“It’s Not The Quarterbacks”
November 24th, 2018
Points finger at defense.
Nearly every Bucs fan who cannot wait for the day America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, leaves the roster, unloaded on Joe to some degree for the following through the past year.
Joe thought, and was backed up by statistical analysis, that when Jameis returned from his 2017 shoulder injury he was a damn good quarterback (minus the fumbles — and Joe is not trivializing those in any way).
Four times last year Jameis gave the Bucs a lead in the fourth quarter only to watch from the sidelines as the defense bent over and allowed opponents (most notably, three-plays/75-yards Tyrod Taylor) to ram their way up and down the field for the winning score.
Unless folks expected Jameis to be Sammy Baugh and play defense too, Joe’s not sure how Jameis should take heat for that, but he sure did.
Now add former Bucs guard and current popular radio personality Ian Beckles to those fingering the defense.
Beckles, in his podcast “In the Trenches,” said neither Jameis nor journeyman backup Ryan Fitzpatrick could win or should be expected to with this atrocious Bucs defense.
“They have a lot of shortcomings,” Beckles said of the Bucs. “This team lacks leadership in the worst way. I’m talking from the top down all the way. I don’t care if you are talking about Dirk Koetter, Jason Licht, our captains, our best players. We lack leadership. Other than Jason Pierre-Paul, I don’t see anyone busted their arse 24/7/365. I’m not.
“Jason Pierre-Paul I see out there diving for tackles, busting his arse on every play. It matters to him. We used to have 11 guys on defense where it mattered. Not anymore. It is a sad existence.
“It’s not the quarterbacks. I’m telling you that you can take these quarterbacks and put them on a different team in a different situation and both of our quarterbacks would win. I promise you.”
This Bucs defense is on the cusp of being the worst in the 99-year history of the NFL but folks sure like to pile on and #BlameJameis.
Now the three points scored on the Redskins despite 500 yards of offense, that is beyond mind-boggling to Joe. But for the most part, how can we ever blame a Bucs quarterback when every opponent runs through the defense as if it were playing Berkeley Prep?
This defense is so godawful Joe is ashamed to cover the Bucs sometimes. Just think, 30 years from now, those of us still walking the earth will have to stand up as volunteers in high school and grade school classes and explain to the students that yes, this actually happened. The record books and NFL films have not been doctored. We were all horrified beyond words by what our eyes saw.
As always, Beckles welcomes feedback and encourages readers to forward Bucs questions by e-mailing him at IanBeckles@RadioInfluence.com.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:05 am
Both qbs make plays and struggle. The sad thing is , if the D was just average and could take the ball away here and there then this team would be 7-3
November 24th, 2018 at 10:05 am
So who’s to blame the most for our defense? Licht or Koetter?
November 24th, 2018 at 10:08 am
Beckles is wrong as usual.
Obviously, defense is the biggest problem, but there were multiple players there busting their butts. Davis, Nassib, Whitehead, Kwon until the injury, Curry…I could go on.
No, this one was all on coaching and injuries. The DC sucked. The scheme sucked. Period.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:10 am
Another issue is the Offensive Line. The QBs are taking a lot of hits, and in each of the past few years, the sacks have increased on them. That makes QBs desperate. Then they make mistakes.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:14 am
Modern day players are uncoachable…every Tuesday they check their online bank account and it goes up my a number they never experienced before…most feel entitled to their status and feel like they have arrived and no longer need to work as hard as they need to get here….combined with the union mentality which is so limiting in practice time and how they practice weak teams don’t get enough work…combination of a whole lot of things but the game is not what is was even a few short years ago…it certainly has lost my interest and the passion I once had
November 24th, 2018 at 10:17 am
It’s the TURN OVERS STUPID!!!
November 24th, 2018 at 10:22 am
NONSENSE it absolutely is the Quaterbacks, they both suck and turnover the ball way to much. This teams issues are not an either or proposition. Everything, coaches, owners, GM, defense and QB’s all are part of the problem. And the OLine and RB’s are terrible as well or not consistent. The defense can be a problem but it is not the problem.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:24 am
It is NOT the QB or offense, but some obsessed with “‘Murica’s QB” can only talk about that subject.
