. The fact of the matter is that the Bucs are an improved football team over last year and that improvement will continue. Derrick Brooks says it all the time that wins are not easy to come by in the NFL. No matter how they come a win is a win. I am pleased with that. Unfortunately that is not good enough for some of you because a Buccaneer win disrupts this ridiculous media driven agenda to get Lovie Smith fired.
As Bucs fans we should be talking about the fact that they are 2-1 in the division. We should be talking about that we have two division road wins. We have a QB who is gaining the trust and confidence of his coaching staff and fellow players. Instead, the peanut gallery wants to complain about the head coach. Let’s not forget that if the Bucs don’t go 2-14 last year that Mike Glennon is your starting QB and we’d all be seeing Jameis Winston tearing it up for another team.
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:43 am
I disagree with the whole Atlanta gifted us the game bull spit. Interceptions and fumbles are part of the game, that’s why they play it in the first place. Jones did not give Kwon the ball, he took it. So Ryan fumbled a couple of snaps, it just so happens the Bucs hustled and were better at recovering them yesterday. Give credit when credit is due and stop whining like a bunch of little Beibers.
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:48 am
the question on defense is how much of this is above the shoulders and can be resolved with confidence. the bucs have blown games spectacularly going back to week 2 of the schiano era (the giants comeback where we attacked the victory formation for the first time), and it must be thoroughly in their head at this point. lovie’s only chance at salvation is if momentum makes new men of his secondary. lavonte’s performance is worth watching as well – if lovie can’t maximize the impact of the highest paid 4-3 OLB in the game, that will also be a mark against him. with the progress the offense is making, the prospect of koetter ascending to the HC role (not during jameis’ rookie season) and employing a more progressive defensive mind as his DC could be very appealing to ownership if the defense continues to hemhorrage yards and points despite having 2 (3 once kwon establishes himself) elite players to work around
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:49 am
D-Rome Says:
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:26 am
Let’s not forget that if the Bucs don’t go 2-14 last year that Mike Glennon is your starting QB and we’d all be seeing Jameis Winston tearing it up for another team.
______________________________________________________________
Ahhh yes, the subtle “Lovie actually tanked last year” theory, a surefire sign of desperation to defend a coach who simply is a hindrance to our success. You nailed it about possibly being 5-2, because with a decent coach we would be 5-2 right now. A great coach would have us 6-1. With Lovie, we should be 2-5 if not for Jameis. Please stop acting like we have an elite coach here, it’s embarrassing. If being a “true fan” means ignoring reality, enjoy being in the Matrix of fandom.
November 2nd, 2015 at 11:51 am
I disagree with those that say had Atlanta not given away the ball we would have lost. First of all, we don’t know what would have happened. Let’s say Atlanta scores. Who’s to say we don’t take the opening kickoff and run it back for a TD? Who is to say Jameis doesn’t lead us 80 yards for a score? He’s proven he can do that. Who is to say Atlanta scores and then they naturally lay off the gas pedal a little bit and we make them punt a time or two? You just never know how a team is going to react. How do you know if they don’t drop the snap that we don’t punch the ball out of the running back’s hands on the next play? That game was going to be close regardless because we came to play. Did you not see how we hustled to the ball on defense. Yes our defense is horrible but nobody can claim they aren’t trying. Offensively, we score when we need to score. We aren’t going to blow anyone out yet, but Jameis is playing clutch right now. Koetter (aside from a couple calls) is in a zone right now calling plays. Bottom line is a win is a win, and a loss is a loss. If you want to play the “what if” game after a win, knock yourself out. Why you would do that is beyond me. I guess some people can never be happy. Me, I’ll go ahead and enjoy this win. Go Bucs!!!
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:00 pm
bucrightoff, you and I both know that if the Bucs missed out on the #1 pick and Captain Checkdown was our starting QB the argument from all the Lovie detractors would be, “We should have tanked for Jameis.” There’s no question the Bucs tanked and it was the right thing to do. As you know in the NFL just about every playoff team and Super Bowl winner has a franchise QB. The teams that don’t are left twisting in the wind wishing they had a franchise QB. Teams like the Rams, Bears, Eagles, Jets, 49ers, Browns, Bills, Houston ect… their stock is falling while the Bucs have a much better future and it’s all because of one guy.
Again, you’ve got it wrong. I’m not necessarily defending a coach as much as expressing my desire to see the Bucs develop consistency. Detroit fired a bunch of their coaches earlier in the week. Do you think things are going to turn around in Motown anytime soon?
You need to accept that Lovie isn’t going anywhere. He’s the best and most experienced coach the Bucs have had since Gruden. The organization isn’t about to fire him.
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:06 pm
You can’t reason with the haters. When Atlanta has 4 turnovers that lead to a loss the argument is never, “Dan Quinn isn’t preparing his players” or “Dan Quinn isn’t instilling focus.” It’s the Falcons players turned the ball over. When it comes to Lovie the argument is, “Lovie’s lost the room” or “Lovie isn’t getting the players prepared.” Funny, I didn’t see Lovie Smith jump off sides yesterday.
