The Morning After
November 4th, 2016
Hell, it’s 3:30 a.m. Friday and Joe is just starting to type this.
So it’s an abbreviated edition.
7-on-7 Flag football defense
Joe doesn’t know where to begin, but one thing is clear: If Mike Smith doesn’t find an answer to stop quarterbacks, he may not be back next year — and it won’t be because he has a head coaching job (unless he takes a college gig).
Just when it looked like the Bucs defense had turned the corner, it hasn’t. Once the Bucs started facing decent quarterbacks, egads. Let’s go down the list, shall we?
At Atlanta (Matty Ice 334 yards passing, two touchdowns.)
At Arizona (Carson Palmer 304 yards passing, three touchdowns.)
Los Angeles (Case Keenum 190 yards passing, two touchdowns.)
Denver (Paxton Lynch 170 yards passing, one touchdown)
At Carolina (Derek Anderson 278 yards passing, no touchdowns)
At San Francisco (Sideshow Bob 143 yards passing, one touchdown)
Oakland (Derek Carr 513 yards passing, four touchdowns)
Atlanta (Matty Ice 344 yards passing, four touchdowns)
Notice a pattern? Decent/good quarterbacks go wild on the Bucs.
Now here is the remaining nine games and the quarterbacks the Bucs will likely face:
Chicago, bratty Jay Cutler.
At Kansas City, Nick Foles/Alex Smith.
Seattle, Russell Wilson.
At San Diego, Philip Rivers.
New Orleans, Drew Brees.
At Dallas, Dak Prescott/Tony Romo.
At New Orleans, Brees.
Carolina, Can Newton.
How many wins do you see against those quarterbacks?
Problem is, the Bucs don’t have the horses to get into a shootout with these teams. The way the defense is playing like a Pasco County high school summer league 7-on-7 defense, The only way the Bucs can win is in a shootout.
This season very easily could be a Raheem Morris-like 10-game losing streak spiraling into the abyss. And if that happens, well, Joe thinks Dirk Koetter is safe (he’s not calling the defense, he’s the one suffering countless injuries to skill position players on offense). Yes, even Bucs AC/DC-loving Jason Licht is safe. Smith? Hope he’s renting.
Joe likes Smith a lot, but this is how Lovie Smith got fired.
Home ineptitude
Unless something drastic takes place the second half of the season, Joe almost pities the Bucs suits.
How in the Sam Hill do they expect to sell season tickets next year? Three home wins since Greg Schiano was fired (3-17) and just 17 wins at home since Chucky was jettisoned in January 2009.
Only research will reveal if this is the worst stretch of home losses in North American pro sports or not. It is easily the worst home record in the NFL since 2009, by five games (or a season’s worth of wins for the Bucs).
It’s to the point Team Glazer ought to offer to play all “home” games in Europe or China or Mexico.
No more primetime games until…
Please NFL Network, BSPN, CBS, NBC, NFL broadcast guru Howard Katz and strongman Roger Goodell, please no more Bucs primetime games until this team can prove it can start winning on a regular basis.
The Bucs always seem to shat the bed in primetime. Even the wins (over Carolina last month, over Miami in 2013) stink to high heaven.
No punts
The Dixie Chicks did not punt once Thursday. Mike Smith, that is on you, sir. Can you find an answer? It’s not like your defense is riddled with injuries like Dirk Koetter’s offense. It seems Koetter is able to find points, despite going through four running backs, a No. 2 receiver and a dangerous tight end. What say you, Mr. Smith?
Tidbits:
* Four of the top eight tacklers for the Bucs were defensive backs.
* What happened to Lavonte David? Once thought to be a premiere linebacker, David isn’t even the best linebacker on the Bucs. People whine about Gerald McCoy supposedly disappearing and making too much money, why does David get to skate free? Don’t ever recall GMC dropping a goose egg like David did earlier this year at Arizona. This just in: Lavonte David has never experienced a winning season in the NFL.
* Fumbles hurt the Bucs. While most fans were focused on cursing the defense, overlooked was that America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, didn’t play so badly. Except for a nasty fumble. His fumble on a quarterback sneak at the Falcons-39 killed what looked like a scoring drive last in the first quarter trailing 10-7. Atlanta kicked a field goal on the ensuing possession. Antone Smith’s fumble deep in Bucs territory on the previous possession set up Atlanta with a field goal as well. It was the only time the Bucs showed a pulse on defense.
