Gunning It
May 16th, 2019
Talkin’ offense.
If only the Bucs could have found a way to score more points, their 2017-18 offense may have been an all-time fan favorite.
Alas, the team consistently bogged down in the red zone. And of course, the defense gave it up quicker than a broke Costa Rican businesswoman.
Bucs fans did all they could not to toss lukewarm $10 Miller Lites on the field.
It seems the general philosophy of the Bucs — throw deep — won’t change a whole lot, listening to Bucs receiver Breshad Perriman after underwear football practice Tuesday.
“Big plays – simple, cold-cut, big plays all around,” Perriman described the offense of Bucco Bruce Arians. “Run-game and pass-game. You can just see from being out there, [Arians] is going to take his shots and it’s just a great offense to be a part of.”
That sounds just like Dirk Koetter/Todd Monken’s offense. Joe is confident Arians wants to score more points.
Throwing the ball downfield sure sounds like fun. But if your defense cannot stop a cool breeze and your offense cannot get the ball across the goal line, and if your kicker chokes constantly like a dying dog, what good is going full-blown Don Coryell?
May 16th, 2019 at 5:16 am
well,
bad O-Line, leads to bad rushing Offense and bad red-zone offense, and bad scoring Offense..
but they didn’t do one thing to improve..
overall, the talent is just lacking..
no depth.. no talent.. not even salary cap ?!
Suckaneers are build the Licht-way, instead of the right way:
it is what it is..
Suckaneers suck because of the FrontOffice
they suck at talent evaluating and @ Roster building
join the
Fire Licht Tonight
movement !!
May 16th, 2019 at 5:17 am
A lot more would have had to happen for fans to have the ’17-’18 offenses as a fan favorite. Firtst, they would have needed an exciting run game. Didn’t have one. Next, they would have needed a cohesive offense where everyone actually liked each other and it showed through synergy. Didn’t have that. Next, they would have had to have a team captain and QB that fans respect, who is a leader who doesn’t hurt his team by grabbing women while they work. Didn’t have one. Last, the would have needed to win a lot more games. Thanks to Koetter, Winston, and Licht, they blew all that.
May 16th, 2019 at 5:57 am
Kept waiting for the dark cloud to rain on the parade Joe, but the downpour didn’t start this time until the very last paragraph. Kudos, sounds like you’re becoming a tad more optimistic (although the ‘dying dog’ would probably disagree).
Bruce Arians knows better than all of us the importance of DEFENSE & S/Ts … this year’s draft kinda demonstrates that. And I’m confident that we haven’t seen the last changes there, by a long shot. How quickly & by how much the defense can improve is anyone’s guess at this point IMO, but I for one am confident that both WILL BE BETTER than what we saw these last 2 years in particular.
The Bucs’ OFFENSE is just as big a question-mark IMO, and assuming that it’ll be a juggernaut like the Chiefs (565 pts last year), the Rams (527 pts) or Saints (504 pts) is being overly optimistic at this point. We’ll need a much improved OLine, running game & QB play to pull THAT off. Still, our 396 POINTS SCORED was the most a Bucs team has ever scored (in 2nd-place BTW is Tony Dungy’s 2000 team that scored 388 pts).
And BTW, Jameis was the QB when we scored 235 pts of those 396 pts it looks like; Fitz was QB when the Bucs scored 161 of those. Offensive season average was 24.8 PPG. Take away the very first game when we whooped New Orleans 48-40 and our average drops down to 23.2 PPG. What’s a little concerning IMO is that we closed out last season with 4 straight losses … and averaged 19.5 PPG scored in that stretch. Not a good way for a ‘juggernaut’ to finish the season.
May 16th, 2019 at 6:15 am
Dang DR…… you ended on a down note too.
Joe’s disease is running rampant!
May 16th, 2019 at 6:28 am
I’ll pick things up a bit……Perriman will out-produce Djax….and without the attitude.
Then Joe can continue with the “malcontent” comparisons….
May 16th, 2019 at 6:33 am
It’s one thing with misspellings and grammatical errors (even in player comment quotes), but lines like this, – “And of course, the defense gave it up quicker than a broke Costa Rican businesswoman.” – seriously? It’s 2019 guys. Get it together over there. That statement has all kinds of wrong in it.
Also, I can’t be sure without knowing the actual quotes, but I’m not sure everyone understands the proper use of square brackets. Do you need to hire me to help out with writing content? Lol
May 16th, 2019 at 6:56 am
I have a sneaky suspicion that our offense is going to almost be unstoppable…not even including a couple shiny new weapons added when the dust settles. Moreover, BA et al will create mismatches that will turn our Red Zone woes into the pride of our strategic attack.
