“That’s Pushin’ It, If You Ask Me”
September 3rd, 2016
Offers a 2016 season prediction
Bucs icon Ronde Barber has watched many Tampa Bay practices this year, has consulted for the Bucs’ scouting department before the draft, and has intimate knowledge of the NFC as a game analyst for FOX.
Ronde is doing anything but throwing darts when talking about the Bucs, which he did on CBS Sports Radio on Thursday.
Asked whether Tampa Bay could contend for a Wild Card, Barber said maybe the Bucs could “make the jump” to 9-7, or “sneak” a 10-6 season. “But that’s pushin’ it, if you ask me,” he added.
It sure sounded like Ronde sees more of an 8-8 season coming from the Bucs. His broader conversation bore that out, as well.
Carolina and Tampa Bay had the strongest offseasons and preseasons in the division, Ronde said, but he still doesn’t view the Bucs as a division-title contender.
Ronde is down on New Orleans, saying they just don’t have the horses on defense. He is more upbeat about Atlanta but can’t get past their lack of a pass rusher.
“I’m a personnel guy. If I see the right personnel, I’ll believe that a team can be successful no matter what the scheme is,” Barber said.
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:42 am
I’d be very happy with 8-8 season. It means that next year we would add a couple more pieces and we are there for the long haul. Top draft pick next must be another receiver and then fill in where needed.
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:51 am
The Bucs win about half their games while pushing it. Ronde being realistic.
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:52 am
I still see 8-8.
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:56 am
I agree with Ronde…….8-8 is likely……but, we could surprise…..
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:02 am
8 – 8 in my mind is a conservative projection.
There is no reason why this team can’t make the jump to a playoff caliber team this year. We have all the hroses and a capable defensive cordinator. I expect big things from this team this year last wild card spot maybe even the first playoff win since the 2003 superbowl champs.
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:11 am
If I agree with Ronde at 8-8 then some morons on this site will be calling me the “worst Bucs fan ever…..”
You know who you are NOSBOS
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:27 am
I am sticking to my 9-7 just miss playoffs… piss poor Wide receivers and fragile DTs will prevent bucs from challenging this year.
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:31 am
8-8 is also my realistic expectation. Depending on how healthy the team is during late Nov/early December will determine whether they can get to 9-7 or squeak out 10-6.
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:33 am
Sounds like we need a ticker tape parade if we win two more games than last year.
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:35 am
Call me crazy, it’s been done before, but I think we sweep the Saints and Falcons and split with the Panties. That is 5 wins right there. To think that we only get three wins outside our division is preposterous to me. The makings of this team has “Winners” all over it. In order to be a winner you have to win 9. That’s what I see.
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:40 am
Ronde is just..keeping it real guys. And having balled before myself, He’s right. No matter what the scheme is, if you got good players, that scheme will work. 8-8 is indeed realistic. and if we can get there, that’s a notable improvement. 10-6 is quite a stretch. But it could happen. Bucs need to come out of the game strong. If not, we could hear that..mayday call very early.
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:59 am
As discussed yesterday injuries will really determine our fate. We are like the majority of middle of the pack NFL teams. IF we stay mostly healthy we can win ten games with this current lineup of talent and coaches.
Depends on which players go down with injury for how long before which games.
Koetter and Ronde are basically saying the same thing. At the end of the day talent will be the largest determinant of our success or failure. Our talent right now is good…how long will it stay on the field and where do the injuries fall?
IE…We simply cannot lose VJAX or ME…but we do have some depth on OL and even if Doug went down for a few games Sims and James could probably hold down the fort.
Obviously what we all really know…this is all about the health of #3!!!!!
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:00 am
The thing about it is we get to put up or shut up early. We got 3 of the NFL’s Final Four in the first 5 weeks of the season.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:01 am
Sam Bradford to the Vikings.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:04 am
Moron??? Stay in ya place puddgy @$$ boy. GMC- we have all the pieces.. VJax- I am preparing myself for a22 week season that includes the Superbowl. I give a s@$! about ronde’s prediction, it reeks of jealousy if you ask me. Why because his teams never had a Famous and he knows this team is about to over shadow those teams of the past.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:11 am
8 and 8 and I’ve been posing the question “who are the good teams” for three days now. Seatle-5 new o linemen,carolina-old,two rookie corners Green bay-All Aron Rodgers, avreage defense,Arizona- heartless QB,Denver no QB,Pittsburgh- suspension and young defense still developing,New England- suspension,no Chandler Jones no Rob Ninkovich. Who I am missing. So I’m suppose to believe we a team who’s talent is equal to any other team in league but these teams for whatever reason will have great seasons but we are about to be average at best. Please. Oh I out of respect I left out the vikings.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:14 am
Few turnovers, few penalties, good defense, good offense, good special teams can get you 10-12 wins in this league. You can’t be great in a few areas and bad in most, you have to be good in every area ( not great, just good ). Balance is the key to success, the coaches can coach it. But it’s all on the players to perform on the field and play some smart football. Teams will have injuries, but a good team will overcome them. The Bucs can get 10 wins this season, they have to go out and get it.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:16 am
I don’t give a s@$# what none of y’all think. From where I’m sitting we about to be the baddest team in the entire f@!!in league. Why??? Let me state it again will lead this league in rushing, and we will lead this league QB sacks and QB pressures. Add in Famous going into his second season how some of braniacs can’t see promise is beyond me.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:17 am
Damn too bad Glennon sucks. The Eagles fleeced the Vikings!
