Operation 1-1
May 27th, 2016
Urgency evident
With Dirk Koetter announcing this week that the Bucs will conduct morning-only training camp practices, and have joint practices in August with two — TWO! — NFL teams, it’s clear the new regime is going all out to follow one of their 2016 commandments.
Thou shalt not start the season 0-2.
Koetter is wise enough to know how ugly that would be for his squad. And this is a unique year, with the Bucs opening with two games on the road against strong teams: Atlanta followed by Arizona.
They have to find a way to steal one of those games.
The Bucs follow with the Rams and Super Bowl champion Broncos at home before strolling up to Carolina on Monday Night Football. That’s a brutal first five weeks.
It’s only May, but Koetter appears to drawing every card to ensure his team is more than ready for opening day, not “Tennessee-ready,” as Lovie Smith said all last summer before the Bucs were humiliated in Tampa in Week 1 against the worst team in professional football.
Joe’s calling it Operation 1-1. The Bucs must go 1-1 after two games.
Joe suspects there will be additional measures to get Tampa Bay extra ready for Atlanta. Among other things, August work at Tropicana Field seems like a no-brainer. The kicking savior could use the turf reps.
May 27th, 2016 at 12:10 pm
OMG, sitting thng through that Tennessee game brings back nightmares!! I really thought we had screwed up the draft bigtime!!! It never occured to me that “Tennessee Ready” meant that I shouldn’t ever be allowed to coach in the NFL again!!! It really showed that Lovie had lost the grasp of coaching a football team.
May 27th, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Atlanta’s a strong team?🤔
May 27th, 2016 at 12:42 pm
“Tennessee-ready”
I feel nausea coming on…
Thanks Joe….mutha blankety, blank, blank, blank.
May 27th, 2016 at 12:57 pm
Rams and Atlanta are more than beatable. We beat Atlanta twice last year with loser lovie. The rams we only need to stop the run. No garbage QBs will be masturbating to lovies slop defense this year
May 27th, 2016 at 12:58 pm
Beating the Falcons and Rams is very possible, then upset 1 of the other 3, and we’ll be looking at a strong 3-2 to open the year. All starts in ATL though, if we lose that one things could go south in a hurry.
May 27th, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Can’t go 0-2……sort of like a negative swing thought in golf…….how about…..lets start 2-0!!!
Atlanta should be motivated after what we did to them last year….but, I wouldn’t categorize them as a “strong team”
May 27th, 2016 at 1:01 pm
i wouldnt be opposed to a chiefs like run from last year….they started out 1-0 lost 5 str8 then won 11 str8….don’t get me wrong I would hate to lose 5 in a row but it would be sweet to win 11 in a row with a playoff victory….GO BUCS!!!!
May 27th, 2016 at 1:35 pm
Jimbo Fisher will start licking his chops if the Bucs get off to a bad start. He said it has to be the right team and that team must have a QB for him to go pro.
May 27th, 2016 at 1:48 pm
jimbo will be in jville
May 27th, 2016 at 1:51 pm
Why set the bar at 1-1?
My goal for the first two weeks is 2-0. Simple as that
May 27th, 2016 at 2:22 pm
Can’t say anything about any team . You don’t even know the rosters yet. All there is is history. So what does the last 10 years tell you? All this team does is change players,coaches and look bad. Even the offense collapsed at the end of the year. So all anyone can do is HOPE the cycle changes.
May 27th, 2016 at 2:35 pm
Interesting conversations for May. If the defense is improved, a 2-0 start is not out of the question. I see the first two games on the road as a plus.
May 27th, 2016 at 2:35 pm
Have to go 1-0 to start off, I’ll go on record early now and predict that happens. This Bucs team will beat Atlanta up there to energize the team and fans. I’ll just ignore my past tense hockey predictions that fell flat as a stinking hockey puck.
May 27th, 2016 at 2:37 pm
I don’t why all of you think Atlanta is such a juggernaut they suck and they are going to suck this year when they get a new OC I’ll be worried but right now they suck
May 27th, 2016 at 2:42 pm
And those of u say (but they beat the Carolina panthers)let me tell you something Atlanta caught Carolina with there pants down if Carolina in other words they got lucky
May 27th, 2016 at 3:34 pm
Atlanta may not be strong but it’s still a division game and those things are unpredictable we lost to a terrible saints team last year that shouldn’t have been close
May 27th, 2016 at 4:00 pm
Heres one for you all,I read a piece by BSPN noting how different the play of the cats was prior to the rise of J. Norman. They were suspect. Many say it was their front end that made Norman,hog wash. Go check the stats,Norman made that front end better by his play. He screwed the cats,you can’t tell me that they were anticipating losing him right before the draft. It was clear they weren’t thusly drafting three str8 cbs. Losing that guy was bigger than y’all realize. I smell blood in the water. We whippin they @$$ next season.
May 27th, 2016 at 4:11 pm
Come on JOE…..if we can’t beat a Mark Sanchez led Bronco’s team with our much improved and well coached defense then we might as well give Glennon reps and tank for the overall first pick. I agree with many above, Dixie Chicks and Lambs are both beatable. 3-1 heading into Carolina MNF!! GO BUCS
May 27th, 2016 at 4:29 pm
We need to stop elevating these teams. Everybody is 0-0!
Beat the team in front of you, it’s that simple! We have as much chance as anyone as we too “improved” since last year.