Gameball
Mike Evans: Stud had 150 yards receiving and two touchdowns, one a circus catch. He was targeted 17 times and caught 11.
November 4th, 2016 at 6:08 am
I am losing faith in Dirk. You cannot win football games with our defense and its starting to look like he will not be the one to let Mike Smith go. Smith lost them both theyre jobs in atlanta and its gonna haplen here too
November 4th, 2016 at 6:18 am
Unwatchable football, simply unwatchable……wonder how many folks were gone by midway through the third quarter?
November 4th, 2016 at 6:30 am
Instead of creating a beer after the guy, the Joes need to start directing their criticism at the guy who’s assembled this crap sandwich? Why does LVD get to skate free? Here’s a better question – why does Jason Licht Ale get to skate free year after year?
November 4th, 2016 at 6:31 am
Doesnt matter how many points you can score if the other guys can score at will. You can see the frustration on our offense after watching the defense collapse again and again.
I so wish Jameis would say this at the podium after the game. Put some fire on the defense.
November 4th, 2016 at 6:34 am
jason gump, the man in the beer can, gives me the players to coach- smitty
November 4th, 2016 at 6:42 am
Maybe if we had a cornerback over 5’10” we could compete against these tall receivers, nobody knows how bad Banks is, Smith never even gave him a chance to get burned in a game, midgets against monsters
November 4th, 2016 at 6:45 am
Definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again with the same result, I must be insane still rooting for this team, just shoot me now
November 4th, 2016 at 6:45 am
Patience …
Why does everybody want to keep flip flopping Coaching staffs?
Mike Smith is a Good Coach,
the defense will turn the corner and get better.
Injuries have descimated this team at key positions.
The D-Line is a MASH Ward.
The Receivers … who is the number 2?
Running Backs are playing 4th and 5th stringers.
too much to overcome.
IMHO
November 4th, 2016 at 6:47 am
Spare me the patience non-sense! Patience has been the mantra here since Gruden was fired.
November 4th, 2016 at 6:51 am
Time to stop fireing coaches. Fire players, and get better ones. Stop blaming the coaches who do not play a single snap.
November 4th, 2016 at 7:01 am
Despite the score, I stayed up and watched the entire game, and this is what I saw…
A good young QB who takes far too many hits, and who feels like HE has to make too many big plays on his own, because he doesn’t have enough weapons around him.
A stud WR who has no supporting cast to help take some of the pressure off.
An offensive line that commits too many penalties, allows too many QB hits, and puts us in too many compromising positions.
On Defense, we just don’t get enough pressure on opposing QB’s…especially on third down! I also see too many missed tackles. Too many players out of position.
We have some good young players, but not enough. We have a couple of real weapons on offense and defense, but not enough. We are a 5 – 7 win a year team….and that’s just not enough. We need more and better talent…and no more wasting 2nd round picks on inaccurate kickers.
November 4th, 2016 at 7:07 am
It’s Jason Lichts job to bring in talented players, ever since he opted to draft a kicker in the 2nd that alone put a bad stink on this year
November 4th, 2016 at 7:10 am
Hahahaha, we are a freaking joke. The best part is I don’t care if we win anymore so it doesnt hurt. I expected nothing and I got what I expected. No, I will not be returning to Ray-Jay. Even if you gave me a ticket sitting next to two cheerleaders, free food and beer, and even if Joe himself keeled on all fours in front of me to serve as a foot rest. It’s not worth the shame. I hate this team and I hate myself for being a fan of them. Hey Bucs, your fans are laughing at you……..You could have done something about that last night. I hope you all catch a vicious strand of fluenzi.