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:19 am
My will not easily broken, I’ve always stood alone and went against the grain. I’ll be right here the whole time, trust me I’ll available for conversation when this thing unfolds here shortly.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:20 am
Cecil Shorts is now free. Get him or Hunter to Tampa immediately.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:22 am
TouchDownTampaBay
Glennon doesnt suck he has been treated unfairly and never given a fair chance… just ask couchfan, bucfan20, tickdr and others who have been waving the glennon flag. It was never Glennon’s responsibility to play well when given chances
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:24 am
I hate doing this on a Bucs site but I have to. Vikings really didn’t get fleeced. That’s first round pick will be a late one because they’ll finish 9-7 or 10-6 and a 4th in 2018. Teddy completely wrecked his knee he might not even return.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:31 am
Nole
You’re not the only one. I actually see NFC championship. Looking at the schedule it’s tough tho but I just know that we’ll find away because
1) Jameis is just different from any young qb I’ve ever seen. His will to win and ability to lead is 2nd to none.
2) Smitty(I know he’s not the head coach) But he turned the Falcons to immediate winners after the Mike Vick/Bobby Petrino fiasco with a young qb
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:32 am
“Moron??? Stay in ya place puddgy @$$ boy. GMC- we have all the pieces.. VJax- I am preparing myself for a22 week season that includes the Superbowl. I give a s@$! about ronde’s prediction, it reeks of jealousy if you ask me. Why because his teams never had a Famous and he knows this team is about to over shadow those teams of the past.”
———
Blatant disrespect of one of the top 5 players in the history of this organization. It’s great you think we will win the Super Bowl (hell, I hope you’re right), but to disrespect Ronde is stupid. How many practices have you been to? How many years did you play in the NFL? I remember Jon Gruden picked us to win the division the year after he got fired. We then went 3-13. Is that what you prefer? If we go 9-7, that would be a really good season considering where we have come from. We will only get better. I’m just hoping we can get past our first 5 games, even though according to you we are playing a bunch of bums.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:39 am
Don’t feel they’re bums 50, just don’t feel like we’re inferior to any of them. My apologies If you feel I diss ronde, just not a big fan of his in recent years since he started commentating Buccs games. Kinda takes jabs in my opinion. That’s heartless when you played in the NFL an you know the importance of having a good QB. Obviously we’ve just acquired one.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:41 am
They can make the playoffs if they play clean and fast,
And stay healthy. I think agree though that 8 n 8 is.most realistic guess
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:42 am
And I don’t have to attend a practice to know we are running team,the pre season has shown me thru my television screen we now can rush the passer. When you do this effectively you are a contender. History backs my position.
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:52 am
@Nole,
Ronde is doing his job. He’s not supposed to say everything through rose colored glasses. We’ve been terrible the last few years. You apparently want him to tell you how great we are while we are getting our butt kicked. That’s stupid, but whatever.
As for not needing to attend practice, I guess they shouldn’t practice then? How about all the dropped passes in practice? How about the fact that we don’t have a guy on the roster that can take a screen pass and take it to the house. We don’t have that explosive player to take the top off the defense. We have little to no depth at critical positions. We have a roster full of guys who have never won at the NFL level. It’s hard to win in this league. It doesn’t just happen because we have good players. You believe our defensive players really understand this brand new defense that well? With 6 new starters on defense to add to that?! Open your eyes, you are completely delusional. Let’s try to have a winning season before we worry about a Super Bowl. Of course the players are going to say that, what the hell do you expect them to say? You want them to believe they are contenders. If they don’t, we won’t win 4 games. Again, I have full confidence we are headed in the right direction. But we aren’t there yet, and we’re not even close. Slow your roll, because you’re going to jump off the Skyway when reality sets in.
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:15 pm
BRING ON THE SEASON!!!!!
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:20 pm
Be happy with 8-8 and a SB berth in 2017.
