Ira’s 10 Takeaways From Bucs-Broncos
October 2nd, 2016
BY IRA KAUFMAN
Neither wind, rain nor lightning kept the Bucs from dropping their last three games after an uplifting road win in the season opener. Here’s my 10 takeaways about a team that can’t seem to generate many:
* If you’re wondering why the Bucs punted from midfield, down 20 points with half of the fourth quarter remaining, Dirk Koetter just said in so many words that he had zero confidence in his offense to convert a fourth-and-6. Is that any way to establish a winning culture?
* Tampa Bay is saddled with a minus-9 turnover differential through the opening quarter of the season. Elite teams can’t overcome a discrepancy that large. This just in — the Bucs are not elite.
* The pass rush looked a lot better, despite the absence of Gerald McCoy for most of the game. Defensive tackle Clinton McDonald provided steady inside pressure and the Broncos converted only 3-of-13 on third down.
* Only in a Buc universe would Aqib Talib pick off two passes, then blow kisses to the thousands of Denver fans seated behind the visitor’s bench. Call him what you will … but first you have to call Talib a heck of a cornerback.
* Give Robert Ayers credit for staying involved while he recovers from an ankle injury. Every time I looked down at the Tampa Bay bench, I saw Ayers encouraging his teammates, taking a particular interest in rookie Noah Spence. Ayers appears to be the consummate team player, but he wasn’t signed to be a cheerleader. The Bucs need him back, and fast.
* The Bucs picked the wrong team to go minus-3 against on the turnover scale. The defending Super Bowl champs have now prevailed 26 consecutive times when winning the turnover battle. And by the way, Denver defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is one of the best assistant coaches this league has ever seen.
* A surreal scene unfolded after the 86-minute lightning delay. While Buc fans were filing out in a steady stream, Denver supporters put on their slickers in pouring rain and cheered the Broncos as they punished Jameis Winston. By the final whistle, Winston’s No. 3 was caked in mud. So was his passer rating: 40.1.
* The Bucs were limited to 63 yards in the second half and Winston was dropped four times because the Broncos had no respect for Tampa Bay’s ground game. Would you? Charles Sims carried 15 times for only 28 yards while Jacquizz Rodgers was underutilized once again. Doug Martin can’t get back soon enough.
* Even with Arizona’s surprising 1-3 start, Tampa Bay’s first four opponents have a combined record of 11-5. That doesn’t excuse a poor getaway, but it may provide some context.
* It’s hard to believe, even as I type this, but the Bucs are a combined 4-16 in their first four games of a season since 2012. That’s called not giving yourself a chance while demoralizing a battered fan base before the first taste of fall.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:03 pm
Everyone assumed the Bucs would start the season 1-4. Everyone thought it would be a really tough start to the season for Winston going against the Cardinals, Rams, Broncos and Panthers and then after the bye things get much easier and we’d see what he learned. I’m not sure what people thought was going to happen. Broncos have an elite defense, they did to a young QB what elite defenses are supposed to do – this is what those great Bucs defenses did every week in and week out.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:13 pm
Lost a lot of respect today for Coach Koetter. He quit on his team. He hit the nail on the head when he said he is the one that has to fix the culture. Not the way to fix it, coach. I’m going to try to not quit on you and start thinking about the draft and a new head coach that doesn’t quit on his team and the fans.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:22 pm
I tell you sims ain’t a rb you tell me I’m stupid, I tell you conte is garbage you say I’m dumb, I say gmc is soft you call me a troll. I tell you the oline ain’t protecting you ignore me.
Keep doing what you guys are doing you obviously know what a winning team looks like.
OMG a 3tech led the team in tackles you mean he didn’t get 1 tackle all game? That’s can’t happen according to our friends from the western most state.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:24 pm
Say IRA, I got a takeaway…With the 1st pick in the 2017 NFL draft, The Tampa Bay Bucs select…….
