“Why Wouldn’t You Run The Ball More?”
September 28th, 2017
Tee-off time
Editor’s note: this post has nothing to do with the escalating sparring of winning Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter and PewterPirates.com analyst Roy Cummings, which reached a new level of comedy this afternoon when Koetter notched another victory during a run-game Q&A at One Buc Palace.
This post is about the running game of the winless Giants, the Bucs’ opponent Sunday.
Man, Joe has listened to Giants analyst after analyst this week, smart and savvy guys and ex-players, and to a man they all believe the Giants are hot garbage.
The Giants woes, it’s widely believed, all start with their playcaller and their inept offensive line.
Former three-time Giants Pro Bowl center Shaun O’Hara (2004-2010) hopped on The Rich Eisen Show today and skewered his old mates.
“My big question is, look, if you know you have an offensive line is struggling in pass protection, that 1-on-1 pass pro is kind of not their thing, why wouldn’t you run the ball more?” O’Hara asked. “You brought in a fullback in the offseason. You brought in Rhett Ellison, the Swiss army knife tight end, and yet hey’re still acting like they’re allergic to running the ball. They have yet to run the ball three times in a row at any point this season. You got to help those guys out.”
O’Hara added that he got angry when “on 3rd-and-friggin’-1” recently the Giants called a toss wide and wouldn’t run up the middle. He said he has no answers for the Giants woes other than the team collectively must play a lot better in all phases of their offense.
“This is definitely trying times for everybody that bleeds blue,” O’Hara said.
Again, this is the same kind of thing Joe is hearing from all angles when it comes to the Giants.
This should be a slam dunk game for the Bucs if their defensive line can break out of their funk. The Giants just aren’t very good, and they’re banged up.
September 28th, 2017 at 7:31 pm
Seems like Joe is just prepping for the hate comments that far outweigh the positive by setting up the narrative of this being a slam dunk game. When in reality they have a solid defense, abover average qb and arguably the best wide receivers in football. Going up against the worst secondary I can remember the bucs dishing out to the point where even when the D line for right through the gaps keenum immediately had somewhere to go. Our pass rush was solid as far as I saw but every time we got close there’s somewhere wide-open to throw. This is anything from a slam dunk and sadly a game I truly believe the bucs will not win and that’s coming from a bucs homer. How in heavens name are we supposed stop Shepard Beckham and Marshall with 3/4 of a corner (Grimes) and as Joe says “zero pass rush”
September 28th, 2017 at 7:35 pm
Dirk Koetter is a Gunslingin OC, that’s why they ran him out of Atlanta. When he came to Atlanta to replace Mike Mularkey, Atlanta was the top rushing team in the NFL. Then Koetter came in, and got rid of Michael Turner. They became a pass happy offense, Matt Ryan was throwing the ball 50 times a game. Then they became a bad team and Dirk Koetter and Mike Smith was history.
September 28th, 2017 at 7:36 pm
I agree, their offense is bad. Little scary they scored 21 in their last quarter of play. But like you said, if our defensive line gets Eli off his spot it should go down. They arent gona run it as we know. Bring the pressure Smitty. If he has time he will case carve us up too. Cmon D Line, turn em blue and black. Go Bucs
September 28th, 2017 at 7:51 pm
2008 Atlanta Falcons 2443 rushing yards, 2009 Falcons 1876 rushing yards, 2010 Falcons 1891 rushing yards, 2011 Falcons 1834 rushing yards, 2012 Falcons 1397 rushing yards, 2013 Falcons 1247 rushing yards, 2014 Falcons 1498 rushing yards, 2015 Falcons 1606 rushing yards, 2016 Falcons 1928 rushing yards. Koetter was with the Falcons from 2012-2014, and the 3 seasons that he was there, they rushed for under 1500 yards all 3 seasons. The 4 years with Mike Mularkey (Before Koetter), their rushing low was 1834 yards. Now Dan Quinn has got the Falcons back on track in the run game. The fact is..Dirk Koetter don’t like to run the ball. The Bucs ran the ball in 2015, because of Lovie, Koetter don’t believe in running the ball. He’s a pass happy playcaller, he won’t change.
