“The Defense Is More Reacting Than Anticipating”
November 21st, 2018
Very detailed take on the Buccaneers defense here by the loquacious team in-house radio analyst Dave Moore.
The former tight end and special teams Pro Bowler gave an insightful and rather chilling breakdown of the Bucs’ defensive struggles.
Moore was asked on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday why the defense can’t find or create a turnover.
He said the change at defensive coordinator may have led to more passive and reactionary play but added that overall lack of defensive confidence and aggression inexplicably goes back to the start of this regular season.
“There has to be a 100 percent understanding of what their responsibilities are, and their techniques and anticipation, and the defense is more reacting [now] than anticipating,” Moore said.
“We saw at times, really several times over the course of the season, where you got receivers running wide open through your defense. Well, that’s obviously not executing the defense the way you’re supposed to. And then when they are covered, you know, they’re not ballhawking, they’re not running up after the guy’s wrapped up trying to pull at the football and punch at it. It’s kinda like, ‘Let’s make a tackle.’ Because you saw in another game where they really struggled making tackles.
“When you’re struggling to do the fundamental things on defense, it’s hard to anticipate to try to ballhawk when a guy’s running to knock it out, and to try to jump in front of receivers on an anticipated route. It’s more about everybody just concentrating on doing the basic football things.
“And you know, that’s gotta tell you that these guys don’t really understand the full scheme of what they’re trying to do, because they’re not playing with the aggressive way. And we saw some in preseason; we saw games where they were getting takeaways. And we saw jumping of routes, and then all of a sudden in the regular season, I don’t know if the defense got more complicated or, you know, guys just got timid.”
This is all very hard to comprehend, given that the Bucs are in Year 3 of their defensive scheme.
Moore did a great job of boiling it down. And Joe hopes the Bucs’ coaching staff can find a way to get guys in the back-7 to play fearlessly and with their hair on fire over the final six games.
It is possible in this system. Kwon Alexander and Jordan Whitehead have found ways, as have other in the past.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:41 am
Koetter became HC because he was deemed the right choice to develop Winston. This was followed by two years devoted to building the best receiving corps in the NFL. Now it’s all about the terrible defense (surprise!). So now when we dump Koetter, are we looking for a defense-minded head coach? Haven’t heard that so far…
November 21st, 2018 at 10:41 am
Someone here has been banging the drum for Kris Richards to replace Dirk koetter as it is almost inevitable he will be fired.
This could be a fix for many of our defensive deficiencies especially the secondary.
Hope the Glazers get it right this time.
November 21st, 2018 at 10:50 am
ghost
yes sir!!!!!!!!
KRIS RICHARD 4 HC!!!!!!!!
Kris Richard – HC
Todd Blowles- DC
Hue Jackson – OC
Bruce Arians- president of football operations
kris has turned dallas’ defense around in 1 offseaon and develop the leign of boom, who were a bunch 5th round picks and UDFA’s outside of earl thomas…..
we need someone who can develop the secondary and create a attacking defense…..
even tho he’ll be 1st time HC, he comes from the pete caroll tree…..he knows what a winning team looks like and has been apart of a winning culture……and if we hire todd, hue and bruce, Kris will have 3 former HC’s to lean on……
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
November 21st, 2018 at 11:00 am
Defense is sucking more than playing
November 21st, 2018 at 11:03 am
One of the worst of all time.
Keep Koeter, hire Rex Ryan at DC?
November 21st, 2018 at 11:08 am
The website continues to be a year behind the reality of the situation.
November 21st, 2018 at 11:24 am
IMO if the Bucs hired a up and comin young NFL coachI don’t think having ex HC’s as OC, DC would be a smart thing to do. It seems to me he would always be looking over his shoulder. The idea OF ARians as president of football operation seems like a good way to go. I would possibly keep the OC & DC they already have but that would be up to the new HC. Now all they would need is a new GM who knows something about the draft.
