The Brutal Bucs Pass Rush
September 4th, 2018
Shouldn’t take too much.
Joe has had county deputies called to his lair for hollering and screaming and throwing enough things over the pathetic Bucs pass rush that Joe’s neighbors became alarmed.
Watching year after year the Bucs try to build a pass rush only to urinate in the wind was the football equivalent of being thrown in a cage. It was disgusting.
How had has the Bucs’ edge rush been? Well, in a spring story typed for Football Outsiders that Joe just stumbled upon yesterday, if newcomer Jason Pierre-Paul can match his sack total from last year, there just might be a parade for him down Dale Mabry Highway, says Vincent Verhei.
Pierre-Paul peaked with 16.5 sacks in his second season in 2011. He has collected 37.5 sacks in the six seasons since — just over six per year — but he should still be an upgrade at edge rusher for the Buccaneers. Pierre-Paul had 8.5 sacks last season, more than any Tampa Bay defensive end since Michael Bennett in 2012.
Just think about that: A less-than 10-sack season would be the best the Bucs have had in six years. Unbelievable.
If the Bucs cannot get a consistent pass rush this season, then Joe won’t know what to do with himself. He fears the season could quickly unravel as a result.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:07 pm
Better warn the neighbors!
September 4th, 2018 at 12:19 pm
we’ll see sunday!!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
September 4th, 2018 at 12:21 pm
Pass rush will help solve the issue in the back end. I threw my remote at the TV last year watching this D.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:25 pm
The starting D-line did not show much of a pass rush in preseason. I think the Buc’s get blown out Sunday.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
Play ten feet off the wr’s and pass rush won’t matter with Drew Brees.
Go Bucs!
September 4th, 2018 at 12:29 pm
I think Smith needs to turn his linebackers loose. If they see a clear path to the QB appear, take it. Forget their primary responsibilities. Some guys (and we have some) can get a takedown in a flash.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:29 pm
I am not worried about JPP or Curry or GMC everyone else I’m very concerned.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:31 pm
I know one thing for sure if this defense can’t stop the run your still gonna have the deputies called for all the yelling.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:41 pm
……hopefully JPP will affect it
……….I for one will be dreading the play of the secondary
September 4th, 2018 at 12:47 pm
I am also concerned with our linebackers. Where is Lavonte David & Kwon, not much impact players as they were. This defense is pathetic, we will not stop anybody. We need to score 30+ points per game just to lose with dignity.
September 4th, 2018 at 12:58 pm
#97 looks better coming off the edge. but with him, jpp and mccoy i think they’ll have an above average D line. one injury away from a dumpster fire though
September 4th, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Mike Smith will make any level of player look awful
September 4th, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Bucs are the biggest underdawgs of the week. Woof.
Time for a little Fitzmagic.
#FreeTheAmishRifle
September 4th, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Yes? 😜
September 4th, 2018 at 1:11 pm
I predict the Bucs will have close to a team total of 45 sacks this season. That’s way better than last season.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:19 pm
ACCIDENTALLY we should’ve had more sacks! There’s no way, NO WAY, we can be worse.
I’m looking forward to seeing this defense play.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:25 pm
And the GM who poorly staffed that D-Line is?
The fact that none of the guys that started for us last year on the D-line are even on another roster speaks volume to the ability of the “staffing” departments ability to judge talent.
September 4th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
If they don’t get to Brees, he will own us! Please make it happen! I don’t need a new TV!
September 4th, 2018 at 1:54 pm
Speaking optimistically: I think JPP and GMC will be using moves that they work together on, that they wouldn’t show in the pre season. I saw a few videos of them working on combo moves earlier in training camp… hopefully that’s the plan
September 4th, 2018 at 1:55 pm
Enter Carl Nassib. Released Will Clarke. I liked Clarke, but I’ve like Nassib a lot on Hard Knocks.
September 4th, 2018 at 2:17 pm
@Joe
Ever the optimist
I predict that your TV will be safe this year
BUT
Your neighbors may still call the authorities as you drown out the cannons
September 4th, 2018 at 2:18 pm
Haha JPP will have 3 in Nola and 10 by the bye.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
@Buc’n Enough … “And the GM who poorly staffed that D-Line is? The fact that none of the guys that started for us last year on the D-line are even on another roster speaks volume to the ability of the “staffing” departments ability to judge talent.”
