Long, Long Way To Go
January 15th, 2018
Damning pattern.
What fun games yesterday, unless you are a Steelers and/or Saints fan.
Joe is guessing cops are patrolling the many bridges in the Steel City and who knows how many folks in the Big Easy have jumped into the Mississippi River after yesterday’s games.
The Steelers choked big time and the Saints, well, Joe is guessing Marcus Williams may have to have a food tester with him if he ever goes out for a meal in the French Quarter after that Mike Jenkins-like stunt (Lovie!). What a lame effort on a (missed) tackle that allowed the Vikings to complete a 61-yard touchdown pass as time ran out to beat the Saints and advance to the NFC title game.
So now the 2017 final four of the NFL is the Jags, the Vikings, the Eagles and the Belicheats. Man, what a paved road for Belicheat.
Anyway, there is a common denominator here. Three of the four teams have either backup quarterbacks starting or a trash collector of a quarterback (Blake Bortles). How did those three teams get this far?
Defense.
Minnesota, Jacksonville and Philadelphia are three of the top four teams defensively in the NFL. The Belicheats are not, but they have Belicheat and Brady, the ultimate outliers.
The Bucs, you ask? Well, the Bucs had the worst defense in the NFL, the worst third down percentage, worst sack total and the worst pass defense.
Other than that, how was the parade, Mrs. Kennedy?
Unless the Bucs hope certain defensive assistants are hired elsewhere, thus sparing the Bucs from handing out pink slips for shameful results, it appears all is good with the powers that be at One Buc Palace.
The Bucs have a long ways to go to play meaningful games in January, based on watching games this weekend.
Sad!
January 15th, 2018 at 6:19 am
But hey Joe we have continuity! We are going to suck for the foreseeable future!
January 15th, 2018 at 6:26 am
Defense wins, it will always keep you in the game, and win you games you shouldn’t. The rules will always favor the offense but defense slowly evolves and catches up. We have a long way to go for that to happen. Up front we are a couple years behind. It’s either depth, talent, and youth. We have none. The secondary lacks depth, athleticism, length, and talent. Also with glaring holes in the Online and run game. This falls on the front office, staff, and previous staff. Zero consequences for the front office and current staff. Decade of being mediocre. With the offensive firepower we have next year can be a bounce back year at 9-7 maybe 10-6. But can we sustain consistency and progress with the current regime. Highly doubtful
January 15th, 2018 at 6:29 am
@Joe … “How did those three teams get this far? Defense.” Welcome once again to the Dark Side Joe.
Note to Jason Licht: Learn how to at least spell D-E-F-E-N-S-E !!!
January 15th, 2018 at 6:39 am
If we can’t acquire an elite pass rusher – we gotta stop the run & sure up the backend.
January 15th, 2018 at 6:40 am
You need both good players and good coaching. No question we don’t have
enough quality players on the Dline,CB, or safety. Counting on Noah Spence
another year is a big gamble. Does anybody really think that VH3 or Baker responded to coaching. Bad draft picks and free agent moves are just as
much a problem as coaching. Licht has to get quality players that respond to coaching before we put all of the blame on the coaching staff.
January 15th, 2018 at 7:30 am
SO Foles, Keenum, and Bortles all in the conference championship games. Hmm, so much for that Franchise QB theory. SO Jason Licht, now what? This D is terrible, and you are keeping the coaching staff.
January 15th, 2018 at 7:36 am
Cannot stand Sean Payton. He has a big mouth. Love to see he got “Winstoned” at the end of the game.
January 15th, 2018 at 7:43 am
It is not all doomsday. Please keep in mind the Saints D sucked last year. The Jags D was good last year, but now they are so good and bc the Jags now have a RB, those 2 things are overcoming Bortles. IF the Bucs find a (two?) DE and a RB we can feature, we can greatly improve next year.
January 15th, 2018 at 7:51 am
ahhh confucius says ” To have defense, you must draft defense!!!!!!!”
Maybe Joe needs to look at these deep a little more deeply and “realize” that these teams have been drafting and building defense for years!!!!!!! Its not just oh fire a coach and then the defense is dominate!!!!!!!!
all a new coach is going to do is say “Ahh we need to draft defensive talent “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 15th, 2018 at 8:01 am
#weapons4winston? Some short memories here…
January 15th, 2018 at 8:13 am
The really short memory is…… But all we need is.
