Put The Blame Where It Belongs
November 8th, 2017
BY IRA KAUFMAN
Dirk Koetter’s shift from coordinator to head coach hasn’t exactly been a boon for the Buccaneer offense.
I keep going back to 2015, when Koetter served as Lovie Smith’s offensive coordinator during Jameis Winston’s rookie season.
With Winston taking every single snap, the Bucs averaged 21.4 points and set a franchise record for total yards. The ground game was particularly robust, ranking No. 5 in the league in yards (2,162) and No.2 in average yards per carry (4.8).
Opposing defenses had to respect Winston’s play-action because Doug Martin and Charles Sims proved to be a formidable tandem. Martin finished as the NFL’s second-leading rusher while Sims was incredibly efficient, adding more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage backing up an All-Pro back.
Those were the days.
That offensive balance eroded last season, when Martin was hurt, then suspended, and Sims was ineffective. Tampa Bay’s offensive line failed to open many holes in 2016, but a defensive surge triggered a five-game winning streak and nobody seemed to notice the Bucs weren’t good enough in front of Winston.
Now, you can’t help but notice how this offensive front gets pushed around on a weekly basis, despite the presence of J.R. Sweezy, who was supposed to supply a nasty streak.
Tampa Bay is on pace to attempt 99 fewer runs than in 2015, when Koetter didn’t have all the responsibilities that come with the head coach position. Instead of rushing for 2,162 yards, these Bucs are on pace for 1,310 on the ground. Instead of averaging 4.8 yards, this group averages 3.7 yards per carry.
That’s a sickly number, particularly when you realize the Bucs hadn’t suffered an injury up front all season until Sunday, when Donovan Smith hurt his knee.
Lost Focus
Peyton Barber kept breaking tackles against the Saints last weekend — and still ended up with lousy rushing numbers. Martin has done very little in the past four games and Sims has disappeared.
At some point, the men up front have to take responsibility for an offense that has topped the 17-point mark only four times in eight games.
“Peyton did do a good job of breaking tackles and running after first contact,” Koetter says, “but when you really look at the carries, Doug didn’t really have great opportunities. He had a clean hitter on him way too often.”
In 2015, Winston was throwing to Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Brandon Myers, Donteea Dye and Louis Murphy. Now he’s surrounded by more talented targets yet the Bucs are averaging almost two points less per game.
Before anyone tries to run Winston out of town, how about focusing on running the football?
Steady Miss
Demar Dotson, the longest-tenured Buc, has probably been the most consistent lineman. Kudos to Dotson, but it’s not supposed to be that way. That honor is supposed to go to Smith, Ali Marpet or Sweezy.
A physical, well-coached offensive line can make up for a lot of weaknesses. If you can’t block, you can’t win in this league. Look no further than the Giants, Bucs and Broncos, who are a combined 6-18.
Buc fans have to look past Winston’s maturity issues and place the blame where it belongs … in the engine room.
With rare exception in franchise history, the Bucs haven’t drafted and developed Pro Bowlers along the offensive line. That’s a trend that has to change because this team doesn’t impose its will.
In January, Buc owners will be tempted to impose theirs.
Ira Kaufman is the most beloved, revered and esteemed Buccaneers columnist in town. He has hung his hat at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters since July 2016. Tampa Bay’s only Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, Ira busts out columns here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and his award winning podcasts fire Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also see Ira every football Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on FOX-13, Scott Smith’s Tailgate Sunday.
November 8th, 2017 at 12:05 pm
Well the blame is on the GM, who figured Ryan Smith would be a safety HUGE Miss, aguayo a Kicker huge miss, and marpet a center RIDICULOUS BAD MISS, that is the qb of the OL and the guy cannot do that and snap the ball and be effective..then sweezy and the LT (who should be Laremy Tunsil) but the bucs LT is a TURNSTILE who does not care and got the franchise QB a bad wing….the bucs are very similar to the Florida Gators: a program that was better off 4 years ago than they are right now
November 8th, 2017 at 12:21 pm
It’s not how many times you run, Ira, it is when you run the ball. Per Warren Sharp, the Buccs ran the ball the most of any team on first and second downs. Teams are playing the run and as a result we are facing long third downs. When it becomes third and long teams KNOW you have to pass and that forces turnovers and penalties (from having to protect longer, crowd noise, etc. al). The key in the nfl is to keep teams on their heals, avoid third downs, while attacking their weakness. The Patriots do a masterful job in efficiency.