You’re absolutely right that Atlanta didn’t gift us the game anymore than bad FGs or 150 yards of penalties gifted the game for the Texans and Redskins respectively.
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:20 pm
I’m not huge Lovie guy, and see him eventually being replaced by someone who leads his talented roster to the promise land (we’ve seen that before), but I will applaud him for going for it on 4th down. It takes a lot of balls to swallow the fact that the defense, his specialty, sucks. Atlanta would’ve drove down for a score if they were playing on a 200 yard field. Not his fault that Dirk Koetter won’t run a QB sneak with Jameis for whatever reason.
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:23 pm
He’s the most experienced coach we’ve had since Gruden for sure D-Rome. Best? Highly, highly debatable. Understand, and this makes me happy, the majority of Bucs fans I’m seeing here and on other sites are giving all the credit to Jameis and mostly wondering how Lovie will find ways to cost us games in the future after yesterday. The Lovie defenders are giving themselves a pat on the back (forgetting that if Atlanta wins the toss, we could be talking blowing 41 points of leads in 2 weeks)
You mentioned Glennon and that’s a great point. Lovie is essentially the Glennon equivalent of coaches, he’ll do a few nice things here or there, but he’s simply not good enough to make us a consistent winner. His poor coaching will cost us a minimum or 3 games a season even at his peak. Just like we needed to do better than Glennon, we need to do better than Lovie.
You actually wanna win consistently and not make sporadic playoff apperances right? Lovie is not the man to do it. Lots of evidence to suggest that’s true, little to suggest it isn’t other than Jameis…and really, what does that have to do with Lovie? He ain’t coaching him or having any involvement with him, thankfully.
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:25 pm
That was a good win yesterday. Im not about to play what if. We won. They lost. You only play 16 games a year so every game counts and is critical to play in January. Its not always the most talented team that wins its the team that wants it more. And there is no doubt we wanted it more. This entire team, Lovie included, deserves credit for beating a much more talented team. A division rival on the road. The same place we got whipped last year. Its Monday morning and we got the W.
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:27 pm
Learning to accept games that are given away is an important step in the process of becoming a good team. Past Buccaneer teams would have still found a way to lose the game despite the Falcons’ generosity. This team turned the corner yesterday, they’re going to make some noise in the second half of the season. They may only win between 5-7 games, but they’re going to give other teams all they can handle.
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:27 pm
I applaud going for it on 4th down – I was calling for them to do it.
….But lesbi-honest, he called it because our “vet” coach couldn’t gauge a pulse on his inept D last week in Washington and had to learn the hard way for ATL. We suffered a loss yesterday for a win today. He better fix this D or Lovie will lose me.
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:30 pm
D-Rome…I don’t think there’s anyone on this site that wants Lovie to fail. I also don’t think that because some of us fans think he’s not a very good coach, that it makes us less of a fan.
For those that say Atlanta didn’t gift us anything. Welp just like I said earlier. Go to NFL.com or a Falcons website and read how many times some Falcons fans say that Atlanta beat themselves and gifted that win to the Bucs. Give yourself some time if you’re going to do it, because you’ll be reading that same comment MANY times from all different Falcons fans. They now it, I know it and few others in here know as well. Except I’ll throw out the “gifted” word and just say Atlanta beat themselves. Can anyone agree with that?
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:51 pm
@Buc1987,
Since when is it accurate to go by what a team’s fans say? That’s beyond silly, and you’re much smarter than that. Atlanta made mistakes, but so did we. We also made plays. Melton did a pretty amazing job of getting that fumble. 9 times out of 10 we don’t recover that. Atlanta got a huge break when Jones sacked Ryan but they picked it up and ran it for a few yards. There was a huge pass interference that wasn’t called on Evans that would have put us in position to score more points. Point is, there are tons of plays that happen every game. Every team gets breaks. We simply made more plays than them, because yesterday we were better than they were. They didn’t gift us spit, we went out and took that b!tch in their house!
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Two key things from the ATL win. On the 4 turnovers we MADE the plays. If we weren’t hustling we would not have gotten the ball. Also all the turnovers led to points. We capitalized when it counted.
The other thing I saw was Winston basically willing the team to win. Making plays at key times. 3rd down conversions at critical times. Sure he missed some throws but I see him growing and handling pressure much better.
Our defense may be difficult to watch but if they can just take advantage of mistakes by the opposing offense and get the ball back maybe they will gradually get better. If they do we could be a team to be concerned about by years end.
GO BUCS!!
November 2nd, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Yeah but if you wanna go there Hawaiian you can invalidate almost all the Bucs wins with a play or two (or give them a few more wins). The Bucs won because of Atlanta unforced errors. I mean those two snaps weren’t just turnovers, those were redzone turnovers. They left at least 6 points on the board and considering the Bucs defense, more than likely 14. I doubt you can find two plays for the Bucs that adds points to the board like those two Atlanta plays.
A win is a win no doubt, but it could and should have been a convincing road win. Instead if the Falcons won the toss, the probably would have gone right down the field and won. It beats losing, but it’s the equivalent of getting the answers slipped to you for a test and still barely passing. What it did is save Lovie’s job because blowing 24 and 17 point leads back to back would have him on life support.