As the cliche goes, the QB gets too much blame and credit.
It’s the defense that needs blowing up, and the ONLY reason I am for giving Winston the apple and roadmap is because that $21 mil could be better spent elsewhere…like defense.
Frankly, I get sick talking about the QB. But it has become clickbait on JBF.
The rants should be focused on this s#!t defense, 24/7.
Tom Brady, Joe Montana or Peyton Manning in their primes could not win with this defense.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:29 am
Pete I Says:
“The defense is not the problem.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REALLY? — Is that right, Pete? – We know you post about Jameis almost every single time, so you really don’t focus on the DEFENSE, apparently, which is one of the worst of ALL TIME. — Sorry, this was a ridiculous statement, Pete.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:31 am
Ian talks a lot but doesn’t say much.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:38 am
Outside of Gruden’s glory year this franchise has always been losers void of leadership and character from top to the bottom. Couple that with a low standard fan base who rather make excuses for this pathetic franchise and you have no hope.
Every year the same delusional optimists that are completely out of touch led by pickgrin reach87, and bonzi spout off this is the year, we are close, yada yada yadda yet every year outside of Gruden’s glory year this franchise embarrasses itself, the city and men with character worldwide with soft mentally weak effort week in and week out…. I’ll give you fools some credit your assumptions and excuses are as nearly as comical as the best selling fairy tale of all time the bible.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:39 am
He’s flip flopping, before it was the q.b’s
November 24th, 2018 at 10:41 am
Bucs have lost 5 games by one TD or less. -22 TO margin means that 22 possessions ended with no scores and we know that several ended up in direct opponent scores (at least 3 pick 6’s that I can think of off the top of my head).
Tell me again how this isn’t about TO’s?
November 24th, 2018 at 10:42 am
GO GATORS TODAY!!!!!!!!!
November 24th, 2018 at 10:46 am
Tom Brady, Joe Montana or Peyton Manning in their primes could not win with this defense.
It’s not the just the pathetic defense it’s the complete and total lack of character and leadership from TOP to bottom. This franchise has never had a leader in charge ever. A bunch of frauds and a hypocritical one dimensional nice guy but NO true leaders of men.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:49 am
While you are playing the blame game Joe. How about you blame Winston and the offense also. How many games did they start a flat and get behind double digits? This keeps your defense on the field for to many snaps early. This causing that same defense to be fatigued late in the game. Also add in all of Winston and this year Fitzpatrick to to but the defense behind the eightball to often.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:49 am
Let Grimes walk
..he does want to play
Bad for the rookies
November 24th, 2018 at 10:54 am
Nobody cares what this A-Hole thinks! But you
November 24th, 2018 at 10:55 am
Jfgobucs Says:
November 24th, 2018 at 10:49 am
Let Grimes walk
..he does want to play
Bad for the rookies
Cancer93 has been sucking the life out of rookies and free agents for a damn decade and you low standard fools love him…. Grimes is just another vet that came to the circus that is bucs football operations and realized they have no intentions of fielding a competitive team…. grimes is not the problem it’s the leader of the losing culture and his sidekick holdovers dotson and the lvd that are leading the losing culture and have no desire or clue how to win.
November 24th, 2018 at 10:59 am
Pete you need to find a new sport bro cause football just isn’t your thing.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:03 am
The Rams and Chiefs prove that a good QB can negate bad defenses ‘IF THEY DON’T THROW INTS AND CONSTANTLY FUMBLE’..
But sure, keep campaigning for a ‘turnover machine’ and stay at the bottom of your division… The Bucs can not and will never sniff the layoffs with an erratic QB… Waste years learning that… The rest of the NFC South won’t mind! 1 team for them to inflate their win column twice a year for the next coming years…
November 24th, 2018 at 11:04 am
The defense doesn’t care.
They have no regerts, they were eating Milky Ways.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:05 am
Bent over and ram it in the same sentence.
Nice work Joe.
