Bill Polian Tells Bucs Fans Why They Should Be Happy And Leery
July 24th, 2019
Last night as Joe mowed down cauliflower puffs and watched the Rays give away another game, Joe also listened to SiriusXM NFL Radio and watched the NFL Network Top-100 series on another screen.
Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian was on NFL Radio and a Bucs fan called in to almost beg Polian to provide a reason to be positive about the Bucs.
Polian obliged and went right to the man he worked with for several years in Indianapolis, new head coach Bucco Bruce Arians.
“Tremendous coach, tremendous motivator, tremendous organizer, great offensive mind who can get blood from a stone, so to speak. He’s a guy who can develop quarterbacks,” Polian said of Arians.
So does Polian think Arians can turn America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, into a top NFL QB? Polian isn’t betting on it.
Polian harped on what former Bucs general manager Mark Dominik often does when he talks about Jameis. The Bucs franchise QB has a poor touchdown-to-interception ratio. The goal is 3-to-1 but 2-to-1, per Polian, “is the most you could possibly tolerate, and he’s not been there.”
Cam Netwon doesn’t have a 2-to-1 touchdown-to-interceptions ratio through his career. But he has done it in a season (35 TDs vs. 10 picks in 2015); Jameis has not. And Newton also has run for 58 touchdowns, so that has to be factored in. Matt Ryan and Drew Brees are among the best in the NFL at TD-INT ratio.
Polian believes Arians will get more from Jameis but he cautioned Bucs fans that Jameis was coached very well by Dirk Koetter.
Of course, it’s all talk right now. A lot of answers, hopefully, will be forthcoming by Halloween.
July 24th, 2019 at 10:57 am
Agreed it will be very hard to rewire Jameis… but there’s always hope.
July 24th, 2019 at 11:11 am
I just dont get it. I see the good and the bad and I see him not even recognizing when a receiver is open and making bad reads more than bad throws but 4 years in it’s just ignorant to believe someone cant improve at quarterback. Can he be coached to throws less interceptions yes which comes with better understanding of an offense and by playing to his strengths. If he was close to 30 then yea it would be a lost cause
July 24th, 2019 at 11:13 am
You can give Jameis a run game and a stout defense and turn him into a game manager, but there is going to come a time when he has to put the team on his shoulders and win a game with his arm. Then we will find out if he will rise above or will he simply melt down?
July 24th, 2019 at 11:14 am
You mean may not be the anointed one after all?
Ya don’t say.
July 24th, 2019 at 11:20 am
Winston’s desire to go make big plays and win games is the right attitude, but is not always in the right approach. Guys who can make plays and make good decisions do them at the right time. Guys who can’t give the ball away and don’t last long. Some will say “that’s just who Winston is…” Well then one thing he won’t be is a starting NFL QB. That said, guys who are (mostly) game managers should also not get big contracts (where Mike Glennon laughs all the way to the bank as they fell for out in CHI).
July 24th, 2019 at 11:53 am
Polian believes Arians will get more from Jameis but he cautioned Bucs fans that Jameis was coached very well by Dirk Koetter.
Being coached well while harboring an inept DC that caused him to continually have to take gambles to try to come from behind
July 24th, 2019 at 12:02 pm
Arians isnt coaching jameis though, its clyde & byron so, no matter what it will not be the same as arians coaching luck or palmer
July 24th, 2019 at 12:06 pm
This is Bowles team to fix and BA is just a QB coach. We know we have the receiver’s in this passing league. It is time for Bowles to show these guys how to play defense holding on to the win without a second half black hole collapse.
P.S. Let’s go Gay!!!
July 24th, 2019 at 12:14 pm
This team may not have a winning record although I dont believe that unless Winston has a meltdown but at the very least I am quite sure the head coach wont have a meltdown because of how pathetic preparation was prior to gameday so if we do have a losing record I’d feel better knowing we wont be out of a ball game by halftime because the coach was in over his head every week leading to halftime blowouts on a regular basis regardless of the quarterback under center
July 24th, 2019 at 12:15 pm
@SOEbuc:
Nail on the Head!!!
