Count Out Kwon
September 27th, 2017
Teammate weighs in
It’s not “official” yet, but don’t expect Kwon Alexander and his bad hamstring to suit up against the Giants.
Joe has no problem typing this up after listening to defensive coordinator Mike Smith today.
Smith talked about Kendell Beckwith and how he’s playing sound football. Smith noted Beckwith got the communication helmet Sunday when Lavonte David left the game injured. That means Beckwith was the only guy available to hear the calls directly from Smith via the speaker in the helmet.
During today’s chatter, Smith seemed to tip his hand that Beckwith would wear the special helmet against the Giants.
“He’s going to be the guy that we’re going to count on for this week. He’s got a bigger role, potentially. He’s got, you know, have the communicator, and he’ll have it the entire game,” Smith said of Beckwith. “That communication is going to be paramount with the no-huddle that we’re anticipating seeing from the Giants.”
Follow the math here.
Kwon Alexander usually has the lone “communicator” and calls the defense. In his absence, Lavonte David got it. When he got hurt Sunday, a badly wrenched ankle, it went to Beckwith.
And now Smith says he’ll have it the entire game. That tells Joe the Bucs will play without David and Kwon on Sunday. Joe sniffed around a bit at One Buc Palace and is confident those linebackers won’t play, which is a huge blow to the defense.
On what the Bucs lose when Kwon is off the field, Joe asked Robert Ayers.
“We lose a great player. We lose a passionate player,” Ayers said. “You know a very, very passionate guy. He’s very demanding of his teammates. He’s a great player. We got other guys that are ready to step up, but it’s definitely tough losing him, but next man up.”
September 27th, 2017 at 1:08 pm
Huge blow not having Kwon & David
September 27th, 2017 at 1:13 pm
The Linebackers are the least of our problems. Glanton and Beckwith has played well. The problem is the secondary, we’re weak in man coverage. We need to figure out a way to cover Beckham, Marshall, Shepard and Ingram.
September 27th, 2017 at 1:26 pm
Expected. No surprise. Eli is going to have field day. I hope JW has one of his own and it’s a high scoring game. Come on JW it’s ON YOU! Time to step up or fad out Freeman style!
September 27th, 2017 at 1:26 pm
Any word on Grimes or Spence? We need those two to deal with the Giants passing attack.
September 27th, 2017 at 1:31 pm
We need to figure out a way to cover Beckham, Marshall, Shepard and Ingram.
man is out of the question and so is whatever defense they played vs. the vikes….
3-2-6 defense….let GMC beat up on their tackles…let clint and big will tee off on the rest of them….drop everyone else in zone coverage….6 dbs covering 4 wrs….sounds like a winner to me!!….GO BUCS!!!
September 27th, 2017 at 1:32 pm
Injuries will be the story of this lost season.
Jw will get one more season to prove it or it’ll be bye bye.
Eli 28-35 330 yards 3 touchdowns
Jw. 18-38 225 1 TD 2 ints.
Giants 31-10
September 27th, 2017 at 1:38 pm
Obviously, this is not good!!!
We need 35 points from this offense…..Sunday & Thursday…
They have no excuse, they are deep and very healthy.
It’s time for Jameis to do what he has been saying……”get better”….
September 27th, 2017 at 1:41 pm
It’s amazing how it’s a “lost season” 2 weeks in. Wasn’t a lost season when the Chiefs started 0-5 and made playoffs. Have some pride in your team and quit being so weak minded.
September 27th, 2017 at 1:45 pm
I’m seriously going to have to avoid JBF for all the doom and gloom dumbf*ck trolls.
If you guys don’t see me post for a while it’s for that reason. I aint got time in my life to entertain dumb negative sh1t like that.
September 27th, 2017 at 1:47 pm
Big loss coming. A shame this team is so injury riddled every single year.
September 27th, 2017 at 1:48 pm
Gobucs, you should change your name to Gogiants
September 27th, 2017 at 1:54 pm
OMG I hate you bandwagon fans soo much! Losing Kwon and LVD does really suck but the only thing we can do right now is let them get a full recovery. I’m not trying to rush them back in so they can tear or break something and go on IR for the rest of the season. And all offseason and post game one all you punks thought Jameis was God. Now you’re comparing him to Freeman and saying he has one year left to prove himself. We’re going into our third game so just chill out and shut the hell up for the time being cus you’re not helping anyone.