Cause that’s where we headed. and nothings gonna stop us.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:25 pm
I agree with the coach with kicking at end of game. He is showing them how bad the offense was playing… sometimes a needed butt kick is the best thing
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:26 pm
8-8.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:29 pm
Upcoming schedule…
@Panthers L
@49ers L
Raiders W
Falcons W
Bears W
Chiefs L
Seahawks L
Chargers W
Saints W
Cowboys W
@Saints L
Panthers L
So if I’m right they’ll be 7-9…
Exactly what I picked in the preseason. The schedule is dramatically easier coming up. Assuming the coach doesn’t quit on the team like he did today, then all should be OK.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:31 pm
I was all for Dirk Koetter being hired but after hearing his explanation on the decision to punt on 4th and 6 with 7 minutes to go saying he was playing the percentages and last week his decision not to call timeout after Sims got a first down and didn’t go out of bounds I have a feeling he is over his head 4 games into his pro coaching career. A head coach has to try to win the game and anyone knows if but down 20 with 7 minutes left facing a 4th and 6 from midfield u GO FOR IT regardless of your confidence level in your offense. Un freaking believable. U can’t chalk this to being a rookie head coach, these blunders a high school coach would not make. He might not make it through the season if this continues
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:31 pm
What is with the Bucs seemingly stubborn stance of trying to run Sims up the middle?! I understand that the run is important but come on! There’s other tools in the shed!
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:33 pm
People keep on making it harder than it is
It is vary simple
They have better players than we do
Playoff teams have better players than us
You think mike smith can coach bettet with talib and harris jr and their pass rush?
Its the gm who is capable to bring in better players so we can be a playoff team
Its that simple…
And Jason gump is not a smart man
We will never ever win/ go to the playoffs if he is in charge
So stop blameing the coaches…
Blame jason gump
#firejasonlicht
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:34 pm
ben – Kicking the ball there didn’t do anything other than tell the team he quit on them, what exactly is the kick in the butt he gave them? For one of the few times in the game the Bucs did move the ball and got at least 1st down on that drive, and Dirk quit on the team and had them punt the ball. If he had not come out post game and blamed his players after quitting on them perhaps he’d have an out, but he didn’t – he quit on team then blamed his players for being the reason he quit on them. I honestly don’t ever recall a coach doing this – it’s amatuer 101 type stuff.
UNLESS, and maybe I’ll use this as my last thread of hope for Dirk, maybe he knew by saying something so insanely r-word-ed he’d take the focus off Winston before a MNF game.
I’m really stretching there, but short of that I lost 99% of the respect I had for him.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:35 pm
Winston is by far the toughest sob on this team. Hands down no debate at all.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:38 pm
DB55 – You’re 100% correct, he was getting hit repeatedly (often late) on nearly every play and right to the end was breaking tackles on would be sacks on everything short of full jailbreaks. He showed toughness and heart and unlike his head coach he didn’t quit on the team.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:44 pm
i recall dotson standingh there looking at Winston getting murdered
this team strill lack talent and heart
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:50 pm
On a positive note Winston is still .500 when games aren’t delayed by weather.
October 2nd, 2016 at 10:52 pm
BucscsQcCity – Hate the lacking heart argument, what exactly did they do what showed they lack heart? The coach showed he lacked heart, but I saw the team playing right to the last play, in particular Winston.
The issue is talent and apparently coaching, although I didn’t think coaching was much of an issue until today.
Maybe Mike Smith can step in and explain to Dirk how to be a headcoach, because he failed miserably today.
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:03 pm
Looks like the rhetoric “we better hire Koetter before San Fran ( or whoever ) does” was way off base. I bought in…sorta…desperately wanting some decent football after a decade or so in the dumps. At least the orange-clad Bucco Bruce Bunch were lovable losers. This squad simply is not. I love football, but this team is a real shoe to the crotch.
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:09 pm
Rod did you watch the game today. How on earth are you predicting 7-9. From your list I see is maybe winning two of those (Chicago and NO once). The Falcons look like they have figured some things out which is kind of the opposite of what theBucs are doing. Raiders appear to have turned the corner, and I don’t see us beating San Diego or Dallas. We are bad…really bad. That offensive line sucks. They don’t open holes for their backs and if they are up against a real defensive line they look like a JV high school team.
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:14 pm
What is it going to take to turn the franchise around? New owners?