Additionally, I submit our heads will be spinning with the disciplined scheme TB will execute. He’ll creatively leverage the strengths of each player and we Bucs fans will be in “good” shock as we win the first three games.
Just need to be healthy and stay healthy.
The rest will be history. BA is Coach if the Year and we finally make the playoffs with a 10-6 season.
Take THAT for a positive outlook.
May 16th, 2019 at 6:57 am
There’s not ONE reason why my comment should be under moderation except that my post is positive and encouraging.
Joe’s Restaurant, it seems.
May 16th, 2019 at 7:08 am
Defense—
“Not a good way for a ‘juggernaut’ to finish the season.”
Maybe not—but a perfect way to land Devon White!
I know “feelings” don’t count for squat in the real world of extrapolating knowledge from empiricism, but I got a feeling about this kid. For awhile, he might be the lone wolf in a historically bad defense, but when they do turn it around, I think we’re all gonna say it started with the drafting of “that kid from LSU.”
Yeah—that’s a definite … maybe … hope so …
May 16th, 2019 at 7:19 am
DooshLaRue … Not sure about ‘a down note’ but I will admit, I’m more optimistic about the defense improving than I am about the offense improving. Lots of folks seem to be assuming that the Bucs’ offense is some fantastic juggernaut that would’ve taken us to the Super Bowl “if only we had a heart” (OK, defense). That’s admittedly not exactly what I see.
I see an offense with the best receiving weapons in the NFL. Given the priority that our offense received in the draft for several years, I EXPECT them to produce … POINTS and TOP, not just YARDS. The POINTS have come in spurts; in other words, our offense is INCONSISTENT. Example: 48 pts against the Saints in Game 1, then 14 pts against those same Saints in Game 13. Against 3 of the better defense, we scored 10 pts on the Bears, 3 pts on the Redskins & 12 pts on the Ravens. That’s my definition of INCONSISTENT, and it doesn’t do anything to relieve the pressure on an already overmatched defense.
Yes we’ve got BA this year. But last I checked, he doesn’t block, he doesn’t pass, he doesn’t catch, he doesn’t run. Neither does Byron Leftwich. Joe is very consistent about overtly puffing up the offense, while denigrating the defense & S/Ts. My only consistent point (hopefully consistent) is that it takes COMPLIMENTARY FOOTBALL to win football games. And that’s what I EXPECT to see more of this year.
May 16th, 2019 at 7:27 am
JA … You’re spot on. I’ve been a Devin White advocate since Day 1. He’ll be the heart of our defense very shortly. I don’t personally give a hoot about Rookie of the Year stuff; I just want him to be the start of a new era in Tampa Bay defense.
I’ve got the same ‘feeling’ about him that you described BTW. Bucs gave Jameis all kinds of weapons … we need to do the same for Devin. The JPP & GMC situations are concerning, BUT … that COULD be a blessing in disguise, depending on how the Bucs respond. Thus far they’ve responded badly IMO, but the fat lady hasn’t sung yet. I’ve got this ‘feeling’ that BA has several more surprises in store before the season starts. Perhaps the opportunities just haven’t presented themselves yet. We all just need to be patient and let this ‘thing’ run its course.
May 16th, 2019 at 7:32 am
Defense you’re worried about the offense??? Wow. I don’t you folks get it when Pat Pete refers to BA as “geniu”. He’s referring to his offensive Xs and Os bro. I have no doubt we will be a 30 point offense next season. Been saying that’s the new defense in this league a few years now. Seems like people are beginning to see the light when it comes to Peyton Barbers true ability,couple that with ME,Chris,O.J. and now another speed in Perriman I’m not sure there will be a more offense in this league. Can’t say the chiefs,not with losing hunt and potentially Hill this season.
May 16th, 2019 at 7:33 am
When BA was in zona,I think they average a “game break highlight” every Sunday. It was bombs over Baghdad.
May 16th, 2019 at 7:39 am
Perriman has the skills, we’ll see if he and Jameis can connect- Perriman did not produce in Baltimore.
The key to this season is success running the ball and cut the interceptions in 1/2.
The defense will be better because 1/2 the starters and entire coaching staff have been replaced.
Special teams should be better as well- returns, coverage and kicking.
May 16th, 2019 at 7:44 am
I was going through and watching Jameis’s best games last name night and we lost EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM after the Eagles 5 TD game. Disgusting!!
May 16th, 2019 at 7:54 am
I’m just going to leave this here, 4TDs 395 yards. Up by 17 at the half, up by 1 with 4 mins left. None of it matters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=52JqOq6zeNA
May 16th, 2019 at 8:02 am
Defense—
Agree wholeheartedly!
