Were The Bucs Prepared?
September 15th, 2018
“Let’s hope the Eagles don’t run any plays out of a spread formation.”
There were significant happenings last week in New Orleans that made Joe smile from ear-to-ear, and some disturbing things.
The Bucs tied a franchise record with most points scored, but as Jenna Laine of ESPN points out, it was the first time the Buc won a game when coughing up 40 points.
Asked this week about what happened to his defense, the way Mike Smith responded with gave Joe a stomach ache.
The embattled Bucs defensive coordinator essentially claimed the Bucs were buffaloed by too many plays the Saints ran from a spread formation.
“They did show a lot more spread than we anticipated,” Smith said.
Ugh.
Why did this quote stick out? Well, either Smith and his players were prepared for the Saints to run/pass out of spread formations or they were not. If they were prepared, the number of times the Saints ran (or passed) out of a spread formation should not have mattered. Either a defense is prepared or it isn’t.
That’s like saying a team threw out of a shotgun formation or ran out of an I-formation more than expected. Either you were ready for those looks/plays or you weren’t.
Joe got on Lovie Smith pretty good for the Tennessee-ready game when the Titans all but broadcast in the weeks leading up to the game they were running some of Oregon’s offense to help quarterback Marcus Mariota adapt to the NFL.
The Bucs that day played defense as if they watched maybe 15 minutes of tape of how Mariota played at Oregon.
Joe isn’t sure Mike Smith’s explanation is much better than Lovie boasting about being Tennessee-ready.
The way the Bucs defense bounced back from embarrassing performances in domes last year to play much better defense at home gives Joe some comfort.
Why the Bucs defense goes into a shell in domes is a story for another day.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:04 am
“They did show a lot more spread than we anticipated,”
And adjustments weren’t made because…………………..?
September 15th, 2018 at 8:15 am
This just shows how inept Smith is. I don’t give a rats arse what he did in Atlanta years ago. The game has out paced this beer belly chicken wing eating old coot. Except for 5 exceptional games in 2016 he has sucked every game. Joe go into your archives in 2016 and you will see you were questioning him then. Sorry the NFL aid the survival of the fittest and since Smith brings nothing to the table he needs to be fired freind of Koetter or not or els Koetter will be fired as well.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:16 am
Wow!!!! taking a comment and running with an opinion!!!!!!!!!! It would be helpful if questions were asked to why New Orleans ran more spread last Sunday?????? What defensive looks did New Orleans were trying to see against the Bucs???? Did the Bucs run more nickle and dime defenses to defend against New Orleans spread offense?????? Did they want Tampa in this defense because BG24 was down and the New Orleans wanted to take advantage that the secondary was weakend and the spread offense, Made Tampa’s secondary even thinner on the field???????? But no, it was assumed that Coach Smitty was not prepare!!!!!
And BoJim, if you think that no adjustments were made. then You at the stats for the third quarter, or re-watch the game!!!!!!!!! Because obviously you do not understand football!!!!!!!!!!!!! what was NO third down conversion rate in the 3rd quarter?????????????
#trust the coaches!!!!!!!! Fix the “real” problem!!!!!!! The Roster!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 15th, 2018 at 8:22 am
@Joe … “The embattled Bucs defensive coordinator essentially claimed the Bucs were buffaloed by too many plays the Saints ran from a spread formation.” And THAT’S more than likely why coaches don’t REALLY tell the media much of anything. Perhaps Smitty meant that they had never seen the Saints use many (or most) of the different looks & configurations that they used out of the shotgun? But beyond that possibility, the guys out on the field NEED to be able to do some adjusting on their own. Coaches can get them into an initial defensive formation for each play, but it’s up to the FIELD GENERALS to adjust after that. Haven’t you said before that was Kwon’s role as MLB?
@Joe … “Why the Bucs defense goes into a shell in domes is a story for another day.” Would love to hear your thoughts on that Joe. I thought with our new indoor practice facility we’d do better in indoor stadiums. Not so fast Kemosabe?