September 28th, 2017 at 7:58 pm
Exotic Smash Mouth is doing pretty good in Tennessee
September 28th, 2017 at 8:01 pm
Guys we don’t have the horses.
Charles sims?
Barber?
Rodgers?
Then we have a average at best line.
Now we could have had Kareem hunt and countless others at the 2 pick.
We have 8-8 9-7 talent
September 28th, 2017 at 8:02 pm
Joe- did you not say on a previous article “Joe is just getting vibes that Joe isn’t liking at all about this sundays game”
Next article – this game should be a slam dunk.
Will you guys collaborate a little instead of spewing out unchecked opinion clashing articles. Love the writing but cmon one minute you have bad vibes about the game the next this game is a slam dunk.
What’s clashing? Joe wrote here that if the Bucs D-line breaks from their funk they should win easily. How exactly is that confusing? Secondly, this post is really about former Giants center Shaun O’Hara’s opinion. –Joe
September 28th, 2017 at 8:02 pm
Football is about and has always been about imposing your will on your opponent. Running the ball is the main way to do so. When you’re team is deficient on the line and your backs do pirouettes behind the Los your opponents will impose their will on you.
Weird how all my off-season comments are coming to fruition now bc wtf do I know?
September 28th, 2017 at 8:06 pm
Lakeland
Here’s the truth JW is NOT Koetter’s QB. Don’t forget Koetter drafted Blaine Gabbret. He wants Matty Ice type QBs. Shocked he didn’t keep Glannon he’s perfect for Koetter.
But the failure of this season (if there is one) falls squarely on Licht’s shoulders. When you key cogs and have PS guys basically telling you to fck off there’s a huge problem.
September 28th, 2017 at 9:02 pm
@Joe
Can you confirm the story about the Djax and ME having a huge tirade on the plane up to Minneapolis, and the team had meetings on the issues that were late into the night at the hotel?????????
September 28th, 2017 at 9:03 pm
If any failures this year will be on Mike smith and soft coverage fetish and inability to develop/acquire a stud DE his whole career which he never had one
September 28th, 2017 at 9:16 pm
That’s some eye opening data Lakeland. I’m not much for sithing thru the archives to prove I’ve said sum s@&€* but I distinctly recall saying that even with all these additional toys for Jameis to play with I don’t wanna see him flinging the around 35 to 40x a game. It’s why I was marching for DC so hard,place a weapon back there and all that passing won’t be necessary. I said this during draft season.
September 28th, 2017 at 9:30 pm
Interesting @Realist..let’s wait and see if anyone can confirm this..or it might be kept top secret..
September 28th, 2017 at 9:42 pm
These next several games are gonna be very interesting. The way to beat the Giants is to run the ball, use the short passing game & control the clock. Question is: Do the Bucs have the weapons to do that with? Can OC Dirk Koetter devise a game-plan which accomplishes that if they do?
Cowboys ate up the Giants by running between the tackles (24 runs there for 95 yds … average 4 yds per run) and by passing short left & short right (21 completions of 29 passes attempted there for 203 yds). Dallas also had over 34 mins TOP. Giants are vulnerable. Personally I’d give Peyton Barber a crack at them first (running between the Guards), plus use him in the short passing game to keep them off-balance with a little Chuck Sims thrown in for kicks. Run the ball at least 25 preferably 30 times, looking for a 4 yds per run average. Look to double that (8-10 yds per pass) in the short passing game. 34-35 mins TOP & max of 1 turnover. Bucs win 31-24.
September 28th, 2017 at 9:45 pm
Heard it from two “sources” , trying to confirm this!!!!!!! Second source was pretty detailed!!!!!!!! Has anyone any details yet????????
September 28th, 2017 at 9:58 pm
Realist..it would explain quite a bit of some of the tension among some players and coaches. At least the way I am seeing it..
September 28th, 2017 at 10:02 pm
Realist
That’s called BONDING. Alphas fight that’s what they do. And DJax worse cuz he’s short, Napoleon complex. That chit will be forgotten by mid-season. But it makes for great headlines.
