Checking Out
November 7th, 2017
Joe is convinced more than a couple of Bucs have mailed it in on winning head coach Dirk Koetter, or at least his assistants.
Joe has heard too much chatter from too many players — on and off the record — to suggest there is team unity, and perhaps not even team harmony.
How Koetter can somehow turn this around will determine how many people currently working at One Buc Palace return next year.
One quick thing to appear when a team mails it in and ignores coaching is fundamentals, simple things. In the passing game, spacing is key, meaning to spread out the offense you spread out receivers. This term is common in basketball as well. You don’t want two guys in the same neck of the woods because that drops the likelihood one is open and maybe neither.
Well, Brian Baldinger of NFL Network found an example, seemingly by accident. Baldinger does a fine job of twittering out clips of videos to highlight plays for X’s and O’s analysis. In the video, which you can see below, there are two Bucs receivers slamming into each other on a pass route.
Joe can promise his readers this is not how Koetter has drawn up any pass play.
No, one play doesn’t mean a team is garbage. But from all the rumblings Joe is hearing, and seeing the product on the field, this butcher job of a play is just one small thumbnail image of a big, big picture.
So, how is your day going?
.@Saints playing great defense starts with the little things like quick reroutes by the DB’s. #BaldyBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/RzMrbvR0cR
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 7, 2017
November 7th, 2017 at 2:06 pm
Losers…quitters….no wonder the NFL fan base is eroding ….college ball is where it is at…actually I caught a Friday college game last week….smaller guys that probably will never play football again after their eligibility is up…but boy were those guy flying around playing with PASSION….
November 7th, 2017 at 2:09 pm
Stop Joe it is all Jameis fault. He’s as dumb as a box of hammers, didn’t you know?
November 7th, 2017 at 2:11 pm
Get rid of Licht, Koetter, Smith, unmotivated players, and Winston and hire half decent guys for all of them and we would have a solid roster
November 7th, 2017 at 2:12 pm
But Altered I thought it was all Jameis fault!?!?!?!?! You mean he did not cuase those two to run the wrong routes? How is this possible? I mean according to you and every expert out there the reason this team is bad is 100% on Jameis and his inaccuracy which clearly caused this mistake, just like all of the other mistakes.
November 7th, 2017 at 2:12 pm
The highlight of my football weekend was the Oklahoma vs OSU game. What a hoot.
All I could think about sitting watching the Bucs on Sunday was, that I would rather be outside doing the gardening…. gardening is not what of my favorite things to do, trust me!!! What a waste of a day
November 7th, 2017 at 2:13 pm
I don’t think Jameis is dumb….he is immature, inaccurate and selfish… well maybe dumb when it comes to understanding real leadership
November 7th, 2017 at 2:16 pm
For all the people defending GMC and the vets that have been here a while… News flash if they thought they were a playoff team, if they cared about winning and your a captain like GMC and a self proclaimed leader, where’s your leadership when people are not giving their all and maximum effort? Can’t say anything if you’re not either or your simply a poser. Demar Dotson has been here the longest and never pretended to be anything more than he is. He’s a mouthpiece for the media and this team has no leadership so we’re hoping guys coming in of the streets can do GMC job. Get the posers outta here and watch this team rise
November 7th, 2017 at 2:19 pm
I thot I was jw fault per some Idoitneer buccaneers fans. Omg.
November 7th, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Altered you have to be kidding. Leadership is not about pregame speeches it is about working hard at your craft, trying to help others around you and being a good teammate. You can judge his accuracy if you like but those, including yourself, judging his leadership are just clueless. Also what in the world makes you say he is selfish? Nothing he has done since he has been here has shown that so you are clearly coming from a place of bias, but no one reading this is surprised by that at all. The guy has been giving back to both the community and his teammates since day one so if that is selfish then so be it.