November 8th, 2017 at 12:26 pm
Dirk Koetter’s shift from coordinator to head coach hasn’t exactly been a boon for the Buccaneer offense.
I keep going back to 2015, when Koetter served as Lovie Smith’s offensive coordinator during Jameis Winston’s rookie season.
With Winston taking every single snap, the Bucs averaged 21.4 points and set a franchise record for total yards. The ground game was particularly robust, ranking No. 5 in the league in yards (2,162) and No.2 in average yards per carry (4.8).
YOUR RIGHT!!!!…THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!!
gotta place the blame on dirk, smitty and licht….
dirk+smitty+licht= clean house….GO BUCS!!!
November 8th, 2017 at 12:30 pm
The trenches have been neglected and they need to be cleaned out. I can rent them my backhoe.
November 8th, 2017 at 12:34 pm
In 2015, Winston was throwing to Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Brandon Myers, Donteea Dye and Louis Murphy. Now he’s surrounded by more talented targets yet the Bucs are averaging almost two points less per game
^^BINGO^^
and the dirk lovers scream the offense hasn’t regressed….BS…dirk is doing less with more talent….and he refuses to stick to the run game or play the better RB….we’re on pace to have 99 fewer rushes than in 2015….C’MON MAN!!!….on top of that, he forces our franchise QB to throw 40 and 38 times with a bum shoulder…..C’MON MAN!!!….
an dirk’s suppose to be an offensive guru….yeah right….maybe he wouldn’t be half bad if he had someone holding his hand like lovie did in 2015….GO BUCS!!!!
November 8th, 2017 at 12:50 pm
Give us John Gruden back!
November 8th, 2017 at 12:54 pm
where’s Realist?
November 8th, 2017 at 1:01 pm
Games are won or lost up front, on both sides of the ball. The defensive line may be the worst in the NFL, and the offensive line is under-achieving. Those two things are strictly on the GM.
There is a lot of finger pointing going on, but when you are 2-6 there are a lot of places to point.
November 8th, 2017 at 1:30 pm
so let me get this straight…a defensive coach knew how to run an offense better than the offensive guru he brought in?…..SMDH….and the dirk lovers say lovie was incompetent….GTFOH…GO BUCS!!!
November 8th, 2017 at 1:32 pm
Ghingus Kwon Says:
November 8th, 2017 at 12:54 pm
where’s Realist?
^^BINGO^^
add
@LC
@BONZAI
@HAWAIIAN
@PICKGRIN
to that list too!!….GO BUCS!!!!
November 8th, 2017 at 1:38 pm
This team has REGRESSED with BETTER players. There is too much blame to go around.
November 8th, 2017 at 1:39 pm
@Ira … “Before anyone tries to run Winston out of town, how about focusing on running the football?” Music to my ears Ira. I look at what Drew Brees did to us Sunday & have to chuckle. Here’s one of the best passers in NFL history IMO, and they (the Saints) ran the ball on almost 55% of their plays. The vast majority of his passing (23 of 27 passes) were short … only 4 deep passes all game, with 2 completions. The Saints’ run game has turned out to be Drew Brees’ best friend (unlike in some years past where it was Air New Orleans). And it’s paying off in their winning 6-2 record.