11-5
Go Bucs
July 24th, 2019 at 12:18 pm
It’s weird how much praise BA gets, and how they say he’s a QB whisperer, and how the media should know he took this job because he believes in the QB, yet no media agree with that take.
So they basically are all saying BA is really an idiot, while also praising him.
“BA is an awesome coach and football mind! But we disagree with everything he thinks and says about the Buccaneers because we know better than him”
is essentially the consensus national media take
July 24th, 2019 at 12:18 pm
Moved seats this year so extremely excited.
CNt wait to watch bucs from other side of stadium (in the shade for late games ). 4 rows off field on Bucs side so will get to hear the players communicate a little more. Under 8 weeks to go!
Go Bucs !
July 24th, 2019 at 12:35 pm
LC that’s a great great point. Talking out of both sides of their mouth, what a surprise! NOT!!!!!
July 24th, 2019 at 12:36 pm
Also Packers released Mike Daniels (DT)
He’s been pretty productive and could be an option if we want DL depth. 30 YO so it’d be another short term contract but why not.
Could dump JPP, sign Daniels, and go after RG with extra $$ either via trade or camp cuts
Suh/Vea/Daniels would be a pretty nasty interior. But I don’t think they’d do this and would rather just stick with Beau Allen or whatever
July 24th, 2019 at 12:47 pm
I’ll give Bill Polian this, he certainly keeps himself in the news. Blurbs by him at least twice a week on here.
July 24th, 2019 at 1:02 pm
Sounds like Polian knows that jw3 is a third tier game manger type of QB!!!!!!!!! The roster is up against the cap with holes every where and bad contracts everywhere!!!!!!!!!Ole coach stale biscuit is here to supposedly “win now” with a roster that is more of a “rebuild now”!!!!!!!!!! The sheep will use every excuse to overpay and blame everything else for the qb’s failure!!!!!!!!! Good times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2019 will reveal answers to the sheep, that the “real” fans already know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 24th, 2019 at 1:05 pm
Jameis is either really good or really really bad. The same guy rarely shows up twice. His offensive line can be down right offensive. On their good days they were bad and on their bad days they totally sucked. Which line shows up in September is arguably more important than which Jameis. Drew Brees would have struggled behind that garbage O line. Worry more about the line, they are the giant elephant in the room.
July 24th, 2019 at 1:11 pm
What Jameis does best doesn’t complement a garbage surrounding cast. He lifts an average team to elite. This garbage squad, since Koetter, was hopeless and Koetter made it even worse. May be the worst play-caller I’ve ever seen beyond the high school level. Jeff Bowdenesque. 🙈🙈🤣🤣 totally incompetent and Jameis will get 2 years with Arians and he will TRANSFORM into the Qb everyone expects.
July 24th, 2019 at 1:14 pm
We as fans just have to hope that JW’s last 7 games of the 2018 season will continue into this season. I know we’ve all said this before with the end of the 2017 season. Past year sucked, I feel like he was motivated after the ’17 season until he got suspended, then had to watch Fitz have a few amazing games and also deal with who’s going to start on a week to week basis. Just remember he is only 24 f*cking years old, still a young buck. Trust in Arians we must.
July 24th, 2019 at 1:27 pm
No creditability Realist strikes again!!!
July 24th, 2019 at 1:51 pm
I can taste football season, that’s all that matters.
Talking heads usually give two sided takes, so at the end of the season their right in some way. If Jameis plays well, BA is great. If Jameis falters, Jameis isn’t a fixable problem.
July 24th, 2019 at 1:57 pm
Joe’s defense (?) of Jameis is getting to be more humorous with every passing day. In the previous article Jameis suffers from a ‘double standard’ regarding turnovers, INTs especially. Poor Jameis. Yet in this article, Bill Polian is convinced that it’s questionable BA can ‘fix Jameis’ because he “has a poor touchdown-to-interception ratio”. Sure wouldn’t want you for my defense attorney Joe.
Bucs have had exactly ONE QB who can say that he won a Super Bowl with the Bucs … Brad Johnson. The team went 12-4 that year, although Brad only played in (and started) 13 games (his record was 10-3 that year). Compare Winston to Johnson instead of comparing Jameis to Brees, Ryan, Newton, Rivers, or Rothlesberger.