September 15th, 2018 at 8:24 am
Another poor excuse from smith. Everyone knew Brees was gonna spread them out and sling the rock. He needs to go and we need a defensive coordinator who is recent to the game. Both him and Lovie are/were outdated. Year 3 and the defense still has communication issues…unacceptable. They have the horses on defense to be good, now it’s time for them to be coached up.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:38 am
@joe I’m not one to call for someone to be fired but the way this defense has played for the least three years is no excuse mike smith had one good stretch as a defensive coordinator in Tampa in everybody thought he was a guru there is no excuse for the corner back play with the athletes we got teams lose their best players all the time and are still able to make up for it with less talented units If this defense doesn’t have it together by the 4th game he deserves to be fired
September 15th, 2018 at 8:42 am
BJim – Exactly the question!
September 15th, 2018 at 8:45 am
This Iggles offense doesn’t have Brees, Kamara and Thomas on it. I think our D will play a lot better especially being at home in the opener. If Foles somehow someway lights up the scoreboard then Smith deserves to be fired.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:45 am
“Which coach can do anything with this pass defense? We were the worst pass defensive team and Licht bulb unbelievably built a worse secondary? JBF is going to put the blame all on Smitty and praise our B52 loving meathead!”
Kobe Faker
September 15th, 2018 at 8:52 am
Perhaps or issue with spread formation has more to do with personnel, out lack of it. We entered the game down 2 corners and lost a third by halftime. Fact is we were running out two rookies in their first game and Ryan Smith. Payton is a smart coach and knows that by spreading us out we can’t help the corners. The situation in the game dictated the saints approach, it directly attached our weakness.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:57 am
Dear smitty
Learn these words……..Im here so I dont get fined.
This will keep the vultures away.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:15 am
Realist
Use ur head. Why did they? Because they knew it would be a surprise and smitty wouldnt adjust until halftime, if at all. No idea why you continue to think its the players and not the defense. Mind boggling.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:32 am
I dare any of the so-called fans to go and listen to the Coach Smitty press-conferences on Bucs dot com!!!!!!!! Because it sounded more of that the Saints were using Kamara wide more, and that Coach Smitty was covering for KA58 taking bad tackling angles and slow to react to his pass coverage more than ” they weren’t prepared!!!!!!! And if some want to compare last week’s game with the atrocity of that opening day in 2015, Then they need to rewatch the second half of each game and then check themselves into a remedial football 101 class!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good on Coach Smitty not throwing players under the bus!!!!!!!!!!
#trust the coaches!!!!!!!! Fix the “real” problem!!!!!!! The Roster!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 15th, 2018 at 9:38 am
Even with injuries , there is talent on this team. Better than giving up 40. I think smitty is to old school when teams ran the ball more in the past. Cause we do well against run
But this is passing league now. Think just like koetter relieved himself of play calling. Maybe koetter should give duffner a chance to call plays. Fresh mindset or at least have duffner and buck involved with install.
I mean the defense is just bad. It will be better obviously with grimes , beckwith , vea , unrein back from injuries and whitehead getting some snaps at safety.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:39 am
Conte Piscatelli … GRRREAT post and great analysis (not that certain JBFers like BucNonBeliever or BoJim would appreciate it or even understand it BTW). The key thing that I do miss about going to all the games is that you could see the EVERYTHING develop in real-time; you weren’t limited to just what TV cameras were focused on. All of us watching on TV just see 1 tiny piece of the play developing & create our opinions from that.
Last Sunday was a true ‘chess match’ in every sense: our offense pretty much dominated an experienced Saints defense, while our defense got taken advantage of a BUNCH by the Saints offense, but DID JUST ENOUGH to secure the victory. With 10 mins left in the game, the Bucs were ahead 48-24. Then we did TWO things that drive me nuts: (1) we went all turtle with the offense; and (2) we went all prevent defense with our defense. We had the Saints right where we wanted them with only 10 mins left in the game, THEN we took our foot off their throats. THAT IMO was the dumbest coaching mistakes of the game (mistakes because they came from BOTH sides of the ball). Mr Conservative reared his ugly head on BOTH sides of the ball, and it damned near cost us the game.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:40 am
Conte Piscatelli , exactly. Guess some so called fans don’t get that. We lacked personal
September 15th, 2018 at 9:47 am
@Webster – good one
Point 1 – The Bucs offensive coaches were prepared, Monken knew they needed to put points on the board, because Smitty’s defense had the potential to give up 40.