The Bucs used that same approach in 2015 (ya, under Lovie) when they ran the ball 46% of the time & sported the #8 rushing attack in the league (averaging 4.8 yds/run). Two rookies on that OLine (Marpet & Smith) plus 3 hurtin’ old-timers (Mankins, Hawley & Cherilus) played a bunch. Fast forward to 2016 … Marpet, Smith & Hawley are still in there, but Pamphile & Dotson replace Mankins & Cherilus as starters. Bucs running attack dips a little down to 44% of the snaps, but it drops big-time to #24 as our rushing average plummets to 3.6 yds/run). Thus far in 2017 … Marpet & Smith are still starting, as are Pamphile & Dotson, but we’ve added Sweezy and changed Marpet over to center. Bucs running attack drops down to a tad less than 37% of the snaps, it drops even further to #28 in the league, but our rushing average stays about the same (at 3.7 yds/run). RBs Martin & Sims here all 3 years … but running behind radically different OLines.
Before we focus on running the football Ira, Bucs need to get this OLine shaped up. This mix of starters isn’t cutting it, plain & simple.
November 8th, 2017 at 1:53 pm
Exactly. Blames on dirk. He doesnt have lovie around to tell him to run. Nor was lovie around when they were supposed to be practicing tackle football during camp. Dirk thought he was going to a dance this year. The guy is in way over his head. Mike smith is terrible too. Adios boys. Lets get a hc in here who likes to play tackle football, not some fantasy crap dirk is playing. Too many bad examples of coacbing to list. Thats when its time to move on.
November 8th, 2017 at 2:08 pm
For the sake of this website I’m not going to engage 813 anymore after this.
813 – this is my last post to you unless I feel like saying something positive.
I already ate crow on believing in this staff… I owned my sh1t. I literally used the words “I’ll eat crow”. I haven’t hid from anything ever. So at this point you calling out my name just looks like a sad obsession.
I’ve owned my sh1t much more so than you ever owned anything last year when all your literal season predictions and / or analogies were proven to look ridiculous for 2016. You never owned it you just changed your tune and hedged your bets going into this year so that you could come on here and still get off on the losing if it happened. That’s really why you’ve annoyed the sh1t out of me because I can just see through your shtick…You basically put yourself in a win-win position while still talking sh1t all along the way:
Bucs win you get to act like you were supporting it all along – “yippie go Bucs! I give credit where credit is due teehee!”
Bucs lose you get to say “told ya so! You freaking idiots! Stop hiding!”
That’s an easy a4s position to take and one that takes absolutely no balls and is kind of a dipsh1t move imo. Period. You’re not laying anything on the line by taking that approach.
I believed in the staff; I thought Koetter was a good hire; and I thought we made good moves to position ourselves to improve on a season in which we finished 6-2 the last 8 games while playing some pretty damn good teams.
That 8 game stretch to end the season was still the best football I’ve seen from this team between every single coach we’ve had since Gruden (including the 10 win Rah season which was a huge fluke when you look at who we were playing). That’s a fact that I don’t really think is debatable. We beat good teams in meaningful games that mattered on our way to almost making the playoffs for the first time in forever. Our defense played better than it had in years or under any other staff. The locker room had a vibe of a true family that I thought would carry over with a franchise QB entering his 3rd year.
That’s why I was positive as hell about this season. That’s why it’s hard to reconcile the above facts with what has happened this year. But I have no problem admitting this staff is failing when they are and saying I was wrong for thinking they had this team going in the right direction. The entire organization is failing. Light hired Koetter so that goes from the top down. I’m not sure what the solution is or will be; but we’re all sick of the losing in the end.
That’s all I got. If i address 813 again it will be something positive. I think we actually may be on the same page with our CBs in terms of VHIII and our thoughts. So at least there is some form of common ground. But just know that dumb baseless sh1t talking is not going to get a response from me anymore. Not worth it. Go bucs.
November 8th, 2017 at 2:17 pm
Dirks not missing tackles, blocks or assignments. He’s not overthrowing receivers he’s not dropping catches or making misreads. If Jameis’s shoulder was so bad he would not have played… period. Butt how do you heart your shoulder and then unleash 300+ Yards? Doesn’t work like that. I’m going in for my 3rd Effin shoulder surgery. I promise you it doesn’t work like that. Has Dirk made mistakes… sure, absolutely. Point out a coach that hasn’t who is not named Billicheck. Koetter doesn’t have roster control. The Marpet blunder is another topi. He needs to go to g again. Can Dirk better prepare his team? Yes, that’s on him. Jameis is reckless with the ball and cannot really be trusted. 7-13 in the first half?? C’mon. His inaccuracy is astounding and focuses too much on Evans instead of the check downs. All you FSU homers cannot seem to see it. What exactly has Jameis done to be so highly lauded? Our free agent talent??? Outside of Djax who hasn’t really done much there isn’t any to speak of. The team was very led and everyone’s expectations were too high. I place most of the blame on the GM. His aquisitions have been awful and Dirk has to deal with the ramifications. Licht needs to go, not Dirk.