September 28th, 2017 at 10:06 pm
Defense rules
We know running wins games but if a defense can’t stop Keenum then defense on field longer eating a clock and running up scoreboard. Bucs must become what they are a pass first team without those turnovers on offense. Defense was the culprit. Smith Hargreaves msmith play selection was doomed. For what I see right now, it’s imperative to become a pass heavy team cuz that’s where their top talent is at. Jw should become a game manager for now on because he hasn’t demonstrated he cant carry a pro team right now. It’s bleek at best.
September 28th, 2017 at 10:42 pm
Gonna change the subject quickly, did anyone see that Glennon TD?
… is his over-shoulder pass better than Winston’s?
September 28th, 2017 at 11:02 pm
Mike Glennon was so bad, i quit watching the game.
September 28th, 2017 at 11:10 pm
Now Romo is talking about wanting to see Winston make that “next step” that “Mariota and others” have taken, that “players should make in their 3rd year”.
… I agree
September 28th, 2017 at 11:16 pm
I heard it @mike 10….
Yep…I too agree..
September 28th, 2017 at 11:17 pm
Marcus Mariota is surrounding by better football people than Jameis Winston.
September 28th, 2017 at 11:19 pm
I’m not making excuses for Jameis, but the Titans are loaded with coaching experience. And they know how to coach young players and put them in a position to win.
September 28th, 2017 at 11:23 pm
Mularkey has 22 years of NFL coaching experience, including four-plus seasons as a head coach and eight as an offensive coordinator, with coaching stops in Jacksonville, Atlanta, Miami, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. In five of his eight seasons as a coordinator, Mularkey’s teams went to the playoffs.
Dick LeBeau is in his 59th year in the NFL as a player or coach (46th year) and his third with the Titans.
One of the top strength and rehabilitation experts in the NFL, Steve Watterson is in his 32nd season as the Titans’ strength and conditioning coach. He stands as the longest tenured NFL assistant coach with consecutive years working for the same team.
Terry Robiskie enters his second season as the Titans offensive coordinator.
Robiskie, who has 35 previous years of coaching experience in the NFL, including seven seasons as an offensive coordinator, joined the Titans after spending the previous eight seasons as wide receivers coach with the Falcons.
Sylvester Croom is in his fifth season with the Titans as running backs coach and 26th as an NFL coach. He is no stranger to working with elite talent, coaching a who’s who of running backs in his time in the NFL, including Maurice Jones-Drew, Steven Jackson, Ahman Green, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Chris Johnson, DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry.
Russ Grimm enters his second season with the Titans as offensive line coach and his 23rd year as an NFL coach. Grimm is a member of the game’s greatest fraternity, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for his 11-year playing career (1981-91) as a guard for the Washington Redskins. He is one of only 14 full-time guards to receive Hall of Fame status. As a player and a coach, Grimm has earned trips to six Super Bowls, including four wins.
Jason Michael is in his 12th season in the NFL, his fourth with the Titans and second as the team’s quarterbacks coach. In his first two seasons (2014-15) Michael was the Titans offensive coordinator. He joined the Titans coaching staff following three seasons (2011-2013) as the tight ends coach for the San Diego Chargers.
September 28th, 2017 at 11:30 pm
Too much writing, I had to copy and paste. Marcus Mariota is in a great situation in Tennessee .And they have Jon Robinson as GM. You really can’t compare Jameis Winston development to Marcus Mariota. The Bucs coaching staff is not on the level of the Titans coaching staff. Those guys have played the game and have coach the game for a long,long time.
September 28th, 2017 at 11:38 pm
Watching the game right now I will Totally admit my wrong in supporting Mike Glennon and thinking we could be Hitched to him in any way.
He Sucks!
September 28th, 2017 at 11:48 pm
Screenshot that sh!t
September 28th, 2017 at 11:51 pm
Man some you guys are really idiots. You speak as if you have NFL experience and are qualified for more than just an uninformed opinion. One guy says the Titans staff is superior to the Bucs and another guy says JW wasn’t Koetter guy… man this is all over one loss too.
