Three-Game Win Streak Means Nothing
December 1st, 2016
Recent history means nothing.
As Joe predicted, the win over the Seahawks vaulted the Bucs into the national NFL discussion overnight.
Suddenly, with a three-game win streak, with the last two games coming over powerhouse teams, the Bucs are now players in the postseason chatter as we begin December.
But to hear Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith talk, those three wins don’t mean a damned thing if the Bucs fly back from San Diego Sunday night as losers.
“I’m proud of the way the guys have played,” Smith said in his weekly press conference today at One Buc Palace. “But again, this is a week-to-week business. Really, what we have done the last three weeks will have no bearing on what we accomplish this week.
“We have to go out and play our best football. We have committed to one another that we are going to try to be better today than we were yesterday. If we take that mindset, we think we will improve.”
The past three games the Bucs have allowed opponents an average of 10.7 points a game, a Brooks/Lynch/Sapp-like level of a defense.
Of course, all of that means zilch in the big picture if the Bucs cannot go out west and defeat a beatable Chargers squad. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Philip Rivers. Last Joe checked, the Chargers have a losing record. We aren’t talking the 1978 Steelers or the 1984 49ers here.
December 1st, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Mike Smith is right it won’t mean anything if we don’t win on Sunday.
December 1st, 2016 at 12:47 pm
Mike Smith is dead on… can’t have any other attitude than that.
December 1st, 2016 at 12:49 pm
Here’s where I point out that I did indeed predict this winning streak waaaay back when the season started…for this time of the season. 😛
December 1st, 2016 at 12:53 pm
Rivers is a good QB as everyone is aware of, maybe getting a little long in the tooth. Not quite an old washed up QB. I thought there was talk of replacing him prior to this season. I think the Bucs recent efforts will repeat keeping Rivers in check. You don’t win three games in a row in the Bucs fashion and disappear.
December 1st, 2016 at 2:05 pm
Loving that this gelling culture has begun at exactly the same time we are getting all our players back healthy. GO BUCS!!!
December 1st, 2016 at 3:02 pm
get rivers uncomfortable and he’ll throw some picks…make him move around the pocket and he’ll fumble….continue to run the ball and they’ll fold….
the only thing that has me a little worried are bosa and ingram….those 2 de’s can rush the passer….d.smith and d.dotson have to keep jameis clean….GO BUCS!!!!
December 1st, 2016 at 3:29 pm
There are 2 guys on defense Joe (DE Ryan Russell & DT Sealver Siliga) who both got quite a few snaps last game (46 between them). Both are BIG (6’5 & 275 for Russell and 6’2 & 345 for Siliga) which seems to be the type of DLinemen that Smitty prefers. Between them they got enough snaps to keep the snap counts reasonable for the rest of the DLine. Interestingly, Akeem Spence only got 7 snaps in that game, and Will Gholston & Clinton McDonald each only played about 1/3 of the snaps on defense. Based on what you’re hearing & seeing Joe, does it look like Russell & Siliga are keepers for the future?
December 1st, 2016 at 4:18 pm
I think from a coaching standpoint they can say that. As a fan if you don’t think Beating KC and Seattle meant anything when you Shmucks were whining and crying 4 weeks ago then you’re stupid. I flew down I went to both the Raiders and Falcons games.. if we finish between 7-9 wins I would say it was a successful year. We have a lot of FA’s/Restricted FA’s to make decisions on. I’m excited for the future..
December 1st, 2016 at 6:43 pm
There simply is no margin for error here on out. Having said that…when the Bucs were 1-3 and then blowout in primetime to go 3-5….it felt grim. Now it at least feels hopeful. You start to forget how exciting it is when the Bucs are in the thick of things.
December 1st, 2016 at 6:47 pm
Sounds like a clear message to the team that accolades and press clippings won’t be lining up in San Diego on Sunday.
December 1st, 2016 at 8:11 pm
We can win and I believe we WILL win! I’m doing the roadie to cheer our Bucs on!
December 1st, 2016 at 9:58 pm
Last time we played Philip and the chargers we beat them here at Ray Jay under the Schiano regime, Rivers throws some pretty stupid ints sometimes, if we play with the same intensity on both sides of the ball we can come out on top.
December 1st, 2016 at 11:07 pm
So great to have such an experienced DC. I credit the way our Bucs are playing now to our coaching staff. They’ve got tho team focused and improving. The best part is the players can witness their own improvement, making them even more accepting to coaching. Where as Bucs teams of the past fall off the map… I feel this team will continue to improve.