November 8th, 2017 at 2:33 pm
the bucs are paying the price because of Ira’s BS sales job which ended up with the unqualified one dimensional fool in the hall of fame. Now Ira does deserve credit for leading one of the greatest con jobs in pro football history that being said Karma is a beotch, the choirboy curse is real and the losing culture led by cancer93 is payback for Ira pitching a bum with a career losing playoff record to a once great institution that is now meaningless.
If I was Charles Manson I’d be hitting Ira up for help with his next parole hearing. At least Manson has a much better argument than a underachieving one dimensional has been nice guy that can’t win when it matters most.
November 8th, 2017 at 2:34 pm
THANK YOU. Finally someone who realizes who’s at fault. Winston has been inaccurate at times but still has reduced turnovers and producing his best season. His shoulder is so clearly bothering him it’s mind numbing that people are just throwing that out the window. Run the damn ball and stop someone defensively. After that happens and Winston struggles we will then talk
November 8th, 2017 at 2:49 pm
Ali Marpet is a pro bowler, Ira.
November 8th, 2017 at 2:51 pm
LC
I wasn’t asking you to eat crow again…..that would be childish….I was simply asking for you opinion on what IRA said….
damn lighten up….LOL….
I actually think your very knowledgeable on the game and the bucs but got sucked into @realist propaganda and lovie bashing….no doubt lovie made his fair share of mistakes…I just want fans to hold dirk to the same standard as they held lovie….he was a defensive coach whos defense regressed….dirk is an offensive coach whos offense has regressed….simple as that!!!…now if you can get @realist to eat his crow, you’ll be JBF MVP…LOL…take it easy!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
November 8th, 2017 at 2:59 pm
Without adequate personnel on the offensive line and at RB, how can you judge Dirk?
He’s not running because the Bucs don’t have the personnel to run.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:07 pm
Talent void boys.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:26 pm
GM has to go! He has a penchant for choosing players in FA and draft that are soft, weak and way too eager to quit on the team when adversity strikes. Too many to mention. Lots of loafers as well. Take a wait and see approach to the rest of the season with DK and fire Smith at season’s end, but Licht has to go now! If not, he will keep on overpaying for the wrong players/cancers and won’t discard the pretenders (GMC, Ward, Conte, Donovan Smith, Ayers, Sims, Martin…). Bucs should play Griffin at QB the rest of season. Next draft, Dline and Oline and get a QB if Griffin stinks.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:27 pm
Same old s*** from this team ! New coach and general manager till the Glazer boys get it right ! Get a proven commodity for a change , and BS to anyone who points to Lovie as proven !
November 8th, 2017 at 3:30 pm
Thats right IRA..Put the blame where it belongs. We blamed Schiano..We blamed Lovie Dovie..Now Why? are we giving Mr Koetter an exception to the rule? He is..the captain of the ship. Therefore he’s going down..head 1st with the ship. He should like his predecesors..take the blame. And Just..us..for all sir!!!! He never was HC material. His place was at OC where he can concentrate on one job only. He should have his bags..along with Smitty..at the greyhound bus station..I was never for his hire. And always said it was a big mistake. And it has been.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:35 pm
Hey Irv,
It all starts at the top…
November 8th, 2017 at 3:39 pm
Mr. Light needs to hit the road and take the running back and both lines with you. . Have you ever seen a qb that can’t throw deep or miss open receivers like the bucs 1st pick in the draft ?…
November 8th, 2017 at 3:40 pm
Anyone stop to think that when the Glazers offered DK the job it was with the proviso that he also kept the OC responsibility.
the probably saved 5-6 million a year with that bundle of responsibilities going to one person.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:47 pm
As I said all along…they got the wrong weapons for Winston. They should have got him a TRUE Center, leave Marpet at Guard. Draft a legit 3 down RB, add another possession WR. Draft a DE,CB, re-sign Bradley McDougald and Akeem Spence.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:49 pm
Time to talk about positive stuff now.