Brad Johnson that year completed 281 passes out of 451 attempts (62.3%) for 3049 yds and 22 TDs, with 6 INTs & 8 fumbles (6 lost) … 12 TOs. He also rushed for 30 yds on 13 attempts (2.6 YPC) with 0 TDs, although the Bucs’ running game overall was mediocre (414 rushes for 1557 yds … 3.8 YPC). As we all know, he had the league’s #1 defense behind him, and that made all the difference in the world. Bucs won the turnover battle in 10 regular games that year (won 10, lost 0), tied in the turnover battle in 3 games (won 1, lost 2) and lost the turnover battle in 3 games (won 1, lost 2). Pretty obvious to me that had it not been for the Bucs’ offense limiting their turnovers to 21 and the Bucs’ defense creating 38 turnovers (for a PLUS 17 advantage), the Bucs wouldn’t have won the SB that year (in the playoffs the Bucs held a 13-4 advantage in turnovers BTW).
Jameis last year only played in 11 games (started 9). He completed 244 passes out of 378 attempts (64.6%) for 2,992 tds and 19 TDs, with 14 INTs and 7 fumbles (5 lost) … 19 TOs (in 2 fewer games than Brad). He also rushed for 281 yds on 49 attempts (5.7 YPC) & 1 TD, although the Bucs running game overall was mediocre (1523 rushing yds on 389 attempts for a 3.9 YPC average … just a tad better than what we did in our SB year). But as we all know, Jameis had the leagues #31 defense behind him, and that made a world of difference. Bucs’ defense created 17 turnovers on the season, but the Bucs’ offense was responsible for turning the ball over 35 times, for a MINUS 18 differential.
The disparity in turnover differentials between 2002 (PLUS 17) and 2018 (MINUS 18) largely explains why we didn’t get an invite to last year’s Super Bowl IMO. But the differences in QB play was also important. Yes Brad was more of a game manager, although his running game in 2002 was roughly the same as Jameis’ running game in 2018. The Bucs’ 2002 defense was tremendously better in that it created OVER twice as many turnovers (38 TOs vs 17 TOs). But the Bucs 2002 offense also was much better at hanging on to the ball (21 TOs vs 35 TOs). And BTW, the TOP reflected that … 34:58 in 2002 vs 30:12 in 2018. Just goes to show that COMPLEMENTARY FOOTBALL really does work (PLUS 17 turnover ratio helped, as did our defense & S/Ts scoring 6 TDs that year). Love the fact that football is a TEAM sport.
July 24th, 2019 at 1:59 pm
To be clear Jameis does not need “fixing” this team needs fixing.
July 24th, 2019 at 2:04 pm
You read it here first:
If Lict gets fired, Bill Polian will be our next GM.
July 24th, 2019 at 2:15 pm
Joe I understand you need to give us content, but who gives a damn what Bill Polian says. Bill Polian is on the outside looking in. This same Bill Polian and all the other people who are down on Jameis will start acting like they knew all along he was great if he puts up an MVP performance. Bill Polian had a great career but he is not always right.
July 24th, 2019 at 2:24 pm
Agreed, Jameis is fine. All those defensive players, RBs, O line, coaches, mean “hater” fans, and false narrative media MUST give the ball back to Jameis Winston for safekeeping so as not to give the ball to other team through the air again! He is a such a good decision maker too. Noooooo problems there either.
—
Why do I get this feeling that if this year does not turn out good for Winston there will still be people out there saying he needs more time? And just like Koetter, it will BA’s fault now. Kudos to the patience of the Glazers. But some will not get it.
July 24th, 2019 at 2:25 pm
@Bonzai…that would be a very welcome change….
July 24th, 2019 at 2:27 pm
Much of Jameis ‘s game is instinctual built on years of playing football. I think it may be tough to change some old habits. That said ,his ability to change a few things and respond to the coaching staff will extend his career. As DR pointed out
we won a SB with a game manager and a similar running game and a much better defense. The team is working on improving the defense after years of neglect. A renewed focus on protecting the football would be the first step in improving our win loss record from the QB perspective.
July 24th, 2019 at 3:11 pm
Can someone please run a stat check and see how many INTs Jameis has thrown when down by 7 or more points?