November 4th, 2016 at 7:13 am
As I said after the last game…Joe and Buc fans I am asking are the defense really this bad …we can’t stop anyone in the league. I thought for sure with the pick up of Grimes and Ayers and what we have place already we would at least contend this year. Can I please get an explanation Joe and Bucs fan…this year has been just as frustrating as last year
November 4th, 2016 at 7:20 am
For the game vs the Bears we will likely see 40K at RJS and at least two thirds will be Bear fans. I think everyone who has been a Buc fan for the past 6 years know how the Bear game will go: the Bucs will open as a 3 or 4 point fave, the smart people in football will bet this down a bit but the Bucs will still likely be the favorite on the spread and moneyline so my suggestion to my fellow Buc fans is to simply bet all out on the Bears, make some Christmas money on each home game. This is likely the last game the Bucs will be favored in all year and if Glennon starts I bet it will be an even line and I suspect that Cutler can put 35 up on the D: can the Bucs keep up on O? Absolutely not: the only way the Bucs stay in the track race is if the refs flag the Bears 18 time, oh wait, they tried that vs the raiders and the Bucs still managed to choke that loss. Number of season tickets sold next year tumbles by at least 10K and Team Glazer will force Koetter to fire a lot of the coaching staff and Jason Licht is likely going to be on thin ice. Right now the only team I think the Bucs could actually beat in the NFL is the lowly Niners, even the Browns could carve them up for a win.
November 4th, 2016 at 7:20 am
I hope they bring back the blackouts. I need a reason to not watch this sh!t anymore.
November 4th, 2016 at 7:23 am
Queston for Joe who knows the locker room a bit more than us fans who come to this board: “Has the D quit on Smith and Koetter”? I think Jameis and a select few on the O are still giving it 100% but this D looks like they are just waiting for the season to end, have they quit or do they just have relatives betting the other side offshore?????
November 4th, 2016 at 7:24 am
If I were a season ticket holder I would give my ticket to an opposing fan. I call that looking out for a fellow Bucs Fan
November 4th, 2016 at 7:29 am
Welp, as everyone said when I said games and games ago, the second half is the easiest part of the schedule. Does Chicago give you confidence? How about the Saints who can stay with Facons point for point? How the inevitable curb stomping at Arrowhead cause that team beats everybody there, especially in Nov/Dec. How about Dallas? San Diego and Phillip Rivers? I told you people this could get very ugly.
November 4th, 2016 at 7:30 am
Buc Neckid mentioned all the injuries above. Yes all teams have injuries but most teams have the depth to overcome most of them and due to the incompetence of the people at One Buc who evaluate talent, sign players and condct the draft this team simply has zero depth and a lot of holes on the first string as well. Its a never ending story with the Bucs; injuries every year and no depth to shore them up!
November 4th, 2016 at 7:30 am
Sorry when I said this could get ugly fast,, like 3-13, 4-12 ugly
November 4th, 2016 at 7:32 am
The defensive philosophy isn’t very well thought out for the talent they have. If your front four are soft blitz!! DB’s disrupt the WR off the line of scrimmage to disrupt a route. Lavonte David SUCKS in coverage so blitz him.
I’m sick of seeing other teams get turned around year after year and the Bucs have been rebuilding since 2009
November 4th, 2016 at 7:38 am
Chris has a point about a potential 0-10 slide to end 2016, on the bright side, the game vs the Bears could be for whomever drafts third behind the Browns and Niners. Knowing the Bucs luck they will manage to do whatever is worse for the franchise in the long run; a win costs them a chance at a stud whom the Bears would snatch right before them (ala Joe thomas to Cleveland and Megatron to Detroit in Chuckies day whereas the Yucks got Gaines Adams) or another loss to alienate whomever is even considering renewing their season tickets as the Bucs could very likely be 3-13 and this record will not be by tanking games down the stretch as Lovey did a couple of times to draft Winston, this 10 game slide to finish 2016 will be solely on poor coaching, no depth coupled with injuries, no discipline, and the fact that the team seems to have simply quit on defense….. I bet the Glazers wish they could replay those road games vs Carolina and the ATL; turn those to Ls and I think the bucs would snake the #1 overall draft pick from either SF or the Niners as at least one or both of those teams will not win more than 2 games…..
November 4th, 2016 at 7:40 am
yes we lost and a number of things stalled our offense.fumbles, and penalties
mainly.We don’t have a bad run blocking line,almost any back we inserted has
produces.Donovan Smith earned the bad ratings as a pass blocker yesterday.
Jameis played a lot better in the early going with the exception of the fumble.
One concern of mine is the high pass thrown to Evans that left him in a extremely vulnerable and defenseless position.That is two WR’s in concussion protocall in two weeks.Get the ball down Jameis.and I question the hit that a
appeared to be a helmet to chin .Another tackle on Evans was made around his neck on short pass.