November 7th, 2017 at 2:24 pm
leadership is by example on the field….I could give 2 sheets about stuffing Thanksgiving give away bags….that is all fine and good…but NOTHING to do with game day…
November 7th, 2017 at 2:24 pm
Its all well in good to highlight this, but i am not sure of the rest of his statement
that Jameis basically had to throw the ball away. From the look of the pass it looks like one of the out routes that Jameis missed. And the other thing he missed in this great defense was the inside receivers hand being held.
November 7th, 2017 at 2:38 pm
Wrong again Altered, leadership is more about what you do when nobody is looking as everyone can play a role when on stage (ie McCoy). Real leaders show up to work each day and they keep showing up when things are going well. Enjoy this while you can, Jameis hater, cause it will turn around and when it does I am sure you will slink back into the hole in which you came.
November 7th, 2017 at 2:39 pm
@Not there yet- As someone who often defends GMC, I have to agree with your criticism. There are ZERO voices emanating from a team in an outright, downward, toilet-bowl-like spiral! Someone, ANYONE, has to stand up and say enough IS enough! You’d expect your stalwarts and captains to do this. Anyone can, and should. My gosh, if for nothing but pride.
C’mon!
Go Bucs!
November 7th, 2017 at 2:42 pm
AlteredEgo Says…..those guy flying around playing with PASSION
Saw the same thing at a UCF game this year. Less hassle in parking etc. may have to take a break from BUCS football.
November 7th, 2017 at 2:46 pm
Lets go JAGS!
November 7th, 2017 at 2:47 pm
I keep seeing the get rid of GMC stuff… I like GMC but if we lose out this season I think we should trade him for some picks and rebuild this roster. I wouldn’t just stop there either. We are LOSING with these guys mind as well get something and start a reboot. GMC will have gone through what 4 full coaching staffs? At some point we need to look around and call it what it is… Individually some of these guys put up great stats and those great stats haven’t gotten us anything.
November 7th, 2017 at 2:54 pm
Crazy, this article is talking about how some on the team don’t have the drive to win but somehow this turned into talking about Jameis, a guy who CLEARLY wants to win…..
November 7th, 2017 at 3:00 pm
Joe, wasn’t there a play or two where in the Minny game where our receivers nearly ran into one another??
November 7th, 2017 at 3:10 pm
Just do a CLEVELAND fire sale at draft time…Don’t care if Bucs rebuild again…getting very thin in certain positions…fix now rather than TRY later…DL overhaul is exhibit #1 and add DBs…
November 7th, 2017 at 3:11 pm
Nothing like a paid vacation in sunny Tampa Bay!
November 7th, 2017 at 3:15 pm
I am very very curious to see how they do with Fitz with a week of practice at the starter. Very curious indeed.
Can’t deny the guy comes i and moves the ball.
November 7th, 2017 at 3:17 pm
At least we have one team winning in Fl Profootball. Come on Buc fans..How bout them JAG_WARS?!!
November 7th, 2017 at 3:17 pm
what else should we expect from the bucs…GO BUCS!!!
November 7th, 2017 at 3:19 pm
hey…..at least our kicking game seems to have turned around! Go Bucs!
November 7th, 2017 at 3:19 pm
How sad is it that there are actual people still defending Winston. He was a colossal mistake as a QB. There were signs in college but no one listened. All the interceptions, all the off field trouble and still no one listened. 3 years of inaccuracy, of horrible redzone offense, of more interceptions. It has finally come down to this. His teammates starring in absolute amazement at his Stupid AF pregame speech. The man is simply all talk and a bunch of Stats. Nothing more.
November 7th, 2017 at 3:20 pm
Im switching to be a Jags fan there tickets are cheaper to goto games too!
November 7th, 2017 at 3:23 pm
“Winning” coach Dirk Koetter……..again….Joe, what happened to formerly winning?…..you are as inconsistent with your description of Koetter as Jameis is with his deep passes.
Next think it will be your “winning” Tampa Bay Buccaneers!!!
