The Morning After
October 11th, 2016
A relieved Dirk Koetter after Bucs win last night. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com)
This is an abbreviated edition of “The Morning After.” A late game and an early morning gives Joe little time to cobble together a normal column.
Damn, it is 2:07 a.m. and Joe is just now tapping the keyboard on this here story. A combination of being thrilled with a win and too many Diet Cokes (after enjoying two refreshing Jason Light Ales) is keeping Joe up. But fatigue from a long day is quickly catching up.
Joe is going to stick with the positive to start. But let’s be clear: This win is hiding a bunch of warts.
* The cool thing is the Bucs imposed their will on the Stinking Panthers. Ran the ball. Ran the ball. Ran the ball. Right up the gut where the Stinking Panthers are supposed to be strongest.
The fact Jacquizz Rodgers ran so well wasn’t a shock to Joe. Remember what Rodgers did with only a couple of touches against the Cardinals? The fact Rodgers ran the rock 30 times was a surprise.
Hey, Bucs coach Dirk Koetter has been saying for weeks the Bucs need to be more balanced with the offense. Well, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, threw 30 times and Rodgers ran the ball 30 times. That’s balance.
* The defense, damn the defense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Joe knows the Stinking Panthers were without Cam Newton, were without Michael Oher, were without Jonathan Stewart. But they still had the secret weapon Derek Anderson, and they still had Bucs killer Greg Olsen, who went wild last night.
Still, the defense found a way. Three takeaways. That is the story of the game. Three takeaways by the defense. With the offense sputtering, with Bucs players still making bonehead mistakes, the defense bailed them out all night, despite playing with a pummeled and thinned-by-injuries line that was on fumes in the fourth quarter.
Mike Smith had said it would take the defensive players four games before they would have his defense down. The first three games the defense was anything but stout. The defense showed signs of breaking out against Denver. Last night, they made big plays at big times and saved the game.
“Our defense was awesome all night,” Koetter said. “Holding Carolina to one-for-eight on third downs, our D played a heck of a game. First half we did an awesome job stopping the run, we fell off a little bit there in the second half but a lot of guys came up big tonight and it started obviously with our defense.”
* Now for the warts: Howard Jones, how stupid can you be? The Bucs just got off the field on third down in a tighter than tight game and he slams into the punter to give Carolina the ball back on a short field. Two plays later, Anderson connects with Cameron Artis-Payne for a 14-6 lead. Joe was beyond furious.
Koetter always talks about the losing culture of the Bucs. Well, right there was the losing culture. If Koetter was Jimmy Johnson, Jones likely is unemployed this morning. And he should be.
Koetter (Jason Licht?) needs to send a message to these clowns that this nonsense of playing with their heads up their rear ends needs to come to a halt and now. By the way, how many sacks has Jones had this year? How many wins have the Bucs had with him on the roster? It’s not like they cannot lose without him.
Jones wasn’t the only bonehead. The Bucs had third-and-one deep in Carolina territory in the first half and Gosder Cherilus got flagged for a five-yard penalty. Then a delay of game made it third-and-11. The Bucs then had to settle for a field goal attempt that, of course, Aguayo missed. Until or unless this team cuts out the mind-numbing penalties and moronic mistakes, it’s hard for Joe to the Bucs becoming a winner. If not for the flukes, er, takeaways, the Bucs likely lose this game. Props to the defense, but shame on all the idiotic penalties that forced the defense to bail the team out. You simply cannot expect a defense to force three takeaways to cover for so many dumbarse mistakes.
*Is Dirk Koetter beginning to lose trust in Jameis? It didn’t sound like it in Koetter’s postgame presser, but too many times last night, it sure seemed as if Koetter took the ball out of Jameis’ hands.
On BSPN after the game, Jameis was asked what was going through his head with all the running plays called. Jameis said he thought to himself when the playcall came in, “Do you job.”
If Koetter is beginning to lose faith in Jameis, it is understandable. Jameis has had a lot of turnovers this season. And save for two drives last night, Jameis was erratic to be polite. Few times did Koetter turn Jameis loose on the horrid secondary of the Stinking Panthers.
