Don’t Buy The Hype
September 17th, 2017
Forget the win, Bucs RT says.
Last year the Bucs had a thrilling win at Atlanta to start the season. It seemed better times were about to take place.
But the next game in Arizona was a horror show. The Cardinals thrashed the Bucs by 33 points. Both Doug Martin and Robert Ayers sustained nasty injuries that shelved them for a period of time. The Bucs looked like the old Bucs, not a playoff contender in any way.
The Dixie Chicks, after that opening loss to the Bucs, went on a roll that didn’t stop until the Super Bowl.
The Bucs? They missed the playoffs despite a late-season surge with a five-game winning streak.
Bucs long time right tackle Demar Dotson told Joe after the Cardinals loss that the Bucs, mostly filled with young players, thought that game was won before they hopped on a plane. If they could beat Atlanta, they could beat Arizona.
That attitude turned out to be so wrong. And it seems the Bucs have learned from their errors. After an impressive win over the toothless Bears today, a few Buccaneers said it is already time to put this win to bed.
“We have to move on to Minnesota,” said defensive end Will Gholston, who racked up five tackles and was a key reason the Bucs held the Bears to a measly 20 yards rushing. [The Vikings] have some great running backs.”
Gholston isn’t the only Bucs player who is already mentally prepping for the Vikings. So too is Dotson.
“We have a good football team,” Dotson said. “We just can’t buy into the hype. Put this one to bed. Come in tomorrow and get ready for Minnesota.
“It starts with our head coach [winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter]. He is preaching that. He even said it when we broke it down [in the locker room after the game]. He said, ‘We are going to come in Monday, put this game to rest and go to Minnesota.’”
The win today is nice but don’t get excited, Dotson said.
“It’s just one win. We don’t want the hype. That’s what we did last year. We won the game [to open the season] and the win lingered. We don’t want this to linger. We want to put it to rest and get ready for Minnesota.
“I hope guys learned from last year.”
Said America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, “This is only one game.”
September 17th, 2017 at 6:00 pm
Speaking of Minnesota and believing your hype. Remember how they started 5-0 last year then had their bye and started a big losing streak. They finished 3-8 for the remainder of that season.
BTW do we have no gamblers on this board? The Bucs covered the spread bigtime!!! Smart Buc fans are cashing in about now.
September 17th, 2017 at 6:03 pm
One game at a time is music to the ears. This team seems to be maturing faster than our past Superbowl team and it might be a product of technology and the internet. Love these players so much!
September 17th, 2017 at 6:12 pm
Dotson is 100% correct.
The Bears are decimated with injuries and not a very good team. The win is great (fantastic actually), but they can’t let it go to their heads.
September 17th, 2017 at 6:28 pm
Celebrate a W today, then get back to work on Monday like the rest of us…..team looked good, you had to like the fact that they had very, very few penalties…..looks like a well-coached football team…..
September 17th, 2017 at 6:35 pm
@Tom excellent point on the penalties.
The team was poised through the whole game.
September 17th, 2017 at 8:41 pm
I was thinking this same point when the game was over (at the end of the first half). We will see next week whether this year will be different than last.
September 17th, 2017 at 9:51 pm
Last year though we went up by 18 in the third quarter and then almost blew it. It wasn’t as dominating an effort as this one.
September 17th, 2017 at 10:33 pm
Translation:
“Da Bears are not da Patriots”
September 18th, 2017 at 8:37 am
Players shouldn’t buy the hype…but fans can!
September 18th, 2017 at 9:11 am
A win is a win in this league whether by 1 or 50. However it is just game one in a very long season with injuries yet to come. All opponents are hard in the NFL. In our division ATL is looking great again as is their new stadium. So lets take her game by game. On to the Vikings…Concentrate solely on them and a victory. Nothing….else!