January 15th, 2018 at 8:16 am
@DBS
“The really short memory is…… But all we need is”
Truer words were never spoken…
January 15th, 2018 at 8:35 am
All of these teams had a philosophy to get better through defensive drafts and build their identity that way, licht has had ZERO clue since day 1 on what identity he is molding the bucs, this team by now easily could have a solid defense instead of needing to build from the bottom
January 15th, 2018 at 8:36 am
Makes me not want to watch them next season. For whar?
January 15th, 2018 at 8:51 am
Harry … “Overcoming Bortles?” Try this for a comparison: Blake Bortles threw for 20 TDs inside the Red Zone with ZERO INTs last year (#7 most productive). Jameis Winston threw for 12 TDs inside the Red Zone , also with ZERO INTs last year (#22 most productive). Bortles threw 13 INTs (in 16 games) & fumbled 9 times (lost 3). Jameis threw 11 INTs (in 13 games) & fumbled 15 times (lost 7). Bortles’ Jaguars are still going strong in the playoffs. Jameis’ Bucs? You can fill in the answer to that one. Blake Bortles may not be Tom Brady, but I’d say that he served the Jaguars fairly well this year.
January 15th, 2018 at 8:58 am
Won’t be next year either. They won’t be playing any meaningful games with this head coach and licht is not good enough building a roster to make to moves that need to be made, I would not be surprised one but if Ayers, Baker and Doug Martin are back next year that’s how much faith I have in common sense of this regime
January 15th, 2018 at 9:12 am
Minnesota
Philly
Jax
———-
All defenses feature tough gritty hard nosed players drafted and minimal FA additions.
I don’t think Licht can build a dominant defense because he and this staff won’t be here long enough. After 7-9 this season the rebuild will restart all over
January 15th, 2018 at 9:15 am
Seeing Marcus Williams tackle his own teammate was one of the more memorable and entertaining football plays I’ve ever seen. I probably startled the neighbors with all my cackling.
January 15th, 2018 at 9:41 am
Jason Licht has mostly drafted Offenseive players I’d like to see a heavy dose of defensive draft picks this year. I’d love a DE,DT, a Cb/Safety and of course can’t go without a RB …
January 15th, 2018 at 10:10 am
Beckwith, Evans, Hargreaves, Spence, Grimes, Ayers, Kwon, Smith, Baker and Ward all added to this team maybe coaching is the problem. Real coaches would get something out of all of these players, keep making excuses Realist.
January 15th, 2018 at 10:14 am
Simply put..The Bucs need a Defensive Coordinator roaming the sidelines who will both exhort his Defensive troops and Jump in thier A’s when they are not playing well. You can’t do that sittin on your A.s in the Pressbox with binoculars. Put an assistant in the pressbox. Bring your butt on the sidelines with your troops! Mike Smith’s best days have come and gone in this NFl. I see it and many of you do to. To bad Koetter does not see it. Its gonna eventually cost him his job.
January 15th, 2018 at 10:54 am
Did sour Sean Payton steal Smilin’ Smitty’s prevent ( you from winning ) playbook at the end of that game?! Warms my tiny heart to see both NFC South rivals wilt in the final seconds this past weekend ( with Cam gagging the week before )! Happy 2018 season I say!
January 15th, 2018 at 11:20 am
NDOG.. Well stated. Can I just add. Last is last. Not middle of the pack. Last
January 15th, 2018 at 11:21 am
IF THE GLAZERS AND LICHT WOULD AND KNEW HOW TO SPEND SOME F*CKING MONEY IN FA, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET A DEFENSE!!! Not genius moves like paying DJax $80 million that he’s definitely not worth and keeping Sh!ty Smitty under contract.
January 15th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
Bucs are not that far away from winning IMO.
Find 2 good DL players – 1 good OG – 1 good CB and 1 good RB this off-season and the Buccaneers will be competing for the playoffs and perhaps more in 2018.
Find 5 good players at those positions and this team will be VASTLY improved next year.
Sounds doable to me. Make it so Jason Licht.
January 15th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
This will be the most uninspired offseason in Buccaneers history.