September 27th, 2017 at 1:57 pm
As Lakeland stated, LB depth is not a problem the problem is the pass rush and the abysmal play of the back end that couldnt cover fat albert in a telephone booth…weird how all of the players that ppl on joe bucs cried for jason licht to reach out to and try and acquire for about 80% of them are starring on their new teams via free agency or the draft..but we have a GM that whiffed in 2016 on the draft and has whiffed thus far in ANY FAs that have been brought here
September 27th, 2017 at 2:11 pm
By the standard laid out here for Doug Martin can Kwon Alexander be held to that as well? Let’s see, 4 game drug suspension, missing time due to injury. Say, didn’t Doug Martin also struggle with a very similarly injured hamstring injury as Alexander’s? Probably much worse than Kwon’s. The big difference is that by year 3 Martin did have a pro bowl appearance and all rookie honors.
My guess is that the standard for Kwon is much different. Here come all the excuses and qualifiers and made up BS to somehow make Kwon’s value so much higher than Martin’s!
September 27th, 2017 at 2:16 pm
The Buc’s offensive line giving JW time so he can score will decide this game.
September 27th, 2017 at 2:17 pm
The reality is: This secondary couldn’t cover a $2.00 bet on a Mayweather fight. It is negative, but things are not always positive.
September 27th, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Jameis Winston will not just get this season and the next to “prove it”? Are you joking? Even if he’s off he’s probably going to be the best QB we’ve ever drafted and has the likely potential to be the best we’ve ever had on the roster. His first two season stats speak for themselves. Sure he throws too many picks, but with experience that should change. He’s a gunslinger, the exact personality we need leading this team. Ever since he’s arrived you can tell his leadership has affected the atmosphere. Sign me up for 10 more years of Winston.
September 27th, 2017 at 2:22 pm
Remember when Kwon said after the Chicago game that he was ready to go?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
September 27th, 2017 at 2:30 pm
Buzzer. Next man up!
This defense gonna be tested for sure.
September 27th, 2017 at 2:33 pm
philly eagles probably has the best defensive front and was leading the leauge in sacks before the giants game
they couldnt sack sheli because the giants get the ball out fast in their short passing game
VH3 and ryan griffen smith doesnt have the skills and talent to play press on the LOS…
sheli will throw short passes right at the LOS and obj and shep is going off to the races…
while koetter is going to play design 25 yard seam routes into traffic
“I want to bet my whole life savings ($687) on the NY Giants +3)
Kobe Faker
September 27th, 2017 at 2:43 pm
Grimes was playing a mean game of ping pong in the locker room.
Spence, per Jenna Laine, was wearing a shoulder harness.
As always, Wednesday injury report is released later this afternoon after practice.
September 27th, 2017 at 2:43 pm
Joe Dirt may get a call up soon….lol…
September 27th, 2017 at 2:47 pm
The “standard,” to use your word, would be production.
Kwon has improved every year he has been in the league and last year led the NFL in solo tackles. Just spoke with various Bucs players who call him the leader of the defense, the source of energy. Bucs folks call him the Jameis of the defense.
Martin, on the other hand, is a boom-or-bust guy. He is either a Pro Bowler (two seasons) or one of the worst running backs in the NFL (three seasons). The Bucs won nine games despite Martin having the worst yards-per-carry in the NFL.
September 27th, 2017 at 2:50 pm
Per Ira’s pod cast, the Bucs have never won a game without Kwon in the lineup. These little nuggets make it worth listening JBF fans. This Sunday won’t be any different unless this team has a major change in its ability to get pressure on the QB. The only good news is I am hopeful Ayers will be highly motivated to play against his old team, who let him go unceremoniously. If this offense can get on track EARLY and not turn the ball over, the Bucs will have a chance. If they wait until half time, its over and the G-men will get their first victory of the year in our house.
September 27th, 2017 at 2:58 pm
Oh Joe…
The Bucs were 7-2 when Martin played last year, and 2-5 when he didn’t.
Aren’t numbers fun? 🙂
September 27th, 2017 at 2:59 pm
And the Bucs are 0-5 without Kwon.