Did you used to write for Penthouse Forums?
November 24th, 2018 at 11:08 am
Don’t kid yourselves. This is a team effort to achieve this kind of crazy TO margin. You need the offense to turn it over at a ridiculous rate while also having the defense create practically no TO’s.
Well done Bucs!
November 24th, 2018 at 11:17 am
That’s how he feels today. tomorrow meh
November 24th, 2018 at 11:19 am
Sorry your so late to the party Joe. Other thean a few good years. The Sh!tshows are well documented and we are still trying to explain them.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:21 am
^then
November 24th, 2018 at 11:24 am
So true !! We have never scored this many points in their exsistence. When you score 35 and lose by 10, Houston you may have a Problem. I can’t imagine how many points the Bucs could score if the defense could get off the field, stop someone.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:27 am
Thank you.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:31 am
CORRECT. — If the Bucs were giving up an average of 25 points per game, their current record would be 8-2.
Yes…. 8-2.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:38 am
Watch next year we will have a new coaching staff who are able to hold opponents to 19 ppg. Problem will be we will avg 17 pts on offense.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:48 am
When your franchise QB gets suspended for the first three games of the season SOMEBODY screwed up didn’t they?
It is what it is no matter how much you guys love Jameis. This season went into the toilet in large part because of Jameis off field immaturity. Not like that was a big surprise.
Now you can write forever about how Poor Jameis was cheated…how he always gets picked on by the “haters”…that’s absolute BS. Jameis brings ALL of this stuff on himself.
OK…so let’s look forward….first off is everybody here ready to mortgage their first born child that Fameis has had his last off field disaster? Personally I wouldn’t mortgage anything but I do believe the odds are slowly improving…I think there’s a 75-25 chance that Jameis can stay out of trouble this coming off season. But that 25% still scares me.
How about on the field….I think Jameis has achieved a certain NFL QB mediocrity. It’s how he does it that is confusing…he mixes in All Pro play with rookie like stupidity. You average JW’s great play with his godawful play and that’s what you end up with…an average QB….Average is enough with our receiving corps. Shore up the defense…improve the running game and we can win with a LOT of QB’s including JW.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:56 am
Tampa Bay Demon = Idiot Taken out of context read the whole sentence you dope
November 24th, 2018 at 11:58 am
This reasoning to me is why it would be a shame to let Jameis go after this year. Does he make mistakes? Yes. But the defense has made a hell of a lot more. Give him some help on the other side of the ball. Not at all worth it yet to send him on his way.
November 24th, 2018 at 11:58 am
Ndog I see you came up for air, Is Winston primed to ball now?
November 24th, 2018 at 11:59 am
When people I know say Winston sucks I usually say the bucs have bigger problems then Winston but he’s the target by lot of fans who don’t see the big picture
November 24th, 2018 at 12:09 pm
stpetebucsfan Says:
November 24th, 2018 at 11:48 am
^^^THIS^^^ Props.
This is what I refer to as a Winston Stinky Burger: a great play nestled within two s#!t buns.
In the NFL, it is not necessarily the great plays that wins games. It is the avoidance of bad plays.
Fact is the Bucs this season are a lot like an old arena league game: if they don’t score every possession, they will lose. And last team who has the ball largely determines who wins.
November 24th, 2018 at 12:14 pm
Winston haters see the big picture. Does not mean he doesn’t suck too. A fan can hate Winston and still understand the defense sucks also.
So many things to fix.
November 24th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
All spelled out in one common denominator GMC… Lovers of this cancer scoff all you want but watch and see when he leaves the team respectability returns.
November 24th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
I agree with Beckles finally !
No one on offense is problem , almost 30 points a game they put up. I think it’s stupid people calling for more running. What no 30 points is to much , I take 4 runs a game if I get 30 points.
This season falls only defense and head coach making wrong choices. cause even with pics we out points on board to win except one (kotter calles plays).
November 24th, 2018 at 12:31 pm
@THETRUTH: More running = more ToP and less time for the opponent to score quickly.