Stay with me people. We’re all in this together. A Super Bowl not this year, but next.
Can you hang with that? Cause I can.
Stay with me and BRING ON THE SEASON!!!
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:23 pm
Anybody that could be driven to an irrational act like jumping off the Skyway bridge because of less than anticipated Bucs success is crazy. That’s going overboard. Maybe throwing heavy objects, I can see that.
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:29 pm
@LakeLandBuc,
Refresh my memory. Didn’t you just say 2 days ago that IF the Bucs had an 8-8 record you would swim across Lake Hunter with a whole chicken tied around your neck? At least you’re inconsistent.
Break out the goggles and Speedo.
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:31 pm
50 bro can you figure out way to condence your post. I mean I wanna read your point of view but man I tend to scroll past the long one bro.
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:36 pm
Okay I went back and read the last part. And I ain’t slowing s@$! why because you have. That’s your business homie. I’m telling why my stance isc what it is. We will lead the league in rushing and lead the league QB sacks this season. Why do I say this??? Because we lead the league in rushing last season and lead the league QB sacks this pre season. It translates homie.
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Let me say it slower Hiiissstttoorryyy bbbaaaacckkk mmmyyy ppooosssiittiiooonn.
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:39 pm
lol NOS
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:42 pm
Slow your roll,F you. Ima grown as man you don’t run spit over here homie.
September 3rd, 2016 at 12:59 pm
37…lol I know. We won a SB already. We’ll get another one, soon. NOS we’ll be alright.
NOS…If you’re right buddy, and I get a lot of your points. If you’re right, you’re going to be running wild in here and I’ll be right alongside you. Just so we got that straight right up front right now out in the open.
I get your points about WR depth and we’re both on the same page there. I just won’t make any kind of crazy leap until I see some kind of product out on the field in the regular season. Ya know. New coach and all. 8-8 is where I sit and have sat for a long while now. Now that could change quickly with a 2-0 start.
So you and I aren’t that far apart. I get where you’re coming from. I also get where Hawaiian Buc is coming from too. I side with everyone at this point. No one is right and no one is wrong as far as making any predictions. Some don’t even like to make any predictions, but I threw 8-8 out there until further review.
September 3rd, 2016 at 1:08 pm
If we make the right strides, 8-8 should be easy to get. My expectations are to be a top 15 team. Get out of the basement and start to make some noise in the NFL. We should beat the crappy teams, and put up a fight against good teams. I don’t expect to beat the Seahawks, cardinals, and panthers of the NFC, but give it a good fight and look like an actual NFL caliber team.
Next season and thereafter I expect to win at least half of the games against the good teams in the NFL, and be a top 8 team. Making the playoffs and being division contenders.
The biggest issue right now, stopping us from being one of those good teams, is the roster depth. We are steadily building good depth, but we are another 2 off seasons away from gathering all the depth we need. If we can have another off season like we did this season, where we solidified 2 glaring weaknesses, then we could be in good shape for future success. But right now, my expectations are playing .500 football. And I would be pretty upset if we didn’t get there.
September 3rd, 2016 at 1:10 pm
@ least we have a good kicker…….
September 3rd, 2016 at 1:33 pm
LakeLandBuc Says:
September 1st, 2016 at 1:02 pm
I’m Clueless, lol that’s a laugh, I have been 100@ correct on the Bucs. The clueless ones are the ones that constantly predicting a playoff season. YEAR AFTER YEAR, and they end up as BOTTOM FEEDERS. After the season, we will see who is CLUELESS.
There is this gem of wisdom.
September 3rd, 2016 at 1:37 pm
LakeLandBuc Says:
September 1st, 2016 at 1:14 pm
If the Bucs win 8 games this season, I will swim across Lake Hunter with a whole chicken tied to my neck.
Then THIS.
Which is it LakeLandBuc?
September 3rd, 2016 at 1:38 pm
I can respect that position 87.
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:54 pm
That’s your team Ronde! You never say nothin but 16-0 and a super bowl win
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:49 pm
LakeLand…will you put that up on YouTube for us?
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:34 pm
Precisely SOEbuc even when the cowgirl are garbage all you ever hear is Michael Irvin talk as if they are going to the Superbowl that year.
September 4th, 2016 at 9:56 am
Many of you guys are comical as all get out. You base your assumptions on our 1st teamers which are pretty good. I don’t know what NFL football you been watchin over the years butt…injuries are a guarantee. You hope they are not many. But they always are. Once you get past our starters, we are..HIT. Meaning the..mayday call goes out. We had better all pray our starters stay healthy for at least 6 or 7 games (virtually impossible), in order for us to have a fighting chance. Because once those injuries start to pile up? Our wins go down…way down.