November 2nd, 2015 at 1:11 pm
@Johnny “America’s Commenter” Dejay
There are no games in the NFL that are “given away”. Our guys found a way to win, it’s as simple as that. Our offense found a away to capitalize off of turnovers and that is USUALLY a winning formula.
Sure, the haters are going to day dream and come up with all these what-if scenarios, What if Atlanta didn’t fumble!? What if Kwon Alexander didn’t strip the ball!? What if Kwon Alexander doesn’t get the interception!? What if I had a BIG WANG!? etc.
Let’s try not to discredit this team with day dreams. Let’s give these players the credit they deserve!!! It all comes down to the players finding a way to win for their brother! Now I think we can all agree that we are NOT as talented as the Atlanta Falcons, but sometimes you find a way to WIN when the situation DEMANDS it! That’s when it’s truly special!
Bravo Bucs!! Let’s get out to Raymond James and MAKE SSOOOOMME NOIIIIISEEEE!!
“It’s as simple as that” – Lovie Smith
“Changing coaches about halfway through a rebuilding effort is a recipe for perpetual failure.” – Johnny “America’s Commenter” Dejay
“If Lovie don’t no how to coach so be it… Hard to believe he would get a job offer and you wouldn’t…. Wonder why??? Your idiots that’s why…” – JAB83
“So my advice would be, yes, it’s okay to throw things at your TV when your team has a monumental collapse like the Bucs did on Sunday in Washington. But take a deep breath and understand that it is only going to get worse if you continue to jump from one coach to the next.” – Peter King
November 2nd, 2015 at 3:25 pm
Maybe, just maybe, GMC was giving Atlanta’s center all he could handle. Ryan knew it, the running back knew and certainly their center knew it. That could have lead to rushed snaps, poor hand offs or a lack of concentration which caused the fumbles.
November 2nd, 2015 at 3:47 pm
My biggest fear is that Lovie’s defense has a low ceiling for it’s ability to stop modern day NFL offenses. So even if the Bucs get better, they will never have a championship defense becasue the schema simply won’t allow for it.
November 2nd, 2015 at 4:22 pm
The Bucs need to give Lovie time like the Bengals gave their head coach,let the team go through the struggle now so they can appreciate the victories. No need for Winston to learn another offense and its time to let the defense fight their way out of this slump “F” wanting everything so easy fight there is nothing wrong with a little blood wipe it off and continue.
November 2nd, 2015 at 5:18 pm
watched the dall vs seahawks game and m.bennett and b. irving are FA after the year…de problem solved…GO BUCS!!!
November 2nd, 2015 at 5:41 pm
Who drafted Kwon? Your boy GMC has never had a game like Kwon. Kwon was drafted in the fourth round. Lovie took over a Schiano team that was the worst in the league. The disconnect that you mention Joe is a lack of talent. Banks cannot find the ball in the air to save his life. Conte is not working out. That pass to Jones to tie the game was on him. Davis may be able to run down hill but he cannot play in schemes. Lovie brought in Howard Jones. The Schiano Buccaneer men are not doing diddly squat. But, you blame Lovie?
November 2nd, 2015 at 5:58 pm
Joe, you’re question of how long should be at least 1 more full season. People always talk about the best way to build a team is thru the draft. Lovie has spent his first 2 drafts on building the offense (rightly so), and it’s working. There’s only so much you can do in the free agency. Now let’s let Lovie have a draft devoted to the defense and give him time to build that unit. Then let’s talk. But for now, let’s stop the non-sense about a ticking clock and the perfuse “defense is horrible” rhetoric.
November 2nd, 2015 at 6:58 pm
Right on! We beat Atlanta, few thought it possible. Like the obnoxious guy pushing Kia’s on TV. That’s Huge!
November 2nd, 2015 at 8:17 pm
I enjoyed the win just as much as everyone else yesterday. I just can’t wait for some of you fans to come crashing back down to earth in a few weeks though. We’ll see just how much more time you guys want to give Lovie in about say 4 weeks from now. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m pretty damn sure I’m not.
November 3rd, 2015 at 9:23 am
Buc1987, for the last time (hopefully) the people who are supposedly defending Lovie aren’t doing so because they love Lovie Smith and think he’s the next Vince Lombardi. They are doing so (yes I’m speaking for all of you) because they know the coaching carousel doesn’t work. They know that having consistency in the organization is the most important thing to have in order to build long term growth. Look at all the consistently bad teams in the NFL. They all have the coaching carousel in common. Coaching inconsistency and disorganization ruined Colin Kaepernick and now he’s benched in favor of Blaine Gabbart. In Ron Rivera’s first year in Carolina the team went 6-10. They are 7-0 now. Why? How is that possible with the lack of weapons at WR and a QB who I don’t think is anything special. They’ve had consistency in the HC position. It matters. Only consistent losers fire coaches every 2-3 years. No matter how you want to spin it, the Bucs are better than last year period. They are an improved football team. Firing the HC is going to derail the progress they’ve made. All the teams that are undefeated…it didn’t happen overnight. It took years which is what this organization needs.