Did Koetter Seal His Fate?
October 28th, 2018
Went turtle once again.
In no way shape or form is Joe advocating for Dirk Koetter to be removed as head coach of the Bucs as we enter the final week of October 2018. But it sure had the feel that Koetter sealed his own fate with seconds left in the first half today.
The Bucs trailed 21-6. It was fourth down. The Bucs had the ball at the Bengals-7.
And Koetter decides to go for a field goal rather than cutting the lead to a two-score game. This, knowing full well the Bucs received the kickoff to open the second half.
That folks is the ultimate definition of waving the white flag. Of giving up. Of quitting.
Don’t give Joe this nonsense that Koetter didn’t trust America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston. He trusted Jameis enough to keep him in the game when he should have been pulled. He trusted Jameis enough to throw the ball on the final drive of the half. He trusted Jameis enough to damn near complete two previous passes in the end zone.
Yeah, the Bucs, behind backup Ryan Fitzpatrick, tied the game at the end. However, if the Bucs scored a touchdown at the end of the first half, that would have helped them win the game.
This is just who Koetter is: He plays the percentages; damn the game, damn the feel of the contest, damn the score, damn if a kicker is going full-blown Aguayo.
If this season goes south, which it is teetering on, Joe is pretty sure Koetter going turtle (once again) will resonate in the minds of the set of brothers who sign his checks.
That was almost as close to giving up as pulling your team off the field.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:31 pm
He can’t trust Jamies. The run game wasn’t doing anything. He did the right thing.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:32 pm
Cut the interception machine (Jameis) fire Dirk the Jerk Koetter and fire Jason Gump!! Until they do we will continue to suck!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:33 pm
If Koetter can sneak the Bucs into the postseason for the first time in 11 years, he’ll likely be back. I’m certain that’s what he’s trying to do and there’s a chance with Fitz.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:33 pm
Jameis pick 6 is what did it. Stop blaming the coach. This one is all on Winston. Every bit of it.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:33 pm
He should have pulled JW after iNT #3 and we would have had the lead at the end and not the tie!!!!!! Stupid coaching!! Fitz the rest of the year and we might actually hit 8-8 or 9-7…the D has stepped it up!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:33 pm
Yeah, clearly Kotter is at fault by proxy for standing by Florida State’s Dumpster Fire. Oh, wait, you mean you’re blaming Koetter for taking points at the end of the half? Um, yeah. No.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:33 pm
Koetter fate was sealed back when he was OC and was given Jameis..probably over his recommendation ..pre draft
October 28th, 2018 at 4:34 pm
Damn Jameis, sorry, bro.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:34 pm
Absolutely blame the coach for playing him another series with 3 picks already!!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:34 pm
Koetter is as much the problem as the GM and QB. He’s dead man walking.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
So sad to see Joe reduced to this.
Don’t try to change the subject to Koetter when you’re the one who used to call him “Winning Head Coach” even as he had a losing record last year
This game was about one man failing, not Koetter.
This is all about Jameis
October 28th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
You may be right. He initially wanted Mariota.
#FacePalm
October 28th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
I’m thinking we’ll be picking in the top 10 in the draft
October 28th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
This loss was one Jameis, keep Koetter till the end of the season. Best case scenario we make the playoffs with Fitz, worst case we get in great draft position to draft out next QB of the future.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:36 pm
@Patrick are you insane? Playoffs really are you watching this team!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:36 pm
Winston will be the end of Koetter
October 28th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
He sealed his fate when Fitz didn’t start the 3rd quarter. We are one pick 6 from wINsTon away from winning that game.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Taking points was not a problem, keeping JW in with 3 picks was the dumbest decision and we see how that turned out. It doomed us because we’d be playing with the lead at the end instead of with a tie. The D is playing much better once they make adjustments!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Winston threw a pick in the end zone (missed opportunity), that ludicrous screen pass pick and then the pick 6, all inexcusable and directly caused the Bucs to loose today. I remember telling anyone who would listen that Winston has a weenie arm and is reckless with the ball, please do not think he is a franchise QB.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:38 pm
Without the FG it doesn’t even get interesting at the end. They would not have got a TD before the half with Winston in.
Just another article defending Winston from joejameisfan.com
October 28th, 2018 at 4:38 pm
Should be:
“Did Jameis Winston seal Coach Koetter’s fate?”
October 28th, 2018 at 4:39 pm
I’ve supported James since the day we drafted him but enough is enough. Trade him for Derek Carr before the deadline. And fire Dirk at the end of the season… I’m going as far to say this right now…. BRING BACK FATHER DUNGY!!!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:39 pm
It’s not dirks fault
It’s a lack of talent
October 28th, 2018 at 4:39 pm
This team needs more than a kicker. Your starting QB is 35. You have NO heir apparent on your roster. The right side of your O line is a dumpster fire. You have no depth at RB or LB.