This is something Joe will keep an eye on. To be fair, Jameis didn’t give Koetter a whole lot of ammunition to trust him last night.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:14 am
Great article Joe!!! The penalties stats ( which was 5 for 40yards) was way down from last year!!! But man, they were at crucial times!!!! a couple of 3 and 1’s were thrown away!!! you are about to get ball, and it is thrown away!!! I am very happy that the penalties are way down, now, its time to get rid of them at game deciding times!!! And the pre-snap false starts are way worse because those are the starters, the strength of the team!!!
@Joe
You should ask, if Head Coach Koetter has “lost faith” in receiving options to get open!!!!!!!
October 11th, 2016 at 7:17 am
813bucboi : how many more games do you see them winning Buc1987?
Buc1987 : 6 and I’m back on track for 8-8. So pipe down and Buc-kle up.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:20 am
Joe(s), On the bye week, I would have Jameis throwing intermediate and deep balls all week long. He had a couple bad misses to Evans and Hump. I know that has been his MO, he needs to hit those throws. I am glad to see Quizz do a good job running the ball, I think the O line has gotten a bad rap for the run game being so poor. Like you said, Quizz hit the hole, no dancing around. The D did surprise me, other then, once again, letting a TE run wild. The young guys on the D line need to be commended, as well as Coach Smith putting them in a place to make plays. Good to see Grimes still has mad hops as well.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:22 am
It’s a win, we got all the bounces in this one. I still fear or kicker and can’t understand how we forget about Olson on D. But the defense with injuries was fighting, the offense looked scared and Jameis wasn’t sharp. In the end how you win doesn’t matter 2-3 into the bye with guys getting healthy sounds good to me right now.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:25 am
Realist well said on the WR options….also it seemed that the panthers abused the bucs esp with olsen when D smith was out there, I guess LVD too, but it seemed they were in a 4-3 and in a cover 3 defense where one of the OLB has the flats and maybe a strong safety but the LB just didnt get enough depth obviously or it was great coaching by the panthers and route running by olsen….and Gruden is a big time bucs fan
October 11th, 2016 at 7:27 am
Can we please stop calling JW Americas QB, especially until he starts to play even slightly like Brady. Jamies has been erratic, wild and sloppy except for one game. He has got to find his comfort zone fast. Ill admit he is clutch but we should have blown that team out last night. We dominated the run game against their strength!!! We should have won that thing 31 or 38 to 14, with 4-0 in turnover margin, if not for stupid penalties and kicking shanks? PLus our time of possession was huge.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:29 am
@Joe- Great points made in this article. As for Koetter playing it safe with Winston- I thought that was just “wise” coaching especially for last nights game and where this team is as of today. Opening the game with the six running plays was definitely wise but not necessarily intelligent. Alas… Being a wise head coach is much better than being an intelligent head coach sometimes. I say that Koetter stepped up his game last night as a head coach. He resisted the “I’m the intelligent Offensive Coordinator playing head coach role . Very very wise at this point with this team.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:29 am
Koetter is definitely losing his trust in Jameis. I know ultimately they decided to move the ball for a field goal at the end, but the run play calls to start and listening to the players it sounds like Koetter was going to run the clock out. What the heck kind of decision is that? I mean what is his end game? Jameis and Koetter are attached at the hip. He better get Jameis throwing it and throwing it well.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:36 am
@Realist I counted 5 missed throws to wide open receivers last night. There could’ve been a couple that I missed. Jameis is my guy, and I was frustrated with the fact that Dirk took the ball out of his hand in some critical situations, but I understood (thiugh definitely disagreed with) the logic last night.