That right there speaks volumes about why our defense stunk it up last year. There’s only so much a DC & his staff can do with marginal talent. What I saw last year reminded me of that old story of the little Dutch boy sticking his fingers in the dam every time a new leak sprung up. And they just kept springing up, one right after another. NFL OC’s are so good at exploiting weaknesses it’s scary … it’s like the lions going preying on the weakest & slowest gazelle in the herd (and yes, I’m sure that Ryan Smith probably felt like like that battling to stay alive against Julio Jones in last year’s Atlanta game). But if the pass rush is non-existent & you give Matty Ice all day to find Julio Jones or Mohamed Sanu or their rookie Calvin Ridley, guess what … he’ll pick us apart. It all starts in the trenches.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
In my hayday I used to break all kinds of stuff it got so bad my marriage almost ended…….then I decided to take some advice and just wanted to share.
When you get really upset and get that urge to break something decide that you want to do some real damage and start boiling a pot of water……The trick is that by the time it boils you will have calmed down. Just do this at your own risk, I’ve never had it backfire…..yet.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:31 pm
lol….all I can do is laugh…..
I cant wait for sunday so all the “EXCUSES” can be laid to rest….
unfortunately, we have a few “fans” that will be ready to create new “EXCUSES”…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!!
September 4th, 2018 at 4:12 pm
Agree! Pass rush won’t matter if the Bucs CBs play 10 yards off the receivers. Brees will have a field day if Smitty doesn’t adjust.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:19 pm
I’m all in with yas Joe. If we don’t get a viable pass rush this year, Not only will our season unravel, The win colum is going to suck and we will struggle to get to 500. Our Season will go the way of our Defense. And frankly, I’m somewhat skeptic we have done enough on the defensive side. We will see what we got come Sunday. I’m watchin this one with keen emphasis on our Rush. The offense will score. Lets see if we can stop the Saints on key drives in the game.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:28 pm
Bucs1987 took the words right off my keyboard. Mike Smith still hasn’t learned from last year point in case no matter how much they still got burned he kept playing them off even this preseason same thing. They kept Ryan Smith so gotta tell you something.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:33 pm
Buc1987
Good point.
Playing off and forcing stuff underneath to see if the other team can nickel and dime its way down the field is a decent strategy at times. It is not going to work against Brees. Like Brady, he won’t make a mistake, which is what you have to count on when giving up underneath stuff all day.
And like you pointed out, if they are dumping it off in two seconds Simeon Rice isn’t even going to get there
September 4th, 2018 at 5:02 pm
McCoy has had a 9.5 sack season and two 8.5 sacks seasons since then, and yes I know you’re talking about edge rushers, but just saying, that makes McCoy’s efforts even more impressive since he’s had no help at all. If getting JPP means McCoy sees less double teams, then he should have a great year. Or if McCoy, like he said in the last preseason game, isn’t going to see less double teams, if they continue to put all efforts into stopping him, then it should mean JPP could have a nice year.
For Curry, the guy has had less sacks than Spence has had in the last 2 years. Perhaps he’s great, perhaps he has a nice season, but I don’t really know what that optimism is based off of. Sure he had a 9 sack season in 2014, but Doug Martin had a 1st team all-pro season since then and that didn’t stop the Martin hate from being talked about 24/7. So I’m not expecting really anything from Curry, but hopefully I’m wrong and the guy figures out what he did 4 years ago and it helps the defense and he’s more than just a bad Bucs team overpaying a guy because he was on a SB team.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:40 pm
The Bucs may have had the worst pass rush I have ever seen in the NFL last year.
Let’s hope the upgrades make a huge difference.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:56 pm
@Mike10
Agree with your observation about JPP and GMC working on things in private and I believe this is true of the entire team. Preseason is not a time when offenses and defenses show their cards. This Sunday it’s for real and we’ll begin to find out what’s REALLY going on.
I’m not sure what is so tough for people to figure out. For two years it was all #weaponsforJameis…..crickets about weapons for Smitty. You simply cannot rebuild a horrid roster in just a couple of years. So our emphasis understandably started with enhancing our huge investment…#1 pick in the entire draft…by providing him with the weapons called for.
So how’d that work out for Licht. Seriously!!! Nobody is talking about having ME…DJAX…Godwin…OJ…Brate..Hump…we have size…speed…possession receivers certainly one of the best group of targets any NFL QB will have this season.
The OL is still a work in progress but in one draft we picked up our starting guard and tackle.
So the cost of that….you can’t fix both sides of the ball all at once….you can make both sides equally mediocre but if you want impact players…game changers you have to pick your spots.
So now we see Licht beginning to do the same thing with our D and especially our Dline although the two CB’s he drafted also show a lot of promise.
Cliche time….Rome wasn’t built in a day.