It’s pretty telling when Bucs fans cheer as heartily for a 3rd down stop as a Bucs TD. Or, in season 2018, a made PAT.
November 24th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
Truth:
Understand your point. The reason people are wanting more running is the age-old theory another team cannot score without the ball.
November 24th, 2018 at 12:42 pm
Jameis played great….other than the fumbles that killed drives, gave the other team points and lost games.
Great assessment Joe.
November 24th, 2018 at 12:55 pm
Pete I Says:
November 24th, 2018 at 12:14 pm
Winston haters see the big picture. Does not mean he doesn’t suck too. A fan can hate Winston and still understand the defense sucks also.
So many things to fix.
At least you can finally admit that you are not judging his play but you just hate him. Finally something that you say makes sense.
November 24th, 2018 at 1:13 pm
Pete I Says:
“Tampa Bay Demon = Idiot Taken out of context read the whole sentence you dope”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not in the mood for your cr@p, Pete.
The FULL sentence that YOU said was
“The defense can be a problem but IT IS NOT THE PROBLEM”
So Tell me how in the hell it was out of context!
And the name calling garbage, as usual, comes from you… did not come from here.
November 24th, 2018 at 1:19 pm
I remember when we could score half the points we do now and not just win but dominate the other team SMMFH 🤦♂️🤷♂️
November 24th, 2018 at 1:24 pm
^^ No doubt, @Rodney… You are so correct, man. How much fun was it watching that defense? — Wow, how I miss that.
November 24th, 2018 at 1:33 pm
Man when will you people on this site learne . If you can’t run the ball then it makes it easier to stop you . Cause they know that you can’t run the ball. Then they drop ever body back in zone and they bliz you witch make it harder to throw , not to mention that this offense is a 7 step drop back type of plays . But the main problem now is not quarterback. It’s coaching and defense. Look at the saints they run the ball and they play defense. We don’t do neather so that’s why we lose . Jamies will be here next year so all yall that want him gone just go root for another team . Cause I’m tired of hearing the negative altitude about Jamies and the bucs. The problem is defense and coaching that’s it .
November 24th, 2018 at 1:34 pm
…Beckles … this guy makes me sick. Why his opinion comes here every week….??
It is nothing new he says…. he is a JW unconditional “lover”. He hate Glazers (cause they are rich), he use Bucs for his own gain, he protect JW, thinking he is revenging for himself…. pathetic…
November 24th, 2018 at 1:53 pm
Since most of y’all like Beckles so much tune in Monday from 3-7. He’s back on the air with Ron Diaz.
November 24th, 2018 at 1:54 pm
Oh it’s on that radio station 620
November 24th, 2018 at 2:59 pm
Winstopologist logic in full view. Winston’s numbers are eerily similar to Freeman’s. Look it up. Almost same record and interception rate. Freeman was better at comebacks, arm strength and success in the red zone giving him the advantage.
November 24th, 2018 at 3:07 pm
I think anyone who puts the majority of blame for the Train-wreck of a season this year on Jameis or our QB play as a whole is seeing only what they WANT to see. All you really need to see is in game one against the Saints. Fitz played OUT OF HIS MIND and our lousy D nearly let the game slip away. WITHOUT turnovers by the Bucs offense we have seen teams just plow down the field and score (touchdowns) at will. Anyone who thinks that doesn’t get into a quarterbacks head, that you’ve GOT to score on your next possession or the next time you get the ball you’ll be TWO scores down. Knowing that your own defense is EPICALLY bad puts emense pressure on you as a quarterback, which NATURALLY can lead to more turnovers. It’s a cycle that feeds into disaster. No defense leads to a pressing offense that leads to an abandoning of the running game plus a greater chance of turnovers. If you are DETERMINED to pin this primarily on a quarterback you are demonstrating an agenda driven opinion. Is the quarterback absolved of blame? Of course not. But NO QUARTERBACK can overcome so much defensive ineptitude. Does anyone think Aaron Rodgers forgot how to play quarterback? The Pack are having a lousy season (for them). Not saying Jameis is on the same level as Rodgers, but I am merely comparing their situations. Just food for thought.