Sounds like Bucs are another sad Halloween Trick. Finished before October 31
October 28th, 2018 at 4:39 pm
i have been a jameis supporter since his drafting by this organization, and i have defended him yada yada yada, after today’s fiasco and watching fitz i will be the first to admit i was wrong, jameis has digressed, i do not know what his problem is and do not care, fitz gives this club the best chance to win and i would ride his arm the rest of the season
October 28th, 2018 at 4:39 pm
He didn’t go turtle Joe?!? Seriously? It was a mathematical decision. What if he did not make it in and we turnover on downs? Take the points and keep pace to some extent. I agree with his call.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:39 pm
If Koetter starts Fitz rest of the season, his job will be safe
October 28th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Where are all the JW3 fans at???
October 28th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Sorry Joe. This is on jameis. Your man crush is showing.
Taking points at the half was the right call. Call it like it is…#3 SUCKS!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Dont blame Koetter Joe, your boy Winston has got to go, put the blame where it deserves
October 28th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Tua in 20
October 28th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
im a Jameis fan but the dude has accuracy and deep ball issues to cut it in the nfl. he may be a gunslinger but the nfl defenses are too good to do what you did in college. for 20M a year, you cant be consistent with turnovers. time for a new regime, vea, rojo aren’t the picks when we could have had some good players. i like licht but he made this team. hire louis riddick and a Andy Reid disciple or a college head coach. get back to the playoffs in 2-3 years.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Koetters fate was sealed after last season when he refused to let his road Dog Smitty go. It took the Glazers axe to seal that fate. Look at the bright side fellow Buc fans, At least we know we will NOT be playing in this years superbowl and we just might have a spanking new regime next year. You see there, you must always see some good in a bad situation!!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:42 pm
Not Koetter’s fault this game no matter what spin you want to put on it Joe.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:42 pm
Jameis has lost his confidence n so has Koetter. Y didn’t koetter go to a no huddle offense. It’s proven to work. Oh yeah, koetters not a Sean Peyton or Sean McVay, he’s Dirt! Fitzpatrick should’ve started the second half n not wait for Winston to continue to help the Bengals win the gave. The Bengals were given six ints by Winston but dropped two. I’ve always been a big Winston fan but today. Please bench him n let Fitzpatrick take over this team.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:43 pm
Trade jameis for carr id be down for that maybe change of scenery does both qbs a good jump start on their careers…..or fire koetter/licht go get saban give him the keys and tank for TUA
October 28th, 2018 at 4:44 pm
This is Jason Licht’s fault. Koetter is terrible. Jameis is doing this on purpose to get them fired. Good on you Jameis! Force the Glazers hand.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:44 pm
This game was about one thing and that is Jameis falling apart. Dirk does suck and so does many other aspects of this team but today Jameis was the main culprit. Everyone knows I’m a Jameis guy but today might have been the last straw. That was just unacceptable but don’t get it twisted he will go elsewhere and be great just not here but that’s just the way it goes.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Tua isn’t an NFL qb-… too small weak arm. Any Bama qb would look good with what they have.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Gotta disagree. I think they just needed to score any points going into the half as they were getting the ball in the second half. They scored to open the half and were looking good until the picks. I think the field goal was the right call. If they went for it and failed, that’s infinitely worse than walking away with 3 points
October 28th, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Disagree with you here joe. We needed Some points and Jameis contributes to prove he is not good in the red zone. We lost this game because of him. Unbelievable.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Maybe Koetter reads too much JoeBucsfan. Too much faith in the wrong players.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:46 pm
Joe stop the freaking excuses. 4 picks in a game.
4 picks.
Go think again about it.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:46 pm
Jameis earned the title “America’s QB”
October 28th, 2018 at 4:46 pm
This game is on Winston..period. And if Dork Koetter knows whats good for him, he won’t start him again this season. He is an over rated turnover machine and not very smart either. Get rid of him. Enough!
October 28th, 2018 at 4:47 pm
Joe sucks his balls
October 28th, 2018 at 4:47 pm
Life long Gators fan that has T-Totally supported JW3 to the Mother Fn Hilt!!! Any regular reader knows this.
I’m done.
In a Prove it year James has 5 TDs to 10 INTS
Fits has played in four games as well and has 13 to 4. Fits has less INTs than JW has TDS. And he has more TDS than JW has INTS>
Bottom line is when a journeyman backup can come in and outperform you constantly…………….
Time to pull the trigger
October 28th, 2018 at 4:48 pm
@DestinJohnny … “It’s not dirks fault. It’s a lack of talent.” YES it is a lack of talent. But YES it is Dirk’s fault also. His ultra-conservative game-plan & play-calling sealed our fate. NO GUTS, NO GLORY. Plus, leaving Winston in after he had clearly ‘lost it’ tells me that he doesn’t REALLY know his QB … with Fitz on the bench, why wait until the 3rd qtr and let Winston throw FOUR INTs before you pull him?