Also, in terms of INTs, how does he compare to John Elway at this point of his career? Doug Williams? Jim Kelly? Troy Aikman?
The Cinci game last year was his worst ever. But, in other games, some of these sideline throws to Evans and his red zone throws on the run, waiting an eternity to find an open guy are second to none in a Buc uniform.
Perspective people. Anyone who says he is not the best this franchise has ever had is just blind and biased. And don’t give me Steve Young. He sucked when he was here and so did the team. Ditto Vinny.
July 24th, 2019 at 3:44 pm
ModHair, well said. He isn’t perfect, but we have never had a QB as talented as JW. There is a reason they are referred to as haters….because they just hate. They act like he has done nothing while here in Tampa and would never ever admit how incredible he plays at times. They just disregard all of his stats as garbage time numbers and ignore all the 4th quarter comebacks he has led only to see the defense pi$$ it alway.
July 24th, 2019 at 3:44 pm
Can we expect the Jameis Winston performance of his first three and one half years? Or will we get the Jameis we saw for the last six games of 2018? The former is the one that he is taking all of the criticism for. Again, is the small sample of six games enough to judge where his game stands today? Will he perform that way this upcoming season or will he revert back to what we have seen before? These questions underlie much in the debates here.
We have a whole new staff of coaches from Bruce Arians on down. We have a new scheme for Jameis to operate under. We have a new untried and unfamiliar defensive scheme. We will have essentially the same offensive line and the same running backs leading the way under the new schemes.
Just how are we supposed to be able to judge how Jameis Winston and the rest of the team will perform based on what we have seen and known in the past? What will we base our predictions on?
The six games show that Jameis is indeed capable of executing at a high level. As a fan I will not only expect Jameis Winston to play at this level of competence consistently from now on but I will demand it. I choose to rely on the small, but valid nonetheless, latest examples of Winston’s play. To this I add the hope engendered by the presence of Bruce Arians, “the Quarterback Whisperer”, in order to make my judgment. I do this exactly because I as a fan want to believe. I choose once again to expect the best this year from Winston and from my team regardless of the past.
______________
Go Bucs!!!
P.S. Since essentially the same discussion about Winston are being continued under various articles today I felt free to plaster here exactly what I posted a few moments ago under a different article.
July 24th, 2019 at 3:48 pm
Joe that’s an odd snack choice. I would have taken you for a beer and wings kinda guy. Did you turn vegan like Gerald and Donavon?
July 24th, 2019 at 3:57 pm
Lord Cornelius Says:
July 24th, 2019 at 12:18 pm
It’s weird how much praise BA gets, and how they say he’s a QB whisperer, and how the media should know he took this job because he believes in the QB, yet no media agree with that take.
So they basically are all saying BA is really an idiot, while also praising him.
“BA is an awesome coach and football mind! But we disagree with everything he thinks and says about the Buccaneers because we know better than him”
is essentially the consensus national media take.
________________________
The above also bears repeating for emphasis. I could not agree more!
___________
Go Bucs!!!
July 24th, 2019 at 4:06 pm
LC 4 GM!!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!
July 24th, 2019 at 4:21 pm
Also LOL @ labeling Winston a game manager when he leads the league in YPA every year basically and air yards per throw.
Joe Flacco / Alex Smith = game managers. High completion % because they mostly complete short passes in offenses that are designed for YAC and low risk throws. Lower TD / lower explosive plays / lower difficulty level but typically always results in higher passer rating.
If anything Jameis and the offense needs to be a bit better at game managing and throwing balls away.
But if I was a Tampa QB and saw how this defense caved in games time after time with leads, I’d feel a need to press.
Going by NFL scoring average each year, here is how the offense / defense did in terms of the amount of times the offense scored more than the NFL average vs the amount of times the defense held a team under the average:
2015: 8 / 6
2016: 8 / 8
2017: 8 / 4
2018: 11 / 5
In total – 35 out of 64 games the offense has scored more than the league average in points (55%)
In total – 23 out of 64 games the defense has held a team under the league scoring average (36%)
We went 5-11 last year despite our offense putting up 11 games where we scored more than league average. That’s gross.