November 24th, 2018 at 3:10 pm
I don’t know the guy or his radio show cause I’m from Houston. So I don’t know him like yall do but he has a good point. It doesn’t matter if Russell Wilson or Rogers or Brady was on this team if you don’t play defense or run the ball good you will not win . Why do yall buy in what the national media say every year. They tell yall that all you need is a quarterback and yall believe that trash. I have been watching teams like ours lose every year and all the talk is about quarterback play . Look at last year 5 games Jamies put this team in position to win just to watch the defense give it up and yall rather talk about quarterback or offense when we have been losing cause of defense. But yall hate Jamies so much that yall are blind to the real reason why we lose and that is because of defense and defense only. I can’t even blame fiz for some of those games. Now fiz ain’t gonna help you eather but defense has been the reason for this team losing ever since Jamies been here and the running game. Look at the packers they have Rogers in still losing now can you put the blame on him for packers losing no yall will not or the national media will. That just shows that they had a decent defense that helped the packers win for years not just the quarterback. Our problem is the running game and defense nothing else. But the hate for Jamies blinds yall.
November 24th, 2018 at 3:18 pm
^^ Very well said, @Malcolm-Reynolds. — It’s why Jameis tries to throw for 150 yards on every play.
November 24th, 2018 at 3:20 pm
Jameis is trying to hard is what everyone is convincing themselves is the reason? Lmao! If that helps you sleep at night. Is he trying hard to lose every single first half of football I can ever remember him playing?
November 24th, 2018 at 3:29 pm
Bonzai
Get a grip before u write. U say Beckles is wrong then u make his point. Not qb means not qb. He is actually right this time. The least of the problems on this team is the qb position. Theyd win more games if they fired Dirk today n bumped up someone who earns respect from men.
November 24th, 2018 at 3:30 pm
Jameis is far from the only problem.
But he is a problem.
And boy is he hard to watch
November 24th, 2018 at 5:51 pm
Number #1 problem is Jason Licht horrible picks, followed by Number #2 Mike Smith horrible defense, followed by Number #3 kicker missing field goals, followed by #4 Jamies and Fitz habitual turnovers
All of them need to go!
November 24th, 2018 at 8:32 pm
I’ve never liked Ian Beckles. I won’t listen to the show with him on it. Thinks he knows more than everyone. He’s the only person ever right.
Blah. Blah. Both QB’s suck.
November 24th, 2018 at 9:08 pm
Larry
U r so wrong
When the offense is a throw it down the field scheme and your D can’t force a TURNOVER then u r asking the offense to drive the length of the field & throw the ball 50 times a game SO BASICALLY THE QBS MUST BE PERFECT! Joe was right last year Jameis gave this team the lead 4 times & the D or a KICKER BLEW IT. So if we win 3 of those it’s an 8-8 team after going 9-7 the year before. As a 20 year old rookie Jameis had a good running game, had them at 6-6 w NO D & Kwon getting suspended the last 4 games of the year. In that rookie year he thre 22 TDS, 15 INTS & 6 rushing TDS. Regarding the 15 picks 9 of them came in 3 games. And u all want Jameis gone?
November 24th, 2018 at 10:48 pm
Let’s see Aaron Rodgers is 4-5-1 and Matt Ryan is 4-7. Is it the QB’s? The idiot Buc fan will blame Winston or Fitz with a worse roster than what Rodgers and Ryan are playing with. The Winston haters will always blame him but now they have to also throw Fitz under the bus to keep their agenda of running Winston out of town. You will read stuff like they both suck when earlier this year it was all about Fitz. They never mention how bad this defense really is.
November 25th, 2018 at 1:16 am
Cobra and Admin:
I understand keeping defense off field to not give other team a Almost guarantee TD every time.
My issue is when we start to run we SUCK again and cant finish off drives, so if we get a defensive coach that can take players we have and put them in position to succeed using their talent, instead of ramming a scheme that does not fit players.
Last year we ran 1st and 2nd down almost all the time and 3& 9 , than PUNT OR FIELDGOAL. We complained about running