And Jason Licht deserves a lion’s share of the blame for this loss too. This crappola about musical kickers every year is horsepuckey. And that ‘lack of talent’ of which you speak falls entirely on Licht. Hate to see it yet again, but the Bucs need to clean house of this mess. Not hard to see yet another year in the NFC South basement.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:49 pm
Ndog – agreed I have been a JW fan as well but today was last straw for me. If I am Koetter coaching for my job I don’t see how I can start JW. Today his play was baffling & did you see the change of energy in the team when he came in game. I’m sorry don’t see it, play Fitz & get Grier. Definitely wouldn’t pay JW $20 mil. That’s a joke
October 28th, 2018 at 4:50 pm
Luckily I didn’t the game, tired of being negative about the bucs. I defended Winston even though I had very little faith he would change so when I turn on the game and the end of the 4th and see Fitz I didn’t need to see stats to know he was benched because of play. He’s toast and Koetter just answered the will he get 20 mil next year question but he also realized he’ll be fired at the end of the season along with licht
Sorry licht you’ve chosen 2 horrible coaches and a quarterback 1 st overall who is a turnover machine, you and dirk can start packin’ your bags now unless licht makes some amazing trades
October 28th, 2018 at 4:50 pm
I agreed JW is done but the minute you tell Fitz he’s the stater he goes sideways! This isn’t going to go well no matter what they do.
The Bucs will be drafting in the top ten, they are fighting in the locker room already..
October 28th, 2018 at 4:50 pm
Koetter sucks. He should have been fired after not firing Smith at the end of last season. This whole season is a waste. We start over next year instead of this year.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:51 pm
Put Catanzaro & JW in an Uber together and send them far away from Tampa.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:51 pm
Joe can you write an article blaming the kicker for this loss? Or the defense? Or Jamisses’ eye doctor? Or the play calling? It’s comical reading these articles. Avoiding the subject are we?
October 28th, 2018 at 4:52 pm
I think we can still win 8-9 games, Jameis can’t see the field except for injury.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:53 pm
Koetter needs to be fired immediately. This team cannot win with his decision making. Winnable games are lost time and time again with Koetter. I have wanted Todd Monken to be HC since the middle of last year. I think this team can finish stronger With Todd Monken as HC through the end of the year.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:54 pm
@Joe … “However, if the Bucs scored a touchdown at the end of the first half, that would have helped them win the game.” Wow Joe, is that an admission that POINTS SCORED at ANY point in the game actually count? You mean it’s NOT really all about Jameis and his famous 4th qtr comebacks? Oh wait, it was Fitz who did the 4th qtr comeback. My bad.
October 28th, 2018 at 5:00 pm
Who in their right mind thinks we can “trade Jameis”??? What are you smoking? We’d have to give him away and throw in a 2nd rounder just to stop the other GM from cussing us out!
October 28th, 2018 at 5:05 pm
Joe says:
“However, if the Bucs scored a touchdown at the end of the first half, that would have helped them win the game.”
That touchdown is a big IF.
If they passed up on the field goal and not gotten the touchdown, they wouldn’t have been able to tie the game.
If their franchise QB didn’t melt down, they could have won this game easily.
October 28th, 2018 at 5:06 pm
I wonder if Bruce Ariens would be available to coach this team when they clean house…
October 28th, 2018 at 5:08 pm
Dirk Koetter is truly a lousy game coach.
October 28th, 2018 at 5:11 pm
He should be relieved of his duties simply for making the “Jameis led the league in preseason completion percentage” quote.
October 28th, 2018 at 5:15 pm
You guys are sad. Who’s damn fault is it Famous threw 4 interceptions? It’s your Head Coach’s fault. He wouldn’t be throwing interceptions if he was on the bench and that was the Coach’s fault. Just like not firing Smith. Koetter is not NFL Caliber. He has no feel for the game and makes all the wrong decisions. If I were the Glazers I would cut him loose today and Jamie’s would not be on my Roster next year. Yeah all you guys are right no one would want him but that wouldn’t deter me from cutting. Watch what I’m saying he will become a Team problem if Koetter has the coconuts to bench him going forward. We got a dumpster fire in Tampa Bay folks!!!!
October 28th, 2018 at 5:17 pm
Laughing at the first reply to this post. The run game wasn’t doing anything? LOLOL
Barber ran 19 times for 85 yards. That’s 4.4 yards per carry. I’ll take that every single day.