You can’t win without balance. 2016 = what balance looks like. 2016 = what an AVERAGE defense can do for an NFL team. Defense still wins championships. Go look up every SB winner from this “modern era” and it’s still true.
Key to 2019 season?
#1 Defense being AVERAGE
#2 Winston having his best season yet in terms TD:turnover ratio, while still maintaining an attacking style and keeping his YPA healthy.
We could still have a terrible run game and kicker but the above would be enough to compete and have a winning season. Throw in the run game being better and a stable special teams unit and we can compete with anyone.
GO BUCS!
July 24th, 2019 at 4:23 pm
@SenileSenior … “Or will we get the Jameis we saw for the last six games of 2018? The six games show that Jameis is indeed capable of executing at a high level. I choose once again to expect the best this year from Winston and from my team regardless of the past. Go Bucs!!!”
OK Senior, I cherry-picked 4 related lines from your ‘re-post’. I’m curious though … Why THOSE 6 games? Bucs won 2 lost 4 in that stretch. The 2 wins came against 2 teams with losing records on the year (San Fran & Panthers) … BOTH had Bottom-16 defenses and we won the turnover battle decidedly in BOTH games (5 TO differential). Against teams with Top-10 defenses (Ravens & Cowboys) we lost BOTH games … Bucs offense scored a grand total of 32 points. We lost to the Saints & only scored 14 points (after scoring 48 pts the first time we played them). We lost to the Falcons by 2 pts after being ahead at the half 21-7, largely because of a Jameis INT in the 3rd qtr (leading to a Falcons TD) that let them back in the game.
Sorry, but that’s NOT how I want to see Jameis play this year. I EXPECT him to play considerably BETTER THAN THAT. I EXPECT the Bucs as a TEAM to play considerably BETTER THAN THAT. Our standards are WAY TOO LOW. The way that Jameis played in those last 6 games isn’t even close to being good enough to warrant giving him a new contract. A high-pick rookie QB could perform at least that well … for a LOT LESS MONEY. Money that could be spent on upgrading at least 2-3 other positions.
My bet is that under BA’s tutelage Jameis will protect the ball better, resulting in fewer turnovers, AND make better decisions. Time for all of us to raise our standards, for Jameis as our QB AND for the Bucs as a TEAM.
July 24th, 2019 at 4:26 pm
Also looking at 2017-2018 the offense vs defensive splits are insane. Basically the only way we have winning records the last 2 years is by scoring more than league average in 3/4 games, because our defense was basically guaranteed to suck 3 out of 4 games.
Good luck calmly game managing a game of complimentary football knowing that the D is most likely giving up 25+ points each week.
And if anyone wants to pivot to offensive turnovers killing the D, in general the offense also held the ball for possessions due to way less punting than league average, so when you factor in punts as a turnover as well, the D was not getting screwed any worse than your average NFL team. On the other hand our D has not been creating tons of turnovers for our offense relative to the league average.
GO BUCS
July 24th, 2019 at 5:05 pm
Not a bust
Not elite
July 24th, 2019 at 5:14 pm
Its no secret the defense has been bad especially last year. Its also true that the defensive side of the the ball lost more games due to injury than any other team last year. Its also hard to argue that defense when healthy had the level of talent as the offense when injury free. Licht had built an unbalanced team. that was in dire need of talent infusion of talent on defense. Add in a coaching staff that did n’t adjust to this lack of talent and the defense couldn’t help but be exposed.
Some here on this site would say it was up to the offense with its weapons should help cover the lack of talent on defense. The best way to do to do that
would be to play error free as much as possible and limiting turnovers and
execution errors is as much a problem as a very bad defense.
July 24th, 2019 at 5:26 pm
…..“Jameis was coached very well by Dirk Koetter “
Well, you don’t score points and get wins for footwork and reads.
Koetter is a decent assistant, that’s all.
Winning involves much more than technical skills.
Jameis and rest of team have not learned how to win in NFL , yet.
Team could not have a better teacher this year than Arians ( except maybe Belichick)
By the way, Joes- your site is named JoeBucsfan , not JoeBucshaters.
We know the team has sucked. You don’t need to constantly remind.