November 7th, 2017 at 3:25 pm
Jaguars? They have had top five picks since Jameis was a baby. Sooner or later, even a blind pig finds an acorn.
November 7th, 2017 at 3:28 pm
We’ll all keep riding this merry-go-round until the ownership changes. It’s the sad fact of the matter.
Dollars vote. Stop buying tickets, merchandise and watching them on TV is the only way it will change. Football is a business and these ppl are preying on your senses of loyalty, but they don’t deserve your money any more than a restaurant that serves rotten meat.
November 7th, 2017 at 3:36 pm
The Bucs blew a lot of 1st round picks
Two 1st round picks for Jon Gruden, plus two 2nd round picks
Two 1st round picks for Keyshawn Johnson
1st round pick and 4th round pick for Darrelle Revis (none year wonder)
These are the most recent blunders ( last 20 years)
It get worst, if I go back further
November 7th, 2017 at 3:36 pm
***one year wonder**
November 7th, 2017 at 3:39 pm
Don’t do it Lakeland! They’re running out of Crown Royal and Jai-Alai beer at my liquor store!
November 7th, 2017 at 3:40 pm
That just hurts, Joe.
We (the fans) have been screaming, at the top of our lungs, for our DBs to knock guys off their routes and make contact within the 1st 5 yards.
I can count on 1 hand how many times I’ve seen it actually happen this season. What gives? Mike Smith? Hello? Bueller?
November 7th, 2017 at 3:47 pm
I don’t see how that video proves anything about the team quitting. Defense forced them into each other. That’s good defense.
November 7th, 2017 at 3:59 pm
Joe writing “winning bucs coach Dirk Koetter” will get more and more embarrassing as the Bucs continue to lose games (Fitz now in at QB lol) and Dirks overall record continues to plummet. It will get to the point where it is so ridiculous, you question why the head writer/editor of a bucs news site sticks with it.. Every time i see “winning bucs coach Dirk Koetter” I think to myself, well that is a lie.. (11-13 and will get worse) So if the main writer of a site describes the head coach with LIES in EVERY SINGLE article where the head coach is a topic, does that not affect one’s credibility ?
November 7th, 2017 at 4:12 pm
Another sad fact is lavonte David having a monster year on field and has that C on his chest, he has ever right to demand better based on the play in games but it’s silent as a mouse in the locker room. The sidelines are like a morgue on game day because only the free agents know what winning feels like in the NFL can’t step up because it’s not their team and we get them at role player status when they are at the tail end of their career. We saw it in preseason but didn’t want to believe it
November 7th, 2017 at 4:22 pm
The true meaning of bandwagon fans. They are winning so I will back them. Until they start losing. Bye!!
November 7th, 2017 at 4:41 pm
DB55
Its “BAG OF HAMMERS”. There are no “boxes of hammers” sayings. Do you ever get anything right? We all know your Buc takes are off the reservation (another saying). lmao
November 7th, 2017 at 5:27 pm
At derrickbrooksforGM
AGREED. Fitz aint the best option but he is by far not the worst. Curious also, expect the worst, hope for the best.
November 7th, 2017 at 5:32 pm
Hi Joe.
This is a difficult time,….One wants to be positive and give players/coaches time to adjust.
Internet /sports opine on Koetter was that HC might be too much for him.
Myself and others realize this is the bottom line fact.
Koetter admitted over and over to Not having the Team ready to play.,..at least He is character Honest.
The compounding losses revealed a Team with marginal fortitude.
So far in 2017,…Bucs players have Only Had. …Moments of greatness ..on the field.
Bucs fans Hope… vs the obvious breakdowns.
I don’t think Koetter is HC material.
JW needs to be a back up under a Veteran NFL QB for at least 1 year,…
Learn to read defences, become consistent, …practice sharp, …learn Leadership/Ball/Clock, management .
