Donovan Smith Addresses His Bad Game
November 9th, 2016
Every Bucs fan paying attention could see that left tackle Donovan Smith got embarrassed too often on national television Thursday night.
Smith played nowhere close to the strong standard he had set through his first 23 NFL starts. Adrian Clayborn and Brooks Reed of the Falcons stole his lunch money and he looked a stop slow.
Hey, it happens. Joe remains a Smith fan and supporter. The second-year man has never missed a snap and is a solid player.
One fan reached out to Smith on the Buccaneers Radio Network last night to request an explanation.
“Ups and downs. It particularly wasn’t the best game, obviously,” Smith said. “You know, a lot of it had to do with me. You know what I’m saying. Not so much them beating me, it was more so my technique or whatever that got me in trouble. It’s behind us now. You can only just move forward.”
Joe really wants to see a bounce back game from Smith on Sunday. The legs should be fresh. The mind should be right. And the Bears have a solid, 12-ranked defense for Smith to test himself against.
November 9th, 2016 at 7:13 am
Looking back at the Bucs having to play 2 games (one going into OT) in the space of 4 days keeps me shaking my head. Given the Bucs injuries & lack of depth, they didn’t have a prayer against Atlanta after the preceding Sunday game against Oakland.
D. Smith played the full 68 offensive snaps (100%) against Oakland, and then another 80 snaps (100%) against Atlanta … a total of 148 snaps in the trenches over a 4-day period. You mentioned Clayborn & Reed in your article Joe … TOGETHER they played a total of 89 snaps, just a few more than Donovan played in the Atlanta game himself. My guess is that he started the game with ‘tired legs’ most likely, and then had to face constant ‘fresh legs’ as Atlanta rotated those 2 guys on him throughout the game. Hard to compete at 100% under those conditions.
Just as an aside, got curious about a similar thing happening in the defensive trenches with our DTs & DEs. Amazingly, they had it even worse during those 2 games. Whereas our offense had 148 snaps in those 2 games, our defense was on the field for a total of 167 snaps, with 94 of those coming in the Oakland game (another 73 snaps in the Atlanta game). That’s an enormous number of snaps in any 2 games, but with just 4 days in-between? Defense didn’t really have a chance against Atlanta’s high-flying offense. Guys on the DLine like McCoy (81 snaps against Oakland & another 59 against Atlanta) and Ayers (71 & 56 in the 2 games) must’ve been totally wiped out by the 2nd half against the Falcons. Lack of depth is killing the Bucs.
November 9th, 2016 at 7:30 am
Great post DR
November 9th, 2016 at 8:16 am
Your post is spot on there DR But In other words Defense Rules..We got the living Sh.. beat out of us . And every Sunday, another team opens up a fresh can of whup A.. on the Bucs. Its painful to watch them. Smith holds his own more than he screws up. But where oh where is this vaulted new Defense? Where is the great pass rush we were promised? I know..its..nonexistent!
November 9th, 2016 at 8:27 am
Smith has been solid overall since he was drafted. He was up against a phenomenon quite strong, however. He was lined up against a former Buc…many of which have had career games against their former team.
November 9th, 2016 at 10:00 am
He was awful. No excuses.
November 9th, 2016 at 10:53 am
DR.. Something I failed to consider. Thanks for that. Couple that with the predictability that came with the lack of run game, just a tough recipe.
November 9th, 2016 at 11:43 am
DR – nice post. I appreciate you trying to review the performance with a level head. It’s quite refreshing from the typical hot-take we get on this board.
November 9th, 2016 at 11:47 am
Great post Defense! And, great follow up MJ. He does hold his own more than he gets beat.
November 9th, 2016 at 12:51 pm
DR…excellent post!!!!!!!!!!!
November 9th, 2016 at 9:11 pm
We’re talking about Adrian Clayborn and Brooks Reed, they aint no JJ Watt and Cliff Avril.