Old School Pro Ball
September 23rd, 2018
“Todd, we don’t need any of this Urban Meyer, Chip Kelly offensive nonsense. We’re in the NFL!”
There is a new drinking game sweeping America. It’s called the “Cris Collinsworth Drinking Game.”
Every time you watch a football game with former Gators and Bengals receiver Collinsworth working color, for example “Sunday Night Football,” every time Collinsworth yelps “RPO,” you have to do a shot.
Depending on the teams are involved, you may not make it to halftime.
Collinsworth acts as if an RPO — a newfangled term for an option play — is some sort of magical football invention concocted by Urban Meyer or Chip Kelly or Bill Belicheat. Hell, those plays were bread-and-butter plays by Joe’s high school team decades ago. They are anything but new except for the name.
In Dirk Koetter’s world, those plays, once foreign if not verboten in the NFL, should stay in college.
Per the good folks at NFL Films, by way of ESPN’s NFL Matchup, the Bucs have only used four option plays all season. The Bucs don’t need those Mickey Mouse plays, obviously, as the offense has been humming like never before.
And if Joe’s memory is working through the fog on this Sunday morning, one of the four option/zone-read plays the Bucs ran was a read-option by Ryan Fitzpatrick for a rushing touchdown.
So the old common sense football axiom applies here: Don’t fix what is not broken.
September 23rd, 2018 at 8:21 am
Collinsworth sucks as an announcer, and he’s an a***ole when it comes to doing Bucs games. When I hear him doing our games I turn the sound off and put my grandmothers favorite CD, Elvis Christmas, on continuous loop. It’s more entertaining and far less biased against the Buccaneers team.
September 23rd, 2018 at 8:33 am
You won’t have to worry about hearing him do Bucs games this year.
September 23rd, 2018 at 8:38 am
Good. Thanks for the great news Dewey. If I have to listen to intentional bias, I’d prefer it come from Ronde.
September 23rd, 2018 at 8:42 am
Notice New England isn’t on the RPO list, and they’ve done just fine.
September 23rd, 2018 at 9:17 am
Collinsworth is terrible in many aspects and acts like a fan boy towards many players…….especially russell wilson and aaron rodgers……ughhhhhh!!!!!
September 23rd, 2018 at 9:22 am
If we keep winning, some of our games could be flexed to Sunday Night.
September 23rd, 2018 at 9:23 am
Why is it a “Mickey Mouse” play? If you have Cam Newton on your team, it would be foolish to not get him involved in the run game as many ways as possible. The offense is tailored to personnel, so obviously getting Ryan Fitzpatrick steady rushing attempts is not going to be a priority. Maybe if the 0-2 Texans and 0-2 Seahawks utilized their athletic QB’s a little differently (per the chart) they wouldn’t be stuck in a hole.
September 23rd, 2018 at 9:24 am
The good thing about that play is to get the safeties to creep up then go over the top but since the bucs have ZERO rushing attack they cannot do RPOs and for the bucs to win in december they need a defense and ground game amd have neither right now
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:06 am
That’s true, but they are good.
The Rodgers stuff Week 1 just a bit over the top. As a kid, Joe saw Terry Bradshaw wheeled off the field on a stretcher in the first half. On a stretcher (not a flatbed golf cart)!
He started the second half.
September 23rd, 2018 at 10:14 am
Dewey Selmon Says
“You won’t have to worry about hearing him do Bucs games this year. ”
Unless we get flexed…which is a strong possibility if the winning keeps on.
September 23rd, 2018 at 11:31 am
@Joe … “Collinsworth acts as if an RPO — a newfangled term for an option play — is some sort of magical football invention concocted by Urban Meyer or Chip Kelly or Bill Belicheat. Hell, those plays were bread-and-butter plays by Joe’s high school team decades ago. They are anything but new except for the name.”
Love that remembrance Joe (same in my high school days BTW). Far too often nowadays someone repackages an old formation or idea, attaches some new terminology to it (so that everyone will apparently think that they invented the idea) and voila … they take all the credit for it. Politicians are especially adapt at that, not just some coaches and some TV personalities.
September 23rd, 2018 at 12:01 pm
I remember watching a play called the Green Bay sweep in the 60s, only to have one of my dad’s friends talk about how they ran the exact play in high school.
Collinsworth to me is one of the best at his craft. He’s always showing stuff that the ordinary fan doesn’t see, the unsung heroes. Who made a great block? Who worked through a double team to disrupt a play, even though another player got credit on a stat line?
September 23rd, 2018 at 1:36 pm
“As a kid, Joe saw Terry Bradshaw wheeled off the field on a stretcher in the first half. On a stretcher (not a flatbed golf cart)! He started the second half.”
————
Those were the days when players could get a shot of cortisone and a handful of Vicodin at halftime. :^))
September 23rd, 2018 at 2:45 pm
Bonzai- I’d bet Bucs v Cowboys at end of year gets moved to Sunday night
September 23rd, 2018 at 5:05 pm
Alanbucsfan
Yup!
September 23rd, 2018 at 8:02 pm
Wow.
Not the story but Sluglife right off the top saying Collinsworth sucks.
Ignorance can never be fixed around here.
He is one of the best announcers on football for the last decade