Finally, we’ll get to see Chris Godwin as a starter this week. Will he shine? I hope so!
Bucs also signed a new DE this week. I think he was a Jets castoff.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:50 pm
813 sounds good man.. and I am ready to lighten up in general.
I’m sure there’d be less argue-ing on here when our team is actually a sustainable consistent winner. I really am sorry for all the times I’ve been insulting to anyone on here. It’s really dumb and a waste of time. Seeing a ton of Bucs fans in New Orleans and having a great time despite the loss kind of put things in a better perspective.
When you lose a lot you’re always trying to figure out who to blame; which leads to most the disagreements and discussions on here. This sh1t can make anyone lose their minds lol. Everyone’s heads are spinning every year; and we are trying to put our finger on exactly what needs to be changed; and I don’t think anyone has ever nailed it really. We’ve all been right and wrong about different things.
As for Ira’s take and just the state of this franchise; I have a lot of mixed thoughts right now. I don’t believe we live in an era of NFL football where a new coach needs at least 3 years to turn things around. We see too many quick turn arounds to say that.
I don’t believe in rooting for continuity for the sake of continuity exactly; unless you can see measurable growth throughout those coaches tenures. But so far no staff has done it imo. Rah’s team collapsed by early year 2 and he looked in over his head. Schiano lost the locker room with his ultra authoritarian methods and was a joke in terms of actual coaching and 2nd half ajdustments. We had one of the worst 2nd half offenses in history under Schiano. Lovie technically improved from his 2 win season; but he came in saying we should expect to win immediately before that 2 win season lol; so winning 6 games as an “improvement” wasn’t really meaningful to me; especially considering how we ended the year; and especially (the biggest thing to me) how he pridefully took over the defense and it became one of the worst across all of these coaches. If he simply kept Leslie Frasier in charge; and Dirk running the offense; well that may have been a formula for success actually but we’ll never know.
And now with Dirk; we see the best 1st season since Rah; and this time against a tough schedule. To me that has been the most impressive season still between all these hires. But here we are again – year 2 of the staff – and Dirk looks to have lost the team and has one of the worst locker rooms of any staff.
At this point I duno man. Light has drafted OK – at least average – which is much better than Dominic – but I also don’t think Light has the vision needed for what this team needs as an identity in terms of the type of players it brings in (in terms of attitude / heart / leadership) and how it needs to be coached.
I think Koetter could be a solid OC; but not so sure about head coach. Mike Smith has a great track record before this season – but has not done well this year.
Maybe we need a president of operations or at least some sort of above-it-all leadership with a cohesive goal about what it really takes to rebuild the mentality here. The equivalent of a Tom Coughlin’s effect on the Jags (Bucs uncensored podcast was about this and didn’t sound like a bad idea).
I duno who that guy is though yet. It could just be a good enough coach coming in like Harbaugh and maybe not a president of operations.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:50 pm
But this is Dirk Koetter fault. He wanted a Vertical Offense,with a gunslinger at QB. He wanted to throw the ball 40 times a game.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:50 pm
I applaud you Ira- finally someone who writes for this site is finally calling out the o-line’s struggles in the run game.
Maybe you can drop some knowledge on the 2 J0es during your podcast tomorrow, because they seem to think the RB should be able to block multiple lineman already in the backfield, and also somehow run the ball at the same time.
But yet we keep being told it’s all Martin’s fault, not the o-line or the playcalling. Thanks for an honest assessment, Ira!
November 8th, 2017 at 3:55 pm
@tmaxcon … “At least (Charles) Manson has a much better argument than a underachieving one dimensional has been nice guy that can’t win when it matters most.” I need to make sure I understand you correctly tmaxcon. Ira … bad. GMC … bad. Charles Manson … maybe OK. Got it.