October 28th, 2018 at 5:35 pm
Father Dungy was right: ” I wouldn’t take him “
October 28th, 2018 at 5:44 pm
I was always a big fan of Winston. As of today i have completely changed opinion. Loss was on Jameis today. Koetter should not be blamed for loss. Jameis may be a SB winner in the future with another team. Buc fans know the pattern. He won’t get there with the Bucs.
October 28th, 2018 at 5:46 pm
Where were you “experts” four years ago before the draft? The argument was whether it should be Mariota or Winston and yeah not everyone agreed…perhaps Koetter never wanted Winston…and because of his son’s connection and off field mess Dungy certainly was a Mariota supporter.
That’s all a moot point now. NEITHER of these two guys has worked out yet and both are now being discussed in terms of getting traded.
Perhaps now we can get rid of the last vestige of all that Winston/Mariota garbage. It doesn’t matter…NEITHER have come close to their pre draft expectatons!!!
October 28th, 2018 at 5:49 pm
Joe D, wrong you are good sir.
Jameis sucked, stop babying him.
October 28th, 2018 at 6:12 pm
C’mon Joe. You take points. You get the ball back to start the second half. Why would you think taking points was the wrong move? I’m sure at that point he had no faith in Winston.
October 28th, 2018 at 6:29 pm
He will be fired at some point team is in disarray with his leadership and its a shame
October 28th, 2018 at 7:12 pm
Mike Smith is gone… Koetter and Licht next. Jameis will improve drastically once those guys are canned. Coaches and GMs can be replaced. Franchise level qbs like Jameis are not. Jameis will be fine. It’s one bad game in a lost season. Jameis is just getting them out of his system in hopes of new management and coaching coming in to right the ship.
October 28th, 2018 at 8:55 pm
Koetter played the hand he was given. Jameis has ample time to correct the turnovers and bad decisions. Yes Koetter and Montgen have dialed back the offense. But Jameis had the benefit of a decent running attack from Barber.
IMO the game plans have been designed for Jameis to get in the flow of the game and be more consistent throughout game. His slow starts have dated back to his FSU days and they needed to be corrected . This was a carbon copy of all too many of Jameis performances. You just can’t give the opposing offenses a chance to build a 14 or more point lead early in the game. While it is sad to see Jameis unravel., I have to think his resistence to coaching and straying from
gameplan at times was part of the problem. I don’t blame Bucs coaches for trying to correct the repetitive errors of forcing balls and locking in on receivers. They have hurt the team and they were magnified Today. If I was
Buc Brass I would be looking at the possibility of a non football related absence
to meet with sports psychologist and an off season coach that help Jameis
change his game to succeed in the NFL.
October 28th, 2018 at 8:56 pm
Joe did we not jump all over Koetter for not kicking an FG in the Beatdown in Arizona a couple of seasons back so if the team does not win any decision will be second guessed..
I agree with StPeteBuc fan as Mariota and Winston simply are not the qbs everyone predicted. Winston is a turnover machine and Mariota is fragile and injury prone. Whle they are not crying Leif they are now in the class of Blake Bortles, a classic top 3 bust…… Too bad the Giants are tanking their way to the number 1 overall pick with Chuckie and Lynch in close pursuit at SF and Oakland so 2019s draft will not provide a successor in Tampa in all likelihood.
October 28th, 2018 at 9:01 pm
This one is on Dirk and Jamies. If yall remember when Jamies had completed his first two interceptions, one had already been dropped that should have been intercepted. Jamies should have been pulled right then. I was already screaming it to the TV. By the time he finally did get pulled he had 4 int’s and two dropped Int’s. That was potentially 6 for the day. Dirk, this “L” is squarely on your shoulders. Jamies, you are just flat out Aweful!!
October 28th, 2018 at 9:08 pm
Now there is blood in the water and Koetter will have trouble defending himself against the sharks. I see those big fins circling him this evening.
BTW…Bruce Arians works for me and there are others…not Saban after the Dolphins and NO college coach they are very different games…not so much in on field strategy but in talent acquisition and level of competition each week. If the NFL was like big time college football the coaches on the leading teams would have 10-12 wins baked in every year due to highly unbalanced competition.
But here is the question guys…IF Koetter get’s the boot what makes anybody so sure JW doesn’t go out the door with him. What new coach wants to tie his career to JW? This is the perfect time to get out from under that challenge for a new coach he can simply say he wants HIS QB choice and it’s not going to be Fameis.
October 28th, 2018 at 11:31 pm
This is almost as dumb as your anti-Doug Martin campaign. Leave Jameis out there and watch him throw another pick? How about a fumble? Koetter isn’t the problem and anyone that knows a damn thing about football can see that
October 28th, 2018 at 11:39 pm
I’m sure the FSU homers will want Francois up next as our QB!!
Whoever we get..PLEASE keep away from FSU QB’s..the most obnoxious fanbase I have ever seen in my life are those Seminole homers..