September 28th, 2017 at 11:52 pm
I don’t see how Joe can absorb so much of this crap daily. It’s draining to read some of you all posts and take some of you serious.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:08 am
@LakeLandBuc
Love that you are conveniently leaving out a few choice details in regards to Dirks views of/ success with the running game.
Key pieces of data such as Michael Turner being in the prime of his career under Mularkey’s tenure, and Koetter only having him for his first season there. As well as leaving out that Koetters first year in Atl they came about 10 yards and a TD short of making it to the Super Bowl.
Another detail you chose to omit, is that the decline of the Mike Smith/ Dirk Koetter era in Atlanta can be traced back to the humongous cost of the Julio Jones trade, in addition to losing players to free agency, or the decline of veteran players, and on top of that, poor draft decisions with limited picks due to the aforementioned JJ trade by Dimitroff.
Perhaps the biggest piece of info that I haven’t seen you post, is that Dirk was immensely successful running the football in Jacksonville with MJD and old man Fred Taylor.
When Dirk has the horses, and the game day situation allows, he is more than willing to pound the rock and play smash mouth football. In fact we won several games last season running the ball down Carolina’s and San Fransico in weeks 4 & 5. But I guess you forgot about that stuff.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:09 am
If you think that the Bucs have a coaching staff and FO on the Titans level, then you are one dumb individual.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:20 am
Just to show how dumb this fool really is. The Titans and Russ Grimm has built a wall in Tennessee. They has one of best RB combo in the NFL in Demarco Murray and Derrick Henry. They has a great WR squad in Rishard Matthews, Eric Decker, Cory Davis, Taywan Taylor. TEs Delanie Walker, Jonnu Smith. How can a QB fail with these players?…………Now Einstein tell me what Jameis Winston is surrounded with!!!!
September 29th, 2017 at 12:24 am
Blake, I’m just calling it as I seen it unfold. Even Devonta Freeman only carried the ball 65 times during his one season with Koetter.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:27 am
Here are the rushing stats from Dirk Koetters tenure as the Jaguar’s offensive coordinator.
2007 – 522 rushing attempts for 2,391 yards and 18 TD’s
2008 – 426 rushing attempts for 1,774 yards and 17 TD’s
2009 – 447 rushing attempts for 2,029 yards and 19 TD’s
2010 – 512 rushing attempts for 2,395 yards and 14 TD’s
2011 – 489 rushing attempts for 1,970 yards and 9 TD’s
——————————————
And we all should still remember how successful we were running the ball in 2015. So, I reject your premise that Koetter is some how pass happy and averse to having a ground game. I reject it entirely sir. You are fake news.
But you just go right on ahead hating on the team you’re supposedly a fan of.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:30 am
Hey there LakeLand, I think you may has a slight issue in that there grammar you are using.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:31 am
Blake, I know what he did in Jacksonville. I also know that Jack Del Rio was responsible for them running the ball so much.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:32 am
And we know that Run-First Lovie was responsible was him running so much in 2015.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:34 am
I’m multi-tasking, Lovie was responsible for the Bucs running so much in 2015.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:37 am
How convent. Know nothing Lovie. Smith was responsible.
It certainly wasn’t the guy who designed and installed the offense. Or the fact that Doug Martin and Chuck Sims both had phenomenal seasons.
It was simple ole’ 2-14 Lovie Smith that can’t even produce a successful offense in college let alone the pro’s.
Yup, Koetter, despite having an extensive history of successful, balanced offense, both in College and the pros… He had nothing to do with it mate.
You serious with that crap?
September 29th, 2017 at 12:38 am
I don’t hate the Bucs, I call it as I see it. I see a piss-poor football team. If some fans get offended, because I type the truth. So be it, life goes on. Nothing personal, the truth hurts. Now see me in January, when it’s all said and done.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:38 am
Convenient*
September 29th, 2017 at 12:39 am
You can call it as you see all you like bud. But the way you see it is severely flawed.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:40 am
There is your truth, and the actual truth. Two entirely different things.