Anything less than 16-0 is completely unacceptable! 🙂
May 27th, 2016 at 4:43 pm
Ive been saying we must go 2-3 (likely 3-3) to crack the playoffs at the end of the year. Don’t forget the last 4-5 games are tough as well….so we have to maintain the first five, Joe, then try and pick-up ground in the middle five.
May 27th, 2016 at 5:11 pm
Looks to me like Bucs fans are a lot more positive about this season than any of the sports writers (including the Joes). Sure it’s a tough schedule, but I suspect that in the NFL every game is tough if you’re not up for it. With our roster, with Dirk Koetter heading up the offensive play-calling again this year, and with Mike Smith grabbing hold of the defense, there’s no reason why the Bucs can’t win 9 or 10 games this year. Starting off hot will be critical, even though we play 4 of our first 6 games on the road.
May 27th, 2016 at 5:15 pm
The Bucs likely were “Tennessee ready” last year. Problem was, Coach My Scheme was expecting the Vols.
May 27th, 2016 at 5:31 pm
Not scared of Atlanta or Rams. Arizona however is an outstanding team with a great coach. Carson Palmer looked great until he hurt his throwing hand. That will be a tall task. I wanna see us beat Carolina more than anyone. I cant stand crybaby pimpdaddy sir pouts a lot cam.newton
May 27th, 2016 at 6:25 pm
Secondaries don’t make DLines, DLines make Secondaries. All a Secondary can do is give the DLine MORE time for a sack. A good DLine can make the secondary have to cover for LESS time. It makes the QB throw before he wants to and the CBs in better position.
May 27th, 2016 at 6:30 pm
Stop tracking my movement you p.o.s
May 27th, 2016 at 6:36 pm
Pirate…are you skeered?
May 27th, 2016 at 6:37 pm
wtf?? ^^^^^
May 27th, 2016 at 7:14 pm
I like that we are playing Atlanta to start the season. Koetter and Smith both know a bunch of the Falcons players and their tendencies well so I think that gives us an advantage – especially with all the extra time to study up and prepare.
May 27th, 2016 at 7:51 pm
Guys – come on – everyone knows that football doesn’t start until November! 😉
May 27th, 2016 at 7:55 pm
Was pirate talking to me?
May 27th, 2016 at 7:59 pm
Eric…I think he’s talking to Joe. He must see that Joe can tell who’s on site, what IP address is being used and is pissed off about it.
smh.
May 27th, 2016 at 8:12 pm
87, I didn’t think of that. Good call.
May 27th, 2016 at 8:16 pm
The roster is not complete yet. Waiting for a ball hawk safety. Too early for predictions. All I know a team that can win on the road can win in the playoffs.
May 27th, 2016 at 8:43 pm
^ TRUTH.
May 28th, 2016 at 12:56 am
You heard straight out the GUZZIES mouth first, surprise team of the year, early close upset versus Falcons, destroy the struggling Cardinals, then off to a 6-0 start, buckem Danno
May 28th, 2016 at 3:22 am
I think we’ll win against the Falcons. The Broncos arent the same team anymore, a lot of changes there, so it is possible we could win that one. But I’ll be happy with a 1-1 start.
May 28th, 2016 at 7:23 am
Improvement? Win 10 games that would show improvement!
May 28th, 2016 at 7:40 am
For those who are wondering what Coach Koetter is about to do next,, He sure seem like he is following Coach Schiano’s Blue Print doesn’t he!!!!!!
May 28th, 2016 at 9:12 am
As flat as the Bucs started last season I’m not so sure the Vols could not have competed for the win.
May 28th, 2016 at 11:25 am
The Buc Realist Says:
May 28th, 2016 at 7:40 am
For those who are wondering what Coach Koetter is about to do next,, He sure seem like he is following Coach Schiano’s Blue Print doesn’t he!!!!!
–/————-
To the T except koetter ensembled a better staff. Schiano is a good coach, TB just wasn’t ready for him.
Schiano was a carbon copy of my old coach you know the kind that head butts you with your helmet on? Wears really really short “Bike” shorts, believes water is for pu$$ies and if your legs ain’t broken you can play. I played w a torn rotator cuff my entire senior year, for free. Just saying…. It’s all about “want to”. Guys who couldn’t play hurt, they got sent over to the soccer field. Our Captain died bc he refused come out the game. An exhibition game at that. He died at 19 due to a Brain hemrage. Football ain’t no game, football is life.
Now to start the “Band of Brothers” Marathon. Glad these guys didn’t stop fighting because they were hurt or else we’d all be soccer fans right now.
May 28th, 2016 at 12:06 pm
Actually Hog winning 7 games would be an improvement.
May 29th, 2016 at 12:31 pm
Just found out this week that I will be back in the Tampa area during the Bucs regular season on Sept. 24 for first time in 38 years . Sucks that it’s against the LA Rams since I live here in SoCal now, and I am definitely SO TIRED of hearing about the Lambs enough already this off-season.
But I am so excited to be coming back to Tampa Bay for a business meeting and will plan to stay over for the game. The last live one game I went to in Tampa was the final home season game in the infamous ’76 season at the Sombrero. I know, most of you reading this weren’t even born yet, but it’s a memory I’ve savored since moving west, BSPN wasn’t even around back then and DirecTV has been under my Christmas tree every year since. Though I travel to Bucs games on the west coast when I can (SD, PHX, SF), I’ve never once been to a Bucs home game where it’s OK to wear Bucs gear proudly, cheer without the threat of being mugged, and celebrating a victory with other REAL Bucs fans.
Geez, I can’t wait for the season to begin. It may be a short trip but I’m coming back home Tampa, Go Bucs!