The penultimate chapter to this season won’t be written until week 17. Looking forward to the POSSIBILITY of, as they say in Bangkok, a happy ending …
At this point, however, I’d take improvement of almost any kind.
As you know, most NFL games are decided by seven points or less and we always seem to be on the wrong end of those outcomes. With that, the possibility of us scoring four more points a game and giving up four less is not as impossible as most make it out to be.
A little luck would help too. Don’t wish injury on anybody but it is incredulous to me how Drew Brees and Matt Ryan, two diminutive (Brees for sure), fragile guys never seem to miss a game. Yet Cam Newton and Jameis, the two bigger guys in our division, get beat up regularity. Yeah, Cam (especially Cam) and Jameis run more, but damn!
Carson Wentz, another bigger guy, seems to get hurt every week. Maybe the bigger the body, the bigger the target …
A head scratcher for sure …
May 16th, 2019 at 8:03 am
quicker than a broke Costa Rican businesswoman?
Can someone explain this to me?
May 16th, 2019 at 8:20 am
JA … Very interesting point about Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, Carson Wentz & Jameis. Last year Brees took only 17 sacks (in 15 games), but Ryan took 42 (in 16 games). Newton got sacked 29 times (in 14 games), while Wentz got sacked 31 times (in only 11 games). Jameis did about the same, because he took 27 sacks in effectively about 10 games. Looks like Drew came away relatively unscathed, but Matty Ice got creamed (hey, Falcons did go 7-9). Jameis & Wentz were on about the same pace as Ryan if they’d each played a full 16 games.
May 16th, 2019 at 8:22 am
Ndog … There’s also a pretty good chance that we lost all of Jameis’ worst games too. That’s a reasonably safe bet when you go 5-11 two seasons in a row.
May 16th, 2019 at 8:46 am
Winning football games is the only stat that matter
May 16th, 2019 at 8:53 am
I really don’t understand people. If you’ve been a Bucs fan for more than 5 minutes, THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE PAST TWO SEASONS HAVE BEEN THE MOST ENTERTAINING ON OFFENSE in Bucs’ history. Losing sucks, but losing while watching a team that constantly goes three-and-out and never throws downfield (which was the case for most of the post-Gruden years and most of the pre-Gruden years, especially under Saint Dungy, who played not to lose on offense) is just unbearable. I don’t know if anyone keeps the stats, but we VERY rarely went three-and-out under Dirk.
Red zone struggle are frustrating, but not getting to the red zone totally sucks, and anyone who can’t at least acknowledge that the Bucs have been a BLAST to watch on offense the past couple years is just ignorant and/or has no sense of historical context. We went from snoozers to one of the most exciting offenses in football, and the games were fun to watch again. Letting Monken go seemed insane to me.
May 16th, 2019 at 9:00 am
DR, that 2000 team’s OC was Les Steckel (sp?). I remember when Tony D. hired him he said; “I have never had a coach whose philosophy was as close to mine as his”. Then poof, Les was gone after only one year!?
I’d love to know what the football happened!
May 16th, 2019 at 9:13 am
My personal belief is if Bowles can improve our defense to just below league average with a notch better ST play we will be fine.
In Bruce I trust
May 16th, 2019 at 9:33 am
BringBucsBack … As I remember, Steckel ran the offense like a Marine Drill Sergeant. the offense produced, but I’ve often wondered if the Bucs offense just couldn’t take it. Kinda like the Bucs defense had trouble taking Schiano’s heavy-handed approach?
May 16th, 2019 at 9:45 am
well perriman said big plays in the pass and run game….
doesnt sound like dirks offense at all to me….lol…dirk was all “air it out”…
BA will be less predictable, use different formations & personnel and most importantly run the ball….
GO BUCS!!!!!
May 16th, 2019 at 10:38 am
This is kinda what happens if you draft poorly. . . and Licht has done a very poor job of that.
You now have no cap and will have too many holes to fill at one time. This is not gonna be a very easy fix if this years draft class does not step up BIGTIME
May 16th, 2019 at 11:20 am
D@mn it DB I watched those highlights n I’m mad all over again. How many time have we watch Matt Bryant kick the game winning field goal to beat us. Thanks mark Dominick 🤦♂️. Anyway on a positive note we dont have to see Bryant beat us anymore at least not in Atlanta. If he gets a new job I pray it’s not with any of our rivals 🤷♂️💯
May 16th, 2019 at 11:28 am
What’s the fastest way of putting to much pressure on your defense besides turnovers?
Too many 3 and outs, which can be the consequence for looking for too many big plays on every series instead of taking what the defense gives you.
The “risk it, no biscuit” can backfire as well.
May 16th, 2019 at 12:33 pm
@bucsminsterfuller I’m assuming it’s a women who has sex for money lol