November 8th, 2017 at 3:58 pm
Who do we have on the roster who can get more than 3 sacks other then 93?
Secondary??
Grimes is 35
Everyone else is marginal
O line????
Marpet is okay at guard
Smith??
Guys this team is void
November 8th, 2017 at 3:59 pm
Unb
seem to think the RB should be able to block multiple lineman already in the backfield
————–
You misspelled quarterback
November 8th, 2017 at 4:08 pm
LOL DB!
November 8th, 2017 at 4:14 pm
because this team doesn’t impose its will.
In January, Buc owners will be tempted to impose theirs.
OH HELL YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 8th, 2017 at 4:26 pm
Good one DB. How correct you are.
November 8th, 2017 at 4:44 pm
LC
It’s easy bro TRADE MCCOY for an ice cream sandwich. Problem solved! Oh wait and stifle every single “real fan since 78” Gag and blindfold them. Then sell the team to diddy. The Tampa Sharks, I like it.
November 8th, 2017 at 4:49 pm
Bucs need to get rid of every running back and defensive end on this team and start over at both positions.
November 8th, 2017 at 4:52 pm
LC
same here…sorry for the insults….but your 100% correct…this type of stuff will make the most passionate bucs fan go crazy….insane…LOL…and if we were winning we would all be one happy family….
the old sang is true…its not when you lose but how you lose…..as much as I wasn’t on board with the hiring of dirk, I did want him to be successful….I wanted him to be the HC for the next 10years at least….the last thing I wanted is to replace dirk after 2 years….
much like you, I don’t know what they should do because its just so bad….the easy thing to do would be clean house but then we’ll have to do our due diligence to bring in a proven HC…and throw BIG$$$ at him….
whether they choose to stay with this regime or not, im still going to support the bucs….unfortunately, from the house….
wifey says I spend too much energy, money and time on the bucs(she’s right..being on JBF all day is a perfect example)…I have a bucs man cave 4 jerseys and season tix….
she begged me to make a bet with her that if the bucs go to the playoffs, I can buy another jersey, another poster/picture and renew my tix….if we miss the playoffs I cant buy sh!t….no jerseys…nothing for the man cave…cant renew my tix….IM IN BAD SHAPE RIGHT NOW!!!!….this is why ive been such a d!ck this year towards everyone and dirk…..LOL….GO BUCS!!!!
November 8th, 2017 at 4:58 pm
813
You are suffering from McIceCream syndrome. You’re going to need a new set of balls. This condition could be fatal if not eradicated immediately. Be careful bro, thoughts and prayers to you homie.
November 8th, 2017 at 5:12 pm
@DB55
LMAO….GO BUCS!!!!
November 8th, 2017 at 5:23 pm
You can’t talk about lack of talent on the O-Line without acknowledging the whole #Weapons4Winston mania that gripped the Bucs. Winston, who Ira just admitted is playing “terribly”, can’t hit his weapons, partially because the O-Line is weak, which was ignored in the off-season.
November 8th, 2017 at 5:32 pm
lmao damn 813 no wonder. My wife doesn’t understand any of this
@DB55
I’m fine with trading Gerald McCoy at this point. No offense to him but he really is the only consistent leader through all of these years of having a sh1t defense. It might not have anything to do with him but at this point I’d rather play that experiment and do what we can to rebuild the D-line. DE/DT every pick is fine with me honestly I don’t give a sh1t
November 8th, 2017 at 5:46 pm
LC
Looks like it only took 3 years for people to see the light.
November 8th, 2017 at 6:19 pm
weapons for winston meant a fast WR (done) and a 3 down back… Oops!! Dalvin Cook was the play at #1. OJ Howard may be great one day, but we were set at TE and18 other teams were able to pass on this mountain of a shiny new toy. If not Cook than any DE would have done, you could always get Kamara, Hunt or hell even Marlon Mack in the 2nd or 3rd. There was so much that should have been done differently. But since we did draft OJ- how about you throw the guy the ball more than once or twice a game. Those 3 throw backs were failures on the defense, imagine his stats if someone stays home and runs with him? But they didn’t and those plays were freaking awesome. The next week- 2 targets, Ugghhh!!! BTW Brate is still awesome. Has anyone heard from Humphries this year? How about Godwin? There is no rhythm at all to this offense. I sit Jameis the rest of the year and move D Smith to either guard or RT. Not ready to give up on him yet, just ready to give up that he is a LT in the NFL.