Yes… is JW in over his head. ……You bet!,……He Has Talent. ….if directed properly.
He is risk of washing out totally. …it’s been too much for him.
Team needs to be rebuilt,….aside from recievers. .
Team needs a redirect. …it’s to bad Koetter has not achieved as HC.
Risk is losing JW completely. …and no direction in rebuilding as of now.
Sports writers had pause with Koetter as HC,….seems that has proven to be true.
Who would have thought this team would so catastrophically fall apart…so quickly?
GM has to find a new HC and Veteran QB to rebuild …
I think Jon Gruden could get things corrected. …Question is…rumor and want ..would Gruden/Glazers commit now?
It would be better a new HC …as soon as possible
November 7th, 2017 at 5:45 pm
You people sticking up for a guy who can’t hit a receiver deep or in stride kill me can’t read a defense reminds me of a mother who can’t admit her child is a loser you’re all in denial at least we have two years to see if Gruden can fix him before we have to sign him to hundreds of millions of dollars oh yeah and put him on some Ritalin and get him some contacts
November 7th, 2017 at 6:10 pm
Looked like someone was open across the middle (a little deeper) on that play. I’m just saying
November 7th, 2017 at 6:26 pm
With his constant reference to Koetter as a “winning head coach” Joe has become the laughing stock of the blog world pretty much the way the Bucs are the laughing stock of the NFL.
November 7th, 2017 at 6:29 pm
I can see how some want to trade GMC but JW……you can tell who really watch the game. JW thrives in a no huddle offense, also he’s better when he can run at will(same thing with J. Freeman). Im not saying his game is perfect but jeez, the kid has potential and far as the eye can see, is the only CONSISTANT one who wants to win on this team. All you bandwagon fans should walk the plank asap GO BUCS!!
November 7th, 2017 at 7:03 pm
I think it is one of them that bumped, maybe DJax cause of his speed
November 7th, 2017 at 7:50 pm
First thing I would do?
Cut Baker.
Second thing?
Make Ryan Griffin the starter while Jameis is injured. Not because I think he’ll do all that well or not…but because he needs the experience and if he does well, he might gain trade value later (if we sign him).
November 7th, 2017 at 7:51 pm
The laziness started when Baker came in. Just saying.
November 7th, 2017 at 7:54 pm
derrickbrooksforGM Says
“I am very very curious to see how they do with Fitz with a week of practice at the starter. Very curious indeed.
Can’t deny the guy comes i and moves the ball.”
You forget the other side of that.
Teams will know he’s starting and prepare for him.
Also, both times he came in, it was after we were way behind and the other team was not trying very hard.
November 8th, 2017 at 1:44 am
Carefull,……Glazers have placed Manchester United in reconstruction/share debt,
Manchester United Fans have opposed the Glazers over this.
JW and contract…..Glazers going to pay for this regression show,…39 int’s …Maybe 3 quarters of reasonable performance in 8 games?
How many Bucs players getting huge coin and repeated no show/dump a loaf?
Glazers need to have an independent auditor of NFL salary go over this car wreck for what’s recoverable.
Players need to be cut,….given captains mast/last chance.
Coaches have failed….the product on the field has gone into expired date.
Make no mistake, ….just because the NFL writers dump on JW suddenly, ..does not equal the True True…. reality of how messed up this team is.
If JW was offered to the NFL…..who would want him…and after the recent injury?
Gruden,Monte Kiffin,Brad Johnson. …that = Super Bowl +character players,…such as
A Train /Alstott **
We have some great TE to wide outs,…and a FG kicker, …. then it’s throw bones on a gasoline drum in an alley…. and Papa Legba read your fortune.
Halloween is supposedly over……..Maybe not.
November 8th, 2017 at 8:48 am
Keep the leadership, hire an offensive coordinator to call the plays, fire the quitters. If they quit on our coaches now, they’ll quit on the new ones who will make them work harder. We cant be changing coaches every two years.