Fans want to know about their “new” team – good or bad-
Not constantly rehashing dismal past and negative national media takes.
July 24th, 2019 at 5:32 pm
THe offense as a whole made a lot of mistakes. But Jameis’s play in the second half has to improve this year He had 9 Td’s and 9 INtTs in the second half of his starts. Its all in the situational stats of of NfL statistics.
July 24th, 2019 at 6:05 pm
Bob I refer you to Lord’s quotes above. What could have been part of the reason for more turnovers in the second half for a 5-11 team????
July 24th, 2019 at 6:38 pm
TDTB
We are in the Nfc South. Two teams regularly score more than the league average on a regular basis.To win you have to score more than your opponent.
Here another 2 nd half stat from Fitz, He ha 9 TD’s and only 4 INT’s in his second
halfs. We all know Fitz wasn’t the answer but he did not have the high number of INT’s that Jameis had in the second half of games.
Its easy to blame a depleted defense but the defense has zero control of offensive turnovers.
If our journeyman QB can have a better than 2-1 Td- Int ratio in the second half, please don’t tell me its acceptable for our franchise QB to have 1-1 ratio. He is supposed to make good decisions and protect the football.
July 24th, 2019 at 7:45 pm
The only thing Winston has proved is he can’t throw 40-55 times a game with no running game and be successful. But then again, less than 1/3 of starting QBs can!
July 24th, 2019 at 8:14 pm
JW was simply the most visible face playing the most important position. He clearly did not have a good year.
JPP had a good year…anybody else…LVD played ok…ME13 as always…both our TE’s were injured.
The coaches certainly didn’t have good years.
The TEAM had an all around bad year. Was it the QB’s fault. Hardly but he did play the most important position on the team so he gets perhaps more heat than deserved but he certainly deserved heat. Let’s face it he absolutely sucked the first three games because of his lack of ability….availability.
July 24th, 2019 at 8:50 pm
@Defense Rules
You are right in that we won 2 and lost 4 of those games. That is never good enough no matter how well our quarterback plays.
I was thinking in terms of how Jameis’ critics seem to emphasize mostly his career interception proclivity. I was focused on the following stats for those six games. During those six games he threw 9 touchdowns and had 3 interceptions. He had 2 fumbles both for losses also during that stretch. His completion percentage was 61.1 %. His average QB rating was 96.1.
These stats are not are not overwhelming. In order for Winston to contribute to the winning season and a possible playoff run he will need to improve to the following kinds of stats. He will need to maintain that 3 to 1 touchdown to interception rate or come close. He will need to average at least 2.25 passing touchdowns per game. This would put him in the neighborhood of 37 total passing TDs and 14 interceptions for the year. His completion percentages have been going up every year and with more improvement he can do 65% or better this year. So these kind of hopes and expectations concerning Winston should not be out the realm of possibilities. (Of course improved play by our OL and our RBs along with an improved defense for the team around him will also be needed. Here we are centering the discussion on Jameis Winston.)
___________
Go Bucs!!!
July 24th, 2019 at 9:42 pm
Senior … Jameis certainly played ‘better’ in those last 6 games, but in your opinion did he play good enough to warrant a $30 mil annual contract for multiple years? Because that’s what his agent will be asking for him to stay here. A 2-4 record (33% winning percentage) won’t cut it for Bruce Arians. Now a 4-2 (67% winning percentage) is a different story.
Question is … what will it take to reverse those numbers? Better defensive play? For sure. Better S/Ts play? That’d help. Better QB play? Most assuredly. Jameis numbers last year weren’t out of line with what Brad Johnson put up back in 2002 when we won the SB. Except 1 … TURNOVERS. Jameis HAS to do a better job of protecting the football. That’s killed him from Day 1 and doomed the Bucs along with him. IF he can do that, the Bucs WILL have a winning team this year and Jameis will get a follow-on contract.
July 24th, 2019 at 9:42 pm
Ndog and JimmyJack had a long back and forth discussion the other night, as always centering about the play of Jameis Winston.