Sounds like we could use both of them back in the lineup.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:13 pm
I don’t expect Kwon or Lavonte back until the game in Arizona at the earliest. We need both at 100%. Kwon’s injury could last all season if the Buccaneers aren’t careful. Reality sucks.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:19 pm
Lord C, I’m with you … too much doom & gloom. Giants are probably very mad right now (0-3), but the Bucs can beat them, even with our injuries. Looked at their box scores from their 3 games, and some patterns certainly emerge. They throw relatively few deep passes (10 thrown, 4 caught for 94 yds TOTAL in 3 games) & have had little success running the ball (47 runs for 146 yds TOTAL in 3 games) and almost all of their runs have been between the tackles. Giants are excellent with the short passing game … Eli is completing 73.5% of his passes. However, they’ve had trouble sustaining drives relying solely on the short stuff. They’ve had very low TOP (averaging about 25 mins per game with a max of 27 mins) because of very low 3rd & 4th down conversion rates. OLine gave up a lot of sacks 1st 2 games (8 total) but none in the 3rd against Philly. Their 4 INTs (0 fumbles) in 3 games isn’t bad.
As I said, Bucs can beat them, but not if we play like we did last Sunday. Three keys defensively IMO: (1) shut down their run; (2) shut down their deep pass; (3) don’t allow any explosive plays off of the short/intermediate passes. Three keys offensively IMO: (1) win the TOP battle decisively; (2) run the ball at least 25 times effectively for 100 yds or more; (3) use the short & intermediate passing game a lot more than we’ve been doing. Bucs will win 31-24 if we do that.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:20 pm
How has Alexander’s production been this season? I imagine pretty similar to Martin’s when he was laid up with the same injury. So to complete the thought, when Martin is not injured he is a measly pro bowler and when Kwon is not injured he is “improving”.
Would you say Alexander is in the “bust” part of a cycle? I’m guessing not. That only applies to Martin.
The standard is set just not applied evenly. Got it.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:20 pm
@Dusthty when are you people gonna let the Aquayo thing go? I think drafting Jameis, Evans, Kwon, Ali, Pamphile, Hump, Brate, OJ, Godwin, Beckwith make up for it. And I wouldn’t say FAs Grimes, Sweezy, Djax, Ward and trading for Logan Mankins is whiffing, especially since Grimes lead in DPs last year and three of those FAs are pro bowlers that have played two games for us.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:21 pm
Losing Kwon for another game would hurt for sure with 54 out as well.
But – our depth at LB is surprisingly good. A real tribute to drafting and coaching.
Glanton at WLB – Beckwith MLB – Bond SLB
That’s perhaps as good as a few team’s starters.
Joe Dirt may be pulled up from the PS this week as Lynch is the only other LBer on the active roster. Maybe not though because that requires cutting someone unless an active player gets put on IR.
Its really tough when you’ve got multiple 2, 3, 4+ week injuries to starters at once. You don’t want to cut anybody at the bottom of the roster to shore up an undermanned position from the practice squad – and its way too early to think about IR for any starter who will be back in a couple/few weeks.
Bucs also have to figure out how to create a roster spot for Doug Martin in 6 days…
Just have to ride out the next couple games with the players we have available and hope more injuries don’t come.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:21 pm
^forgot Noah^
September 27th, 2017 at 3:28 pm
*I forgot about Licht drafting Noah. Nothing to do with your comment Pickgrin
September 27th, 2017 at 3:31 pm
“Bucs also have to figure out how to create a roster spot for Doug Martin in 6 days…”
Oh I don’t know, how about he takes a spot from any one of the spots currently occupied by the three entirely ineffective running backs we currently have on our roster?
There are plenty of other ineffective players on this roster that we could also do without.
September 27th, 2017 at 3:40 pm
Well the Giants will be scoring a lot of points, so Dirk is going to have to open up the playbook…. and no Dirk, opening up the playbook doesn’t mean passing the ball 85% of the time, it means being creative and not predictable.
September 27th, 2017 at 4:08 pm
Sunday will be the perfect time for Dirk Koetter to show what kind of “offensive guru” he is because we cannot expect this defense to contain the Giants offense.
September 27th, 2017 at 4:16 pm
Wow I just saw the practice report from today and Noah Spence AND J Smith were both full participating! Plus Grimes and Chris Baker!
Perhaps not all is lost quite yet.
September 27th, 2017 at 5:12 pm
Could Smith be hinting at Kwon sliding over LvD spot and Beck holding down the middle until LvD is back. Kwon coming off the edge on the blitz to generate some much needed pressure sounds good to me.
Any thoughts???
September 27th, 2017 at 5:17 pm
NO Chance to stop them this week, again. =(
September 27th, 2017 at 5:24 pm
Totally agree Kobe. I don’t know why VH3 is always playing ten yards back when they need to be playing press.