November 8th, 2017 at 6:22 pm
813… vibes my man.
November 8th, 2017 at 10:48 pm
Ira, this team is STILL a few years away from having enough talent to make it to the Playoffs on a consistent basis. We should have made it last year if Jameis hadn’t thrown 18 INT’s. The defense played good enough to make it though. Oh yeah, Aguayo cost us at least one game, I almost forgot. Which brings me to this teams main problem, Jason Licht!!!
He has had 4 years to rebuild this team and we are no closer to being a contender than we were 4 years ago. There is barely any talent on defense other than LVD and Dominick is the one who drafted him and soft a$$ McCoy. He has mainly drafted offensive weapons, wasted a 3rd AND a 4th round pick on a kicker (BUST), and we STILL can’t average 20+ points a game (you said it yourself). Time for someone else to bring the RIGHT talent here, he’s had enough time to show us what he can do. Which brings us to Dirk Koetter!
Everyone (including Joe’s) needs to knock off the #FireKoetter crap! How many coaches are you (wannabe) GM’s gonna run out of town before you give someone a chance to turn this ship around? I am sick of the same crap people post on JBF (EVERY DAMN DAY)!!! I do like to argue my point though and see if others are seeing the same thing I am. We should be 4-4 or maybe even 5-3 right now (SO PUT THE PITCHFORKS DOWN LOSERS)!!! The ONLY way Dirk should be replaced is IF you can talk Gruden OR Harbaugh into coming here BEFORE you fire him. Those are the ONLY 2 coaches I trust to evaluate Winston before his rookie contract is up. Otherwise, Dirk should get at least another year. Who cares if the players won’t play for him? Get rid of the ones that won’t!!!
As for Mike Smith, let the NEW GM decide whether he should get another year OR not. If the players don’t fit his scheme get rid of them. Don’t bring in a new DC unless he has had a TOP 5 or TOP 10 defense for at LEAST 3-5 years. That’s the problem, the Glazers don’t know who to hire when they replace someone. Sometimes you should ONLY get rid of an OC or DC, not both AND the coach as well. We have been rebuilding for about 10 years now and it’s time for some stability (don’t you think?)!!! OR should we do this again in 2-3 years? Stop the madness!!! We ALL know defense WINS Championships, right? I see posters talk about DIlfer and B. Johnson winning Superbowls and that is how they did it, Flacco too. I just want to WIN again, please!!!
November 9th, 2017 at 12:47 am
Some of this blame is definitely on Jason Licht. He is the one who chose to pass up on a running back in the draft when Doug Martin was going to be suspended and was coming off an injury riddled 2016 season. The most egregious of all was when he didn’t bring in any pass rush help when Spence and Jacques was coming off major surgery, Spence is on IR for the same injury and Jacques is not even on the team anymore.
Don’t think i forgot about Koetter. He set the tone for this team in the offseason when he talked about he wanted players to have fun, this is their job and he’s talking about fun. Then there was training camp. From all accounts the Bucs had the easiest training camp in recent memory. Now the Bucs are a team that lacks physical and mental toughness.
November 9th, 2017 at 11:27 am
it’s the QB, not the line. no respect for JW means no running lanes. it’s as simple as that. Dirk needs to coach better. Maybe a little deception once and a while.
November 9th, 2017 at 11:37 am
@813- The wife keeps a straight-jacket in the spare bedroom for me when I get too close to the edge! Since I’ve taken up basket-weaving as my Sunday hobby, I’m sure she’ll loan it to you if you need it! YOU need it!!! LOL!
@DB55- What KIND of ice-cream sandwich? It’s an important distinction!