September 29th, 2017 at 12:52 am
Blake, I apologize for my many errors and poor grammar. And I was multi-tasking, and it’s late. I’m burned out man, I had a long day.
Adios Amigos
September 29th, 2017 at 1:24 am
It’s definitely late because I’ve read both of your comments in the past and enjoyed them but this back and forth is exhausting. Koetter wont run the ball a ton unless we are up until Martin returns against New England and hopefully he tears them a new arse. Jamies HAS to carry this team and has PLENTY of weapons. When he threw that ball to Evans who was triple covered, OJ was wide open down the seam. Koetter has had a great gameplan both games, and Im sure they will be ready for the Giants. Just gotta EXECUTE the plan and Winstons quick decision making is flawed. Jury is still way out on whether his mind can catch up to his talent.
September 29th, 2017 at 1:43 am
Mike Mularkey: Never going to give up on the running game, we’re going to keep pounding it and its been helping our passing game as well.
Words of Wisdom
September 29th, 2017 at 4:59 am
LakelandBuc … If I had the Titans’ OLine plus Derrick Henry & DeMarco Murray I’d run the ball too. Maybe even 50 times a game (those are 2 horses). I also think Tennessee has an excellent coaching staff, very good GM & is building a super organization. They’ll be a contender for many years in the AFC South, as will Jacksonville I think. Bucs are lagging both of them by a couple of years IMO (in terms of drafting particularly).
September 29th, 2017 at 6:38 am
Lakeland… We are usually on opposite ends of the Winston train, but I’m kind of with you on this. Hard Knocks revealed somethings to me regarding Koetter’s coaching style. His handling of Jameis has not been great. Jameis is by all accounts and all evidence a person who wants to learn and wants to improve. Jameis also likes to take blame and push accolades away. The problem with this is that at some point, people (even coaches) start believing this.
Koetter is eager to push the blame to Winston. Not that Winston doesn’t deserve a bunch of it, but coach’s must understand when it’s time to apply pressure on the QB and when its time to take it away. Winston is not thriving under the constant scrutiny. Koetter is acting like he called the perfect game on Sunday. He just didn’t.
I’ve almost written a thesis on the second interception over the course of 3-4 of these articles. This is my conclusion. Koetter may be correct is saying that Winston is making the wrong reads, but that doesn’t make Koetter correct in his coaching. Is Winston being coached to make the correct reads? Is all of the yelling from Koetter breaking Winston? No matter how powerful a person’s confidence is, there is a limit.
Koetter can yell and point and throw Winston under the bus, but Koetter needs to realise quickly. He needs to fix Winston ASAP and his current methods aren’t working. Franchise QB’s are harder to find than head coaches. The Glazers will try another coach with Winston before they try another QB with Koetter.
September 29th, 2017 at 7:42 am
Destnjohnny
Re: horses
Bingo.
September 29th, 2017 at 9:26 am
I went to the Buc website and they don’t have Koetter’s press conference up like normal. They have Jameis and Monken, was it that good?
September 29th, 2017 at 9:38 am
This team has zero excuses for a lack of a running game and that falls on the coaching staff namely Koetter himself. Why is it that we never seem to simulate the run game with a short pass / quick throw offense. How bout D’Jax (one of the fastest guys in the league) on a reverse. Where are all the plays that get or backs the ball in space. Screens, pitches, short dump off etc. Each and every week I find myself appalled at the lack of variety in our play calling always seems like the only thing this team does is run between the tackles and throw intermediate routes. Dirk needs to open up the play book and get a little creative, with our defensive ranks being as decimated at they are, he needs to find a way to extend drives and maintain offense because if we can’t win the possession battle we may not win another game.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:06 am
@Lakeland…I agree 1000%….dirk abandons the run way to early and way to often….
the reason why the jags were successful at running it was because of del rio…same with the bucs in 2015…we all knew lovie wanted to run the ball….everything you said was spot on…@blake and other are trying to make excuses for dirk…hold him accountable….GO BUCS!!!