He’s possibly (and understandably) looking at the rush too much. If I’d been put on my ass as much as him this season I would too. I get that part. But what made me fall in love with his game was his ability to make precision throws when given time. He was given plenty of those opportunities last night. Not only that, precision wasn’t even required. He simply had to make a good throws. Although he missed several, he made some clutch throws on that last drive. Rodgers had a huge game, but that last drive was all Jameis. I’m hopeful it’s something upon which he can build going into the bye week and the next game.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:36 am
Jameis is still struggling.Keukly rattled him just by faking a blitz.Too many passes are sailing over recievers heads.Believe he needs to work on this
during bye week and off season.
Really want jameis to succeed, but he has to calm down and let the game
come to him.The quick strike TD shows the ability he has .
October 11th, 2016 at 7:40 am
Nah, maybe the look they were getting from the defense called for a run. Everyone has been bitching about JW doing too much, too many passes, etc. they start running and everyone thinks Jzw is in he dog house. 60 plays split down th middle. Also, before this game many of you were saying the books had no chance, now you’re mad that they didn’t score more… I agree they should have had a couple touchdowns, but in the past this team would’ve crumbled after missing the first one. There is growth, and Winston will be fine.
October 11th, 2016 at 7:41 am
I think it was game plan kill the clocks
October 11th, 2016 at 7:54 am
Joe- we lose with AguaOh,no and we can lose without him too, right? Oh wait, that would reflect poorly on the guy who inexplicably jumps in his pool with his suit on.
Think I’ll have some of that delicious JBF Jason Licht Kool Ale
October 11th, 2016 at 7:57 am
I thought Koetter did a great job last night coming up with a plan that gave his team a chance to win. It seems that Jameis lost his mojo in the Arizona game and has not really been the same since. We hope he will come through this slump he is in but in the meantime it was good to see the whole team come together to get a win. It was good that the oline stepped up to get a running game going to help take the pressure off Jameis. At Fla State, we had the first year Jameis who was phenomenal, played great all year and wins the Heisman. Then we have 2nd year Jameis who was erratic, turned the ball over in the first half and played lights out in the 4th quarter to bring the team back. Worked in college, not so much in the NFL. Jameis is really young and hopefully can grow into that consistant amazing QB we saw in his first year. His heart is in the right place, his work ethic is in the right place, so you have to think he will get there, but right now Koetter and Smith have to get the whole team playing at a high level around him because Jameis is not the super hero we made him out to be during the off season. Right now is he is a young 22 year old who is trying to take the whole team on his shoulders and is struggling. Koetter needs to keep his “faith” in Jameis in check until he proves he can handle it. Otherwise, Koetter will be out of a job in a few short years.
October 11th, 2016 at 8:06 am
This the first game I watched this year but sheesh he was throwing out a lot of heavy set personnel. And some these route combinations when we do have multiple (yes I’m saying multiple in 2016 lol) receivers are in are terrible to be kind.
The Bucs still lack IQ at crucial times. Before the half LVD let’s Olson get behind him and between the safety. He was to worried about the short pass in the flat. Thank God for the penalty and then great coverage by Kwon on the next play.
3rd and goal how in the hell do you leave Olson wide open underneath for a TD? Glad he dropped it.
This head coach of ours was going to give Aguayo another shot from 53 yards after he missed two. We were running the ball to set him up instead of calling another pass play to get him a few extra yards with 17 seconds and a timeout remaining. Thanks for the penalty that got us 15 extra yards.
The man didn’t even know that it’s not a 10 second runoff if the clock is stopped and the team that is in possession of the football gets a penalty. THE CLOCK IS ALREADY STOPPED MORON!! Why will they start the clock just because the team committed a penalty pre-snap??? Now a penalty during the play? Yes you idiot!!
Thank you Riverboat Ron for calling the timeouts for us that last drive.
And blitz!! The blitz worked so good on that 3 and out with the mcdougld pass break up it must’ve scared Smitty because he damn sure didn’t use it again. Instead he let them drive down the field with no resistance. Thank you Brent Grimes for coming off your flat responsibility and winning in spite of your coaches. Ive been on you all year for giving up tds but Thanks that play didn’t go unnoticed!!