I agreed with JimmyJack’s point that the best QBs sometimes need to win a shootout, and in many games, the team with the LAST possession of the game is the one to win the game, driving the field for the winning score. (As an example, the Rams and the Chiefs played a game this past year where BOTH teams scored a 50-burger, yet one team lost.) In fact, the only game that the Bucs won last year when the opponents scored 24 or more points, was when Fitz and the Bucs beat New Orleans on the road 48 – 40, in a SHOOTOUT!
Jameis is praised for playing his best football during the 6 games after his benching. Yet, that “careful” Jameis does not score enough points:
– only 14 vs. New Orleans
– only 12 vs. Baltimore
– only 20 vs. Dallas
Most of his wins have come against bottom-tier teams with poor defenses, and I had a difficult time remembering the Bucs winning a lot of games that became a shootout.
But someone has to win those shootout games. However the Bucs managed to win only ONE game where the opponents scored 24 or more points. So, are other “franchise QBs” never asked to win the game when their defenses give up 24 or more points?
The Bears had the #1 scoring defense in the league last year, however even they had 4 games where the opponents scored 24 or more, and Trubisky and the offense went 0 – 4.
The Chiefs had the 24th ranked scoring defense, and they had 9 games where the opponents scored 24 or more points. Mahomes and their offense managed to go 5 – 4 in those games, essentially as a rookie QB. One of those losses came when they scored 51 points, as noted above! (Sorry, Realist, I borrowed an !)
The Rams had the 20th ranked scoring defense, and they had 8 games of 24 or more points allowed. Goff and their offense managed to go 6 – 2. And Goff managed to outduel Mahomes scoring 54 points in a SHOOTOUT.
So, it does seem possible to actually win games when your defense did not play well, but you have to score more points than the Bucs and Jameis do.
tickrdr
July 24th, 2019 at 10:41 pm
Just a couple points to add to tickrdr’s above comments
In the games mentioned
Jameis had a 47.2 % completion at New Orleans
Followed by 52 % at Baltimore
In Dallas he fumbled and didn’t place the balll properly on a handoff for a fumble charged to him.
If Jameis truly hates losing as much as the fans do , fixing the TO ratio is the first step. Jameis also had a bit of confidence blip,hopefully BA can get him on the right track. Some wins in a row would really help build his confidence and
start a winning tradition.
July 25th, 2019 at 2:11 am
Bird , I am extremely excited for you ! I am also jealous !!! Your seats sound amazing & I would love to be at every home game this season listing to how all these coaches and players fix and adjust throughout the game.. something the previous group could absolutely not do to save thier life..just watching from tv all the way up here in Canton Ohio I could easily tell they were way over Thier head’s , out coached & un-prepared , could not make adjustments and basically gave the F up ! I definitely feel a new vibe A-coming and I’m telling ya , we all are going to see it and become pleasantly surprised when this team makes it through the season not shooting themselves in the foot , competing with the best of them & our players are going to feed off of how they feel & how they act…my biggest worry is not even the defense anymore as they have so much more speed than before and these kids can actually play football without being 15 yards off ! My little worry is still , HOW IN THE F ARE WE GOING TO RUN AND POUND THE ROCK ! GO BUCS!
July 25th, 2019 at 10:52 am
Tickdr
Excellent points with some great examples.
Of course your 24 point margin means someone has to be able to kick a field goal to add to the 3 TD’s. The past couple of years for us have been disastrous there…heck we were holding our breath on xtra points.
July 25th, 2019 at 2:47 pm
@SPBF:
Thanks very much, and great point about the kickers.
Nevertheless, you would think that the Bucs should be better than 4 wins
and 33 losses in the 37 games since Winston was drafted where the opponents scored 24 or more points. The only shootout win last year was the first by Fitzmagic vs. New Orleans. You would think that JW3 and the Bucs could win more than 3 shootouts in 4 years, especially since the focus has been on “weapons for Winston”.
tickrdr
July 25th, 2019 at 3:18 pm
@Bob in Valrico:
Amen to that!
tickrdr
July 26th, 2019 at 7:04 am
Bill Polian is the type of man who would draft guys like Winston just so he could convert them into a receiver. He has ridden the coat tails of great men at the coaching position to an honor that he simply does not deserved. As soon as he had to make the tough calls, he got fired and never again rehired. The guy is clueless, among other things. Sirius XM will be a better station when he is gone. JMHO