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:14 pm
yeah i am pretty sure if we fire our coach it would fix everything.how many coaches have we changed in the last 6 years? has it solved anything? no, so stop blaming the coach for our looser players starting with GMC.
our players should know that they suck and i am glad Dirk showed them that tonight
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:17 pm
We have to be all in with Winston and Koetter or we are looking at more guaranteed miserable seasons.
Conte and Grimes are liabilities, unfortunately so is the rest of the secondary.
I was hoping we would be come out of the first 5 games as 2-3 after and it’s still possible (but it will be difficult with all of the injuries).
Who in the NFL was the idiot that thinks 4pm starts in Central FL is a good idea?
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:18 pm
If you want to know how a great organization responds to an ass kicking then an ass chewing by a great coach, check out the Steelers. The losing culture here starts at the very top.
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:20 pm
Jameis just hasn’t looked right since week 14 last year. And the last four games, the turnovers have just been ridiculous. He has regressed in every aspect. His foitwork looks awful, his release is awkward, his awareness is questionable (ten step drop that resulted in a fumble and the final play of the game, both last week) and his accuracy has just been abysmal. And we all know about Denvers defense but these problems were present the last two games despite above average pass protection. I’m rooting for Jameis as visciously as ever, but I really am concerned.
As for Koetter, well he hasn’t proven to be any better than the last three head coaches. However, as with any head coach I’m going to wait out the year to judge. I must admit though, I was one of the ones assumeing Koetter would right all that is wrong at one Buc. Boy was I wrong and it seems doenright foolish in hindsight.
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:22 pm
Where were the 3 step drops and quick slat passes. We were being blitzed and trying to sling it down the field. Also jw rarely checks down he just throws into double coverage. Dk needs to correct this young qb and call better plays.
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:46 pm
Winston has to get smarter. Plus he got happy feet in this game. By far his worst performance. yeah ok they are the SB champs, but they could have been beat today if he would have played like the second drive. Winston has to control himself? I feel Koetter’s frustration in Jamies throwing us in a hole it seems like every game….
October 2nd, 2016 at 11:48 pm
Hey Brent, funny you mentioned that because remember Koetter said he wants Winston throw less and he also said teams will expect slants to Humphries. So I was thinking and hoping Koetter doesn’t change it up, if it the slants are working then why switch it up. Just like Rodgers was running better and he didnt stick with him, kind of like last year Martin was hot and they stopped running. All on Koeter.
October 3rd, 2016 at 12:00 am
The last point is the most important one. Our playoff hopes have been virtually shot after the first month of the season basically every year. It is extremely frustrating and exhausting for season ticket holders.
October 3rd, 2016 at 12:09 am
duh this team was two drafts away that is why nfl folks said you firing the coach? they knew you were talent poor
October 3rd, 2016 at 1:14 am
LargoBuc – He destroyed the Falcons and threw for 400 yards and 3 TDs versus the Rams, a team that dismantled the Carson Palmer today. This is an elite defense, I don’t get how Bucs fans, raised on elite defenses, fail to get this. This defense is the best in the league, period. That’s what elite defenses do to young QBs, it’s what the Bucs did to young QBs in the late 90s and early 2000s. People need to chill out and stop panicking, the Bucs did not have a chance to win today, period. The offense simply isn’t good enough. Jameis could try to make plays, and with that comes turnovers, or he could do what Dirk told him to do at halftime, to protect the ball – and with that it means getting sacked on every other play since his WRs were not open and there was no run game to be had.
Better days are ahead, get past the bye, get Martin back, everything will magically come together – and that magic comes from not playing the Cardinals, the Rams, the Broncos and the Panthers in back to back to back to back games.
October 3rd, 2016 at 2:27 am
Been saying it awhile now: 6-10 here we come
October 3rd, 2016 at 7:20 am
I am fully aware that jameis is young and learning but he can’t throw passes in so much traffic.There were three bronco’s around Humphries on the slant
that was intercepted. Other than that Sims can’t run up the middle like Martin.
Martin also didn’t run like last year,so far.We need Martin back and playing like last year.Don’t think the line is run blocking as well as last year either.
Still have problems in the secondary especially at safety.
So many needs on this team that it will several years of excellent drafting to turn franchise around.