I’m glad I don’t get to watch Bucs games because this phone almost went through my tv several times last night. The wife was mad as hell at me this morning for breaking her sleep several times. I see why so many you are so angry on open threads during Bucs games
October 11th, 2016 at 8:09 am
@Joe
You must have been too tired to “realize” the most important take away from last night. The Bucs were not beaten down, Manhandled, totally embarrassed in a Prime Time game!!!! Head Coach Koetter is slowly ticking the boxes Buc Fans!!!!!! The Upgrade is so apparent!!!!!!
October 11th, 2016 at 8:11 am
season saved for now!
Does Dirk no the rules of football? Did you see him go nuts before the half ended thinking there should be a 10 second runoff even though the clock was running? This a few weeks after his terrible clock management (after saying all summer he was worried about clock management).
Kudos to our no name D Line who played their asses off and kept fighting.
The only negatives were a few dumb penalties…. man not on 3rd and one and don’t run into the kicker. Also, McDougal seemed to be everywhere. The LBs got torched by Olsen but don’t we always by him? VH3 seems to be a pretty quality corner right from the start too. Kinda seemed too Gruden would give his right arm to be coaching JW right now… me too probably
October 11th, 2016 at 8:16 am
Iamkimgsu, with ALL you have to say ALL the time, you don’t even watch the games you comment about? Wtf?
October 11th, 2016 at 8:19 am
They were not trying to kill the clock at the end. SMH!
October 11th, 2016 at 8:27 am
If koetter the clown knew the abilities, strength and weaknesses of his players and roster we would in better shape
There is absolutely no doubt if jacquizz was the feature back and getting the most carries, we would have atleast 1 win and even more than now
Because sims is injured we/jameis missed sims 3 explosive plays catching the ball. Our offense would have been similar to last years
Evans outside, sims catching the ball from the backfield and jacquizz running and catching screens…offensive machine
Im pissed because without sims as the 3rd playmaker , we will miss the plauoffs and hinder jaboos development
October 11th, 2016 at 8:30 am
@iamking… some good points, yeah, why was dirk giving up plays to setel for a long field goal from I guy you cant trust on an extra point?
The drive where they went right down the field and threw a pick was hard to watch but I chalked it up to the D being gassed. JW is very inaccurate, hopefuly he gets better.
October 11th, 2016 at 8:33 am
JW footwork still looking like a doe walking for second time; needs to learn to plant better and use hips when he rolls out as it affects his throw( floaters). Koetter was right to limit JW chances (30)…it played out well as it kept CAR D guessing. #3 is still another year or so away from having control of the game mentally. His physical transformation looks like it is still in progress too but in right direction. He was lucky he got that fumble back last night- ball security is #1 for him at moment. Things are looking about where I would expect from a second year QB after regressing a little in week 2-3.
For me the play of the game was Sheperd on the recovered muffed punt. Really excellent play there. Rogers was good all night which kept the team moving and confident.
October 11th, 2016 at 8:36 am
Wow this blog has some incredible schizophrenia!!!!
First all I read is Koetter is abusing #3 because he’s throwing the ball too much!
Then Koetter devises a winning game plan with more balance and he’s lost faith in #3.
Just SMH!!!!
October 11th, 2016 at 8:39 am
All though we all love Koetters outspokenness he is sometimes on shaky ground as the head coach. If he doesn’t have confidence in Winston he might as well start packing. Speaking openly about is not professional. Too me the game plans the last 3 weeks has been the bigger issues including the lack of a run game. Koetter also has no issue in knocking the kicker which is ok for some to say but the head coach should be at least publicly supporting him until he is replaced.
October 11th, 2016 at 8:49 am
Thank you Joe for being the last remaining opportunity for fans to express themselves the morning after…The “agenda” killed the fans voice by eliminating Local sports talk. So basically we have on oversexed DJ, his razor blade gargling right wing parrot and Trump.2 at 3pm…
I only bring this up because your site is the first place i went to hear the fans and local writing of legitimate passion for the Bucs…
Warning be careful with whom you swim with…these people have no problem eating their own and i would hate to see you go down their rabbit hole of self loathing.
