Beware!
August 22nd, 2016
The ghost of Lovie past.
Last year the Bucs were simply wretched in pass defense.
In fact, the pass defense of the Bucs was so putrid, corners totaled two interceptions. Two!
How a friggin’ NFL team can only muster two picks from its cornerbacks in a full 16-game schedule is beyond Joe’s comprehension.
Why is Joe bringing this up? Well, last year at this time, there was a whole lot of optimism about the pass defense after it forced four interceptions in a preseason game against Miami.
How did that turn out when the real bullets began flying?
Joe isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry or start doing shots.
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:08 am
Joe, It’s never bad or too early for a few shots. I always make my best choices after a few shots of Jameson
I believe the secondary will be just fine. Jennings & Jenkins departing will help. I was not a huge fan of the vh3 pick but those were nice picks regardless of preseason or not. I still think he will be burnt frequently his rookie season how he responds to that will determine the future. Grimes is a sick athlete. Verner seems energized although has not flashed in games yet. I has to be better than 70% completion percentage don’t see a repeat of that garbage. I’ll be happy if 3rd and long is no longer a gimme.
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:13 am
To add on to what Tmaxcon said, we also wanna see, If something is not working during a game, an adjustment to try something new!!! Game planning will help this defense as well, (something that did not happen the last 2 years!!)
Is this a playoff roster right now, no!!! But the scheme will help cover up weaknesses of the roster!!! and they still have to “coach the lovie” out of the old players to see what they can salvage!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:14 am
Preseason paranoia Joe the secondary is already light years better than last seasons and finally it looks like they can stop the slant passes.
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:15 am
Joe dont worry. If our corners for some reason cant intercept more than a handful of passes this year atleast I’m confident that we will be known to have a fly zone the way Grimes and Hargreaves have been leaping in the air as if they spent all spring break with the Ringling Bros Circus Show filling in for ill acrobats.lol
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:19 am
No hand wringing here. It’s getting better all the time. Go Bucs!!
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:28 am
Jameson is the key to any competent decision making for sure….
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:39 am
Shots.
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:41 am
Last year is irrelevant. Are the Bucs making strides in the right direction? That’s all that matters. After 14 non playoff victory years and almost a decade with zero playoff appearances, the Bucs need to focus solely on building a real and lasting foundation. In my opinion they made those improvements in the secondary. Where they did not is most worrisome… The wr core. To not add a playmaker at the position in what is absolutely a pass focused league is the area most likely to be the Bucs demise this year. Everything has to break perfectly for the Bucs to even have a chance at a decent overall WR group. They are one injury away from having perhaps the worst wr group in the league.
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:46 am
Though they were all interceptions, the one Banks (I think, might have been Smith) had was nothing like the VH3 ones. VH3 picks were just awesome and not about being right place, right time. That kid can play methinks.
August 22nd, 2016 at 11:57 am
Joe isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry or start doing shots.”
Maybe just calm down and wait till regular season lol? Can’t get too high or low on any of this. The biggest things you can gain from preseason imo:
1- Line play – how talented do the lines look in straight up pass / run blocking 1 on 1. Even with this – you will see vets kick their game up in the regular season though
2 – Skill players – how do the RBs look? Last year you could tell in preseason Martin looked rejuvinated Sims & him look good again this year. Also our WRs – is anyone flashing? Not really sadly lol. Russel Shepard I guess.
3 – Defensive scheme – we get a glimpse but even preseason is mostly vanilla so we really don’t see Mike Smith going game plan specific to the opponent & making adjustments yet.
On offense I feel like they just use preseason to emphasize different things and try stuff out. To see how good players can do in certain positions. But it’s not close to the gameplan for a meaningfull game. Nor is it the same level of intensity.
Every year there are players who shine in preseason and fall flat in the regular season – and vice versa. Some guys step up in the big moments much more than others. Look at Winston in close 4th quarter games last year for example.
To get a quick Mariota bash in – the guy lost a lot of winnable games in the 4th quarter last year if you look at the game logs. I think there were at least 3-4 games he lost on interceptions or sacks at the end when the team had a chance to win or tie. Winston didn’t lose any game where he had a decent opportunity to win at the end. Or in some games; it was a WR dropping the ball (Dontae Dye) or something (fumble by RB) etc. Mostly it was our defense collapsing or us just getting blown out by NFL standards.
1/2 our wins last year were with game winning drives by Winston and he had to play well in close games towards the end for 2 others. The only game that he didnt have to win by a slim margin was the destruction of the Eagles.