Point 2 – What were the defensive coaches thinking, you had to know they were not going to line up and just bang/run it with no Ingram and RB’s that were signed just a week or two earlier. Of course they were gonna spread you out. Without Ingram, you pas to open up the run, IJS.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:51 am
Not buying the Sean Payton out coaching Smitty (personnel issues), how long have they been in the same division.
NO EXCUSES, I will borrow that one from
September 15th, 2018 at 10:14 am
We need to up the ante and score 50-60 a game because it does not look like Smith is going to stop much..
September 15th, 2018 at 10:37 am
Time for Mike Smith to do the honorable thing, go to Koetter and request that Buckner be named new DC, and that Mike Smith will retire to Sun City. It’s farging awful.
September 15th, 2018 at 10:50 am
You all are funny to jump to conclusions like that- maybe we should ask ourselfs, why did the saints run/pass ratio changed? A very unusual ratio was played in that game. Is it because our offense kept the pressure and was up by over two scores at one point? Was it because the dline pressure was getting there? I mean brees felt it, and changed running plays to passing- how do you alleviate pressure up front? Make quick passes and exploit the rookie CBs
September 15th, 2018 at 10:52 am
You all are funny to jump to conclusions like that- maybe we should ask ourselfs, why did the saints run/pass ratio changed? A very unusual ratio was played in that game. Is it because our offense kept the pressure and was up by over two scores at one point? Was it because the dline pressure was getting there? I mean brees felt it, and changed running plays to passing- how do you alleviate pressure up front? Make quick passes and exploit the rookie DBs
September 15th, 2018 at 11:12 am
My question is:
Did Smith say that in the hopes that the Eagles OC adds more spread formations to his offensive game plan for this game? Maybe they figured out the solution and want the Eagles to fall into the trap.
#BeatsMe
#TheWinningMustContinue
#FigureItOutNow
#GoBucs
September 15th, 2018 at 11:56 am
Bird
Teams don’t and haven’t run on us because they don’t have to.
Just like that terrific third down% Defense in 2016 was largely because teams rarely got to third down.
Ironically…Smitty is becoming indefensible.
September 15th, 2018 at 12:57 pm
Nah I think that question of were they prepared more like giving them an out so it’s kinda stupid. It’s the same coach and it’s a division rival and you know they run a spread offense. They ran it more than you anticipated…. Really Mike Smith with those corners and Brent Grimes out you were surprised at that…. Mike Smith is garbage and now we know he’ll be the reason they will not meet expectations. Geez seriously you either know how to defend against spread or you don’t, do you not adjust to that? More or less is irrelevant
If you expect him to be able to fix the defense after a comment you can forget it, they should fire this loser now because it won’t change if this is the talk after 3 years of playing the saints
September 15th, 2018 at 1:45 pm
Hey realist! Hit em with another narcissistic realist repost and show them what’s up!
September 15th, 2018 at 1:53 pm
I think being ready for a team is overrated. You can gameplan all you want against an opponent and they may go completely in the opposite direction. Ok, now you adjust. Particularly at halftime. That’s where Mike Smith is a fail. Never, and I mean never, does that man make adjustments. I’m not sure he’s capable or at least he’s too stubborn.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:49 pm
Good coaches spend an enormous amount of time and energy preparing for every possibility. How many months did he have to prepare for a team that he has faced ten+ times?
September 15th, 2018 at 8:04 pm
Horse Liver Says:
Time for Mike Smith to do the honorable thing…
————
Seppuku
September 15th, 2018 at 9:49 pm
Hey Realist ….what is your excuse going to be when Files throws for three yes and over 300 yards tomorrow??!!!!! Is it going to be because our two top corners are out? because even when are starters are in they suck so pleeeaaase tell us!!!!
Dude just give it up. Rip the Smitty poster off of.your ceiling, delete all of his pictures off you phone and just admit that he can’t coach. You make no sense. It’s clear as day the guy can’t coach and.you continue to defend him..Its coaching not talent.. You gonna tell me that no top ten defensive coach could improve this into with its existing roster? Mike Smith has always been a poor defensive coach other than under del Rios close watch. This is not going to improve unless he changes how soft the dbs play
September 15th, 2018 at 10:12 pm
What do you think is going to happen when you build a lead from early in the second quarter until the game ends? Teams are going to throw the ball when they are behind and mostly from the shotgun. It ain’t rocket science.
#Get After It!