November 4th, 2016 at 7:48 am
Tampa tony said: “I’m sick of seeing other teams get turned around year after year and the Bucs have been rebuilding since 2009”
Amen to that. Besides the Jags and the Browns I do not think any other team has stayed as bad as the Bucs for so long without any evident signs of improvement. The common link of all 3 franchises: poor talent evaluation that leads to lack of depth so if the few good players on the roster get injured then the team gets bad real fast as we are seeing in Tampa right now and it is a never ending cycle. has Licht worn out his welcome or does he need to clean how of his talent evaluators at one Buc: one or both has to happen!
November 4th, 2016 at 7:57 am
one thing also bothered about the referees, on the replay of a ryan touchdown
or big completion
(not sure which play) it clearly showed Gholston being facemasked.
Very loose interpretation on Julio Jones catch as the ball touched the ground.
Officiating is very inconsistent.
November 4th, 2016 at 8:12 am
It is Bob for the bad teams, Browns have the same problem
November 4th, 2016 at 8:14 am
And Joe doesn’t like picking on Lichts draft picks , but damn Donovan Smith is outright horrible.
November 4th, 2016 at 8:21 am
The play calling is conservative because J Boob’s field is cut in half like last year. The full field is too much for him to handle. Also the last 100 yards and td were garbage time bottles style. He disappeared in the 3rd in a tight game until the game was over. 1 QB has stagnated, the other has progressed…
November 4th, 2016 at 8:21 am
Oh and Glennon looked as good in garbage time as JW did without the reversion to pitcher type mechanics
November 4th, 2016 at 8:37 am
“Unwatchable”! Great word!
I’m so glad I didn’t buy those tickets last night. I literally held them in my hand. It’s perplexing as to how this team poops itself year in and year out. Aren’t we supposed to be looking at an “improved” team? True, there are 8 games to go but, does anybody see improvement over last year? Last week? Week 1?
Didn’t we fire someone last year for the same garbage?!
November 4th, 2016 at 8:46 am
May not win another game
November 4th, 2016 at 8:53 am
I did not even watch this clown show. But it looks like it was just like most of us expected. Another national embarrassment. So now it can be called The Den Of Sh!T.
November 4th, 2016 at 9:04 am
I still think that in many games the offense is doing enough to win. However, it seems like our defense always allow the other team to move down the field and score. From what iam seeing and this is just my opinion is that the offense gets frustrated and Jamis try harder which results into bad discissions that lead to many interceptions . Why wnot M. Smith make some changes to the defense.
November 4th, 2016 at 9:04 am
Jaboo n Evans are studs of future, triple dipped on evans bet him +800 to get first td of game, had him in one draft kings lineup, and hes on my fantasy team. Needless to say i was in my basement in my evans jersey depressed after the game still because now its time to look forward to draft again..this defense is brutal. Told all my buddies to bet the falcons because short week n tired defense + no running game = ugly. was hoping i was wrong
November 4th, 2016 at 9:11 am
Joe I with you brother…..One buc place and the bucs are the den of depression. ..I watch every game and 90% of the time iam depressed with the penalties after a big play..losing leads at the end of the game and many many more.. anyone who watch the bucs know what I am talking about
November 4th, 2016 at 9:14 am
Tampa bay wont be having a primetime game again for maybe another 4 years
Last nights sh!tjob cost glazers probably 25-50 million
All those empty seats and still need to pay for the video boards to see sh!t in HD
All the jeers and gossiping tbe glazers will be getting at the owners meetings…..
“Run forrest run” darcie glazer
November 4th, 2016 at 9:17 am
I like Koetter,but when your best receiver is putting his hand up to be replaced
because he is gassed or quite possibly hurt,replace him or call an effing timeout to evaluate
the situation and protect your player. Very bad decision on Koetters part,not like we were in the game.
November 4th, 2016 at 9:23 am
Look Lovie was a horrible coach, but seeing this defense is just as bad as Lovies outdated, it’s not the scheme that’s the problem, it’s the talent, the crappy thing about the problems with the defense, is exactly what everyone has been complaining about, no pass rush, small CBS, and horrendous safeties, then why the h3ll can’t our GM do something about it, start some rookie free agents at safety can’t make it any worse
November 4th, 2016 at 9:26 am
Yes we sucked last night. No problem. I’m numb to it these days.