August 22nd, 2016 at 12:02 pm
@realist says,”coach the lovie” out of the old players to see what they can salvage!!!!!!….
instead of saying this, you should try holding dirk and mike smith accountable for what they’re coaching this team or lack of coaching….lovie was here for 2 years….most of our major contributors only played 1 or 2 seasons with lovie….if dirk is as competent as you and others make him out to be coaching the so called lovie out of players should be simple….they never learned in the first place so they were basically starting from scratch…plus as you and others have stated, players were eager for a fresh start and were thrilled to learn from mike smith….im sure it didn’t take them long to forget whatever was taught to them
lovie has zero effect on this team this year…everything from july until now is a representation of dirk, licht and mike smith…..GO BUCS!!!!
August 22nd, 2016 at 12:04 pm
You can look at the perceived shortcomings of the receiver group and feel less than comfortable and unsure about the potential effectiveness in games that count. You can also be excited about who we have going forward, that works for me. The opponents main goal will be to limit our running games success. The passing game must be crisp. That’s the question mark for me. I’m thinking receivers will step it up and Jameis will find them.
August 22nd, 2016 at 12:10 pm
I’ve been saying it all off-season, players making plays. We upgraded the position and it shows.
August 22nd, 2016 at 12:10 pm
What did we do against the Jags starters? Blake Bortles, 134.5 RTG, 2 TDS 0 INTS. That’s the problem we had last season ( padding stats against the reserves). All I want to see is how we perform against our opponent starters, the rest is irrelevant.
August 22nd, 2016 at 12:46 pm
I hope scheme is truly the key to being succesful. If so, this team should have zero to worry about with Lovie gone…
August 22nd, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Laugh, cry then start doing shots. In that order.
August 22nd, 2016 at 2:00 pm
I’m more worried about this team when teams get in the red zone, teams are three for three against are starting defense, touchdowns, we are not forcing FGs, I know it’s only preseason
August 22nd, 2016 at 2:24 pm
Lord writes:
To get a quick Mariota bash in – the guy lost a lot of winnable games in the 4th quarter last year if you look at the game logs. I think there were at least 3-4 games he lost on interceptions or sacks at the end when the team had a chance to win or tie. Winston didn’t lose any game where he had a decent opportunity to win at the end. Or in some games; it was a WR dropping the ball (Dontae Dye) or something (fumble by RB) etc. Mostly it was our defense collapsing or us just getting blown out by NFL standards.
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The main issues to me with mariota is a) the talent around him wasn’t that great last year. His coach nearly killed his career sticking him back in the game while hurt as well…b) he doesn’t take command of the huddle, to me anyway. I might be wrong, but with Jameis you can hear the play being called with authority, with enthusiam/confidence. I recall watching Mariota at Gruden’s camp and he’s so soft voiced, then on-top of that he couldn’t bark out the play correctly…and this was a non pressure situation compared to the fourth quarter of the NFL. Not bashing Mariota just saying, in two minute situations I’d rather have Winston leading the way.
August 22nd, 2016 at 2:45 pm
Simple solution get a pass rush and instantly our secondary will be far better. Come on Noah, Ayers, and McCoy!
August 22nd, 2016 at 2:59 pm
The addition of Grimes and VH3 represents a major talent upgrade. They are both athletic ball hawks and will have at least 6 or 7 INts between them this year. Verner has had a strong camp as has Robinson. And Hey Jude is playing WAY above his pay grade so far this year. That’s 5 solid CBs that I feel good about this year.
Not sure what Banks’ deal is – but he better start turning it around in a hurry or he may well be the 6th man out unless they decide to keep 6 Cbs on the active roster. I imagine they would rather keep an extra DE or OLman or TE or 3rd QB than a 6th CB but we’ll see.
August 22nd, 2016 at 3:31 pm
All you guys watched jags game saw what a couple first rate receivers can do for a team and qb. Robinson and burns made plays got open won 50/50 battles. Jw doesn’t have any guys like that. Only 1 for sure good player me. If he gets hurt we’ll see a future fedex driver take his place. I think it’s a shame for a gm not to give a young developing qb ample targets. If you won’t draft one why didn’t you get a fa? I think licht has done a “decent” job but this oversight makes me mad. So mad sometimes I dream of getting a 20 td running start and punching him in the face. Inexcusable. Boldin kearse jones were all out there and the draft we had 2 2nd Ed picks. We end up with a guy named Krause who was cut from the Browns lmao! The only Krause I ever heard of was a maid on the popular 80s show
Mr belvedere. I mean this guy was in the league 3 years and zip crickets. That’s all we get for an obvious weakness. Even dk thinks are receiver depth is thin.
August 22nd, 2016 at 5:24 pm
I get this feeling we will play better this year. But a lot more games will be closer. Which might mean…we need a winning Field goal?
Batter up Mr. 2nd rd prize kicker. This is the big leagues now. Its..do or Die!