The beast is wounded and now not 2 years ago is the time to start something new…I would love to see your team be part of that….
October 11th, 2016 at 8:50 am
Koetter always states “the blame starts here and my responsibility” auto response, but he immediately starts throwing blame everywhere. Its laughable. At presd conference he starts belittling reporters with condensending attitude
He really doesnt know to speak and communicate as a head coach
October 11th, 2016 at 8:52 am
How many kickers make 1 out of three FG’s and walk away a hero because the one was they made was a game winner? I say over the next two weeks we bring in some FA kickers for a look. Matt Ryan is looking like one of more stupid moves in the past two years. I thought for the most part the Bucs back up defense did a great job including the stupid penalty by Jones. McCoy cost us 15 yds for waving his hands in the air after a play ended. How many times last night did the Bucs D turn back solid Panther Drives when it looked like Points were inevitable? J Smith may have looked like Jim Brown to a good Panther defense and J Winston needs to shelve his America’s QB title until he can hit a wide open receiver. I Agree with joe, great win but, but a lot of warts. Maybe two weeks off and the return of a lot of players will take care a some of those warts
October 11th, 2016 at 9:08 am
JW completed 60% of his passes with 1 TD an no interceptions. Koeter called a babanced game. Rodgers had to get up to speed on the offense, and now he is ready. Come on Bucs fans, stop bitching about a road win against aan underperforming decision rival on MNF. Most of you posters were not giving them a chance in this game.
October 11th, 2016 at 9:14 am
Koetter did not throw a pass at the end of the game because Jameis forced a pass into cover two.Saw it in the last game also. Too big a chance for a interception with his accuracy issues lately.With so many injuries Koetter got the win in a close game.
Our decimated defense pulled out just enough stops to give our a chance to win.
October 11th, 2016 at 9:34 am
ITs all in the verbiage; Id say Koetter sees Winston has one of the most attempts in the NFL, and thats not a good recipe for a QB turning it over a lot. No way Koetter has lost faith in Jameis, but he IS a realist and knows by running the ball more, there will be less chances for INTs.
Bottom line it was Jameis who got the team down into FG range.
October 11th, 2016 at 9:51 am
A win is a win in the NFL. Now who do we get back after the bye?!
October 11th, 2016 at 10:07 am
First time I glanced at this article a few minutes ago Joe I thought your first line after the ‘Morning After’ title read “This is an inebriated edition of The Morning After.” Perfectly understandable after last night’s game, but on closer inspection the word was ‘abbreviated’. Excellent analysis of the game.
Interestingly, outside of you, I didn’t see anyone mention what an awesome job Mike Smith and the other defensive coaches did in getting so many backups ready for this game. Hughes, Spence, Ward & Lambert played big last night and none of them had hardly any snaps prior to this game, so I’d say the defensive coaches did any excellent job of coaching them up. LBs and secondary let Greg Olsen eat them alive, but kept most everyone else in check. Lots of breaks went our way, but you still have to play well to capitalize on them.
October 11th, 2016 at 10:17 am
Hello. its the Dean of Pessimism here. I thought I’d let all of you cheerleaders shake your skirts this morning until I reminded you…..Lets not get our excitement to high just yet. I only got a C in Math during college. But I could swear 2-3 means we are still..under 500. And under 500 still means..you suck. Just sayin…….. Butt..the Bucs did show me they had heart last night. That’s something.
October 11th, 2016 at 10:39 am
Should be an easy lesson: Like having a bad game without a turnover gave his team a chance…(I know there was more to each of these games)
Rams
36/58/ 405 / TD 3 Turnovers = 2 (Bucs lose)
Carolina
18/30/ 219 / TD 1 Turnovers = 0 (Bucs win)
October 11th, 2016 at 11:56 am
sho nuff:
So basically we have on oversexed DJ, his razor blade gargling right wing parrot and Trump.2 at 3pm…
LOL Joe isn’t exactly who you are referring to here but it’s still some good one-liners there. 🙂