But it could be worse. Culverhouse & Kruegler could have brought back Leeman Bennett…
January 15th, 2018 at 12:38 pm
GO JAGS!!!! I’m rooting for the Jags to win it all, and shove it in the Bucs face, Jameis and Bortles are basically the same QBs, only Bortles had a great year his 2nd year 35 TDs, now his 4th year he’s in the conference championship game, sure Jameis has more yards and believe it or not higher completion percentage, overall looks like a better QB, but JW isn’t going to the playoffs with this joke of a coaching staff, especially without an elite talent at RB, this draft is loaded just like last year, wonder if Licht waits till the 5th round again, ZERO CONFIDENCE in the regime GO JAGS!!!
January 15th, 2018 at 12:49 pm
You know both Lovie Smith and Mike Smith have had good success with defenses in this league.
Yet they get shredded when they get to Tampa.
We’ve gone young, we’ve gone old, Pro, college, coordinators, prior super bowl coaches.
Yet we suck. Its mind boggling.
Maybe continuity will work. Nothing else has since Gru.
January 15th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Defense has always won championships – even in this modern passing era. Every SB winner has had a top 5 or 10 scoring defense pretty much in the last forever many years
January 15th, 2018 at 1:57 pm
The Saints were 7-9 for three consecutive years!!! Do we blame that on Brees or Payton?
Don’t think so. Most pointed to N.O.’s sorry defense. Three horrible years in a row blamed on N.O’s sorry D.
They fixed it with basically 2-3 players. I agree with Pickgrin…we are not that far away….from the playoffs at least…if we want to get really good and compete for a SB then we probably do need another year.
Many of you guys are making absolutes out of this years records and the playoffs. Most of these games hinged on a play or two.
I watched the Tennessee-Chiefs game and the Jax Buffalo game and couldn’t help remember what so many fans and opinion writers started griping about more than a decade ago.
The NFL is basically a league of mediocrity. Lots of really bad games among so many teams…other than NE it’s hard to find a really really good team. The draft and FA have accomplished making this league incredibly balance.
Some hate that…they want an Alabama for the NFL…they want greatness.
I get that…and it’s true but it’s the very truth that means we DO have as good a shot next year as about 30 of the other teams. If Rodgers is healthy and of course NE…we’re not to their level.
Speaking of Bama…they play maybe a half dozen games a year….I do not count the Citadel or La Tech and those kind of Trumphole teams as genuine competition for Bama. The NFL doesn’t really offer those walkover teams.
On any Sunday….NFL stands for No Freaking Logic (H/t to the late great Chris Thomas)…simply add…in any given season. So the horrid Buc franchise and their rotten coaches actually managed a winning record just two years ago…no reason we can’t again next year.
January 15th, 2018 at 2:47 pm
And how many of these teams run this so called next level defense know as the 3-4?
When will we learn it’s not scheme it’s personnel..
January 15th, 2018 at 3:07 pm
last in the league in sacks……that says it all……22 sacks
January 15th, 2018 at 3:52 pm
it’s not that Licht can’t build a defense it’s that he hasn’t tryed. he’s had 4 drafts and 3 of them were dedicated to the offense.
our defensive line is our weakest link and you can pin that directly on drafts. Just ask yourself how many offensive lineman we have drafted compared to defensive? If Lich had drafted a defensive line man in 2014 and in 2015 maybe one or both could be developed by now and be a piece of the puzzle.
Last year was the result of completely ignoring the defensive front for 4 years. You can see the same problems with the secondary. You cant just draft a VHIII and call the secondary fixed. He didn’t play that great in 2015 and they should have identified this as a need and targeted a DB in last year’s draft. Same thing can be said about Spence where his 2016 season was not something to trust………..Now look at our LBers. We have always been strong at LB because we kept addressing the position in the draft. Nobody penciled in Kwon or Kendall as automatic starters right after we drafted them but look what happened. Maybe if we had brought in more 3-5th round lineman we wouldn’t have to pray and hope for a guy like Chubb. Licht has really effed up this defense with his lack of draft identification of our need. This need has been there since day 1 which just makes it even worse. Now he has one off-season to fix it and that may not be enough. If this team finishes in the basement again Licht has dug his own grave.