November 21st, 2018 at 11:27 am
The offense is fine (and will be great with a competent QB) but the defense needs a swap of scheme and some personnel. Hire an aggressive defensive coach to light a fire in their arses and hold guys accountable.
November 21st, 2018 at 11:39 am
I thought Dave Moore’s analysis was excellent. It seems the Bucs are in the wrong areas all the time and all they do is react.
November 21st, 2018 at 11:50 am
Again, comes down to coaching. We need a DC that understands the current nature of the NFL and can scheme accordingly. I’m a firm believer that the talent on the defense, with a few exceptions and aside from the current spate of injuries, is adequate to get the job done. We just need a better scheme and a coach than can quickly acclimate the players to that scheme. It all starts next year.
November 21st, 2018 at 11:59 am
tom
theres a reason why they’re ex HC’s…..no one would want to hire them at least for a few years…..especially hue and todd……but those 2 are great at being a DC & OC…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
November 21st, 2018 at 12:02 pm
MJ Stewart is way too slow to play corner. Who timed this dude anyway? He might fit at safety but never at corner. You can’t teach speed. When you are slow you are slow. Period!!! He might have enough speed for college but NEVER in the NFL.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:02 pm
Joe,
I am not sure which thing I feel more….
1. – Dave Moore is great. He can break it down as well as anyone, and make it understandable to all.
2. – Wow, it is truly scary how FAR AWAY our Defense is from being even adequate.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:04 pm
Arians is another one who likes to get the ball down field. that is not what Winston is good at. Forget Arians. Anyway, he has too many health issues.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:08 pm
Stick with Winston for the rest of the year. what can you lose??? At least a new coach will know where he stands with Winston under center. don’t think he is a top NFL QB and may never be, but the Bucs need to find out. Can’t do that with him setting on the bench.
November 21st, 2018 at 12:12 pm
larry
thats why he wont be a coach…..let him take on the tom coughlin role….hue and arians would do wonders for winston compared to dirk and mike b…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
November 21st, 2018 at 12:13 pm
Not sure why Arians is so popular here
November 21st, 2018 at 12:34 pm
They’re “reacting” alright. Reacting to the other team scoring dances!
November 21st, 2018 at 12:37 pm
Draft better
November 21st, 2018 at 12:40 pm
This defense sucks, a total lack of talent and discipline. We need an ovehaul on defense, starting with the d-line. Our linebackers are not as good as we think and our secondary is the worst I have ever seen of 50+ years of watching football.
November 21st, 2018 at 1:00 pm
This defense acts like those dogs in the movie UP.
Squirrel!
November 21st, 2018 at 1:01 pm
@larry
exactly.
Ive been saying it since 4.6 Leonard Johnson and J. Banks.
4.3-4.4 is a requirement these days.
November 21st, 2018 at 1:20 pm
Moore forgot to mention our secondary consists of a rookie on one side, a slow a$$ 36-year old that shouldn’t have been resigned in the first place on the other, Javion Elliot who I think should’ve been cut years ago, Ryan Smith that has sunk to the bottom from his good looking performance at the beginning of the year, injured rookie CB, Isaiah Johnson (starring down the barrel) starting at safety over rookie Whitehead. And two starting LB on IR doesn’t help either.
CB Greedy Williams (LSU) with the first round pick. S Chauncy Gardner-Johnson (UF). That’s a very young secondary but we would also have decent young backups like Whitehead and Stewart. VH3 showed a lot of potential in the slot at the beginning of the year but he’s injury prone. Give him one more year to see if he can stay off the bench.
November 21st, 2018 at 1:26 pm
^^Or we could trade back in the first and hope Deionte Thompson or Deandre Baker are still around while also getting some nice picks^^
November 22nd, 2018 at 7:47 am
MJ Stewart trash! A complete waste of a draft pick. Kwon and LVD can’t cover and are in the right gap maybe 50% of the time on run plays. Gerald is past his prime time to move on from the family man. We need real football players.