However, I’m starting to REALLY dislike the NFL and their flag-fest officials. Not just with the Bucs games either. League-wide. It’s become too ticky tacky and I’m for the first time starting wonder why I’m watching the games a anymore.
Either adapt or evolve as a fan with the new NFL or just not follow it. The Bucs are making it REAL easy to do the latter.
It’s hard for me to get too upset about Koetter, Licht or any one player over last night’s game. Most of us expected a loss coming into the game. Why? Because we knew our D was atrocious along with our O and QB being inconsistent. So no, I won’t get upset over anything that transpired last night.
I’m numb anyways.
November 4th, 2016 at 9:27 am
We will finish 3-13 if the current trend continues. We have a very average if not below average secondary who needs a pass rush to help them out. Problem is that we have a defensive line that can’t put pressure on opposing QB’s. If I were calling plays against our defense, I do not think I would even bother running the ball. We can’t stop the passing attack of our opponents. We have no discipline, can’t tackle and cant get off the field even on 3rd and long and they suffer many key injuries every game it seems. That is just the defensive issues. The Offense has shown that it cant block well, Winston is basically working with one weapon that being Evans who we had better hope stays healthy. Winston is inconsistent with his accuracy and the RB’s are getting carried off the field by medics every week.
November 4th, 2016 at 9:29 am
Move Verner and Josh Robinson to safety, that’s $8.5 million wasting on the bench, wtf are the Bucs paying these guys for, time to think outside the box, Mike Smith Dirk Koetter and Jason Licht your job is on the line, 3-13 gets people fired
November 4th, 2016 at 9:32 am
At least I’m coming up with some ideas….somebody needs to
November 4th, 2016 at 9:38 am
Guzzie…”I got nothing for ya…head back to camp.”
November 4th, 2016 at 9:45 am
@Guzzie- Chew on this for a minute; the reason Conte and McDougal(?) are starting at safety is because they’re the best we have. That should really tell you everything you need to know about our talent level.
Rayjay hit it on the head. Why in god’s name would you bother to run the football against this horrific pass defense?! Even if we developed a pass-rush, we still can’t cover a 3 step drop.
In what world do you cover Julio Jones single-man?
November 4th, 2016 at 9:56 am
All other teams in the league Blitz! Blitz! Blitz! except for the Bucs and have better d line than us. The first guy who needs to be fired is Smith. He plays the same defensive scheme every week with the same results. He actually is worse than Lovie was. No pass rush and refuses to help his team by attacking by blitzing.
Koetter looks like deer in headlights out there. Totally overwhelmed by play on the field. I never thought I would say this, but Lovie looks better than what we have now.
November 4th, 2016 at 11:13 am
Hell, I could complete passes against a Bucs defense that plays such a deep zone and I’m 63 years old! NOT ONE receiver gets bumped at the line, they’re free to run their routes as if there were NO defenders out there. And there really aren’t since they are all 5-7 yards off the line, they are really just tacklers since they’re not defending against the pass at all!
WTF kind of defense is that Smith! Whatever you call it, throw it out ‘CUZ IT AIN’T WORKING! F!!!!!
November 4th, 2016 at 11:23 am
Could have forced a punt at the end of the first half with a simple timeout. You have to take every opportunity to touch the ball that you can. A return for a touch down could have happened. A big return with 40 seconds and a timeout could get us in scoring range. Instead let them run the clock out and get the ball back to start the second half.
November 4th, 2016 at 11:38 am
I agree with u bucs fans something has to be done with this defense…we bring in multiple defensive players every year and get the same results…Lovie is long gone so who is at fault now
November 4th, 2016 at 12:26 pm
As a Season Pass Member and being a lifelong BUCS fan this has to change. Move on from GMC and LVD. Trade them both in the offseason. Get weapons for Jameis. Koetter is not the right guy. Give Jim Harbaugh what he wants to come back to the NFL. Pay Harbaugh $15 Mil per season and let him have the keys to the franchise.
November 4th, 2016 at 12:34 pm
It’s time to focus on the 2017 draft. Who should we draft with the 3rd pick of the draft?
November 4th, 2016 at 2:43 pm
Man it’s getting tough to read these comments. I like the articles and podcasts. The overly negative posters is to much.. Here’s a sampling: Fire dk and licht, stop going to games cause it hurts so bad lmao